Gunsmithing R700 Filing the extractor

[lennyo3034]

I have a R700 with a PITA extractor. I have replaced the extractor myself as well as sending it in to a smith. Both times, the extractor turned out to be extremely stiff upon bolt close and gouges my brass in doing so. When I sent the bolt to the smith, it came back not quite as stiff as when I replaced the extractor myself so I would like to just work on it a bit to loosen it.

Is there a way I can just sand/file on the extractor while it's in place, or do I need to remove the extractor first and risk damage to it? When I do sand/file on it, where should I do it on the extractor? I was thinking the sharp corners on it.

 

[Supersubes]

Sounts like you probably have an out of spec bolt. The extractor is a thin piece of sheetmetal, and it should back out of the way easily. It needs room to back into though, which is probably where your issue is.

 

[lennyo3034]

I suppose that is possible, but the original extractor never had that issue. It sometimes would release the round too early, which is why I replaced it in the first place.

It is on a .223 if that makes any difference.

 

[LRI]

OEM M700 Extractor 101:

First, grab a small punch or flat blade screw driver. Push against the claw feature of the extractor. It should slip under the rim of the bolt nose and return when you take the pressure off. If it doesn't, something is goofed up.

The extractor can easily be removed. It's shaped like a horse shoe. You'll notice (if you look closely) that the ends of the extractor are like little shoes. These both register in a slight depression like feature inside the bolt nose. With the screw driver, poke at the shoe and the whole thing will rotate until it catches on the ejector. Look at the bolt closely and you'll see a relief feature in the bolt nose. Rotate the shoe in that direction. Now you can peel it out with needle nose. To reinstall, do the reverse.

The extractor should have a nice radius feature and the shoes should be spread slightly, they should not run "U" shaped or parallel to one another. -this is a bitch to try and explain here so sorry.

The gist of this is to get the thing to slide away/towards the center of the bolt when its installed. It's literally just a dumb leaf spring. That's all the thing is in reality. It's sooooo, soooo easy to over work the sides/shoes during installation. It kicks more asses than you imagine. You have to be very careful when installing, failure will cause it to not want to slide in/out and create the issues your dealing with.


6015.490.8241 is my cell. After 7pm Mtn is the best time for me. I can try and help you through this.

Good luck.

C.

 

[lennyo3034]

Chad, thank you very much.

Would it be a good idea to pull it out, try to bend it back to where it's supposed to be and reinstall? Or do I need to just replace it again at this point? Will removing the ejector help?

 

[Ksracer]

It sounds like the same problem I had with a new .223 I bought 10yrs ago. The extractor couldn't move far enough into the bolt recess to get over the case head, so closing the bolt would shave off little slivers and leave a gouge on the rim. I suspect it's because the bolt recess is out of spec, but after taking it back to the stores gunsmith, putting in a couple different extractors, and listening to Remington's 16 week repair option, I gave up on a proper fix and simply filed about .010 or less off the nose of the hook. (I actually used a dremel, but "filed" sounds so much more professional.) It's probably got over 5k rounds since then, and has never caused an issue. I'd probably remove it to do the work, unless you're really good with a dre.... Errr, I mean FILE. Lol.

 

[DAVETOOLEY]

223's extractors are the toughest on brass. They require the same amount of travel as the larger diameter extractors but in a smaller radius. To reduce brass shaving take a cratex wheel and dremel tool and polish the contact area of the extractor. It won't stop all of the marking and shaving of brass but it will reduce it considerably.

 

[LRI]

FWIW:

We've invested a little time exploring mini M16 extractor installation on 223 bolt face guns. We now have a procedure and it's been field tested. Thus far, the effort has shown to resolve the issues described here.

 

[lennyo3034]

FWIW:

We've invested a little time exploring mini M16 extractor installation on 223 bolt face guns. We now have a procedure and it's been field tested. Thus far, the effort has shown to resolve the issues described here.

I was reading up on how you did it with other calibers on your website. If I can't get this extractor to work, I will be sending the bolt to you. If this were one of my high end builds I would have already done so, but this is a budget rifle so I'm trying to keep the price down.

 

[Quarter Horse]

The small bolt face Rems. are notorious for this. Another example of Remington not giving a damn. Mine knocked chunks out of the case rim and in short order I had cases that would not extract. The rifle was new to me and it shot great after finding it's preferred load. I was headed for a rock chuck shoot and didn't have time to order new extractors. Using a Dremel with a cone shaped stone I radiused the top edge of the extractor while it remained in the bolt. That provided about a seventy percent improvement