Why Do My Extractors Keep Breaking?

[Harpoon1]

Have 3 relatively new 6.5 CM, 2 model 10's FCP-SR and a 12 LRP. All 3 less than a year old, all 3 have anywhere from 500 to 1500 rounds through them. And all 3 have had chipped/cracked extractors. All 3 have broken in the same exact place. Looking at the bolt face, with the extractor at 12 o'clock, the lower left corner is breaking off. Causing intermitent extraction and little to no ejection. No matter how vigoursly I cycle the action!

I do some dry firing practice, but not enough really. And then I mostly just cock the bolt, without cycling it all the way back and forth.

Any ideas?

Or maybe I'm just snake bit! :o

[Robinhood]

No matter how vigoursly I cycle the action!

This may be a clue?

Do you reload or are you using factory rounds?
Are your rounds hard to extract prior to the extractor breaking?

Can you post a picture of the bolt face?

[Harpoon1]

Im not cycling them any harder than any other gun I have. In fact, I rarely cycle it "vigorurously" at all. It's usually only enough to have the brass barely fall clear of the gun, and not fly half away across the range.

Ammo is factory only, mostly Hornady American Gunner. No, I've never noticed hard extractions or heavy bolt lifts.

I'll work on posting a picture.

Edited: pictures are unlikely. Looks like I cant upload them directly from my ipad. ???????

[Robinhood]

you will need to use a photo storage site since you are not a paid member.

Does your ejector work smoothly

[Harpoon1]

Roger that.

Yes, ejectors work fine.

[sharpshooter]

Your extractors are NOT broken....they were made that way.

[foxx]

+1 Take a close look at them. The corner is "machined" away. I have worked on dozens of the 6.5 Creed's. They are all like that.

[bearcatrp]

Can someone post a picture of a broken extractor? Keep reading about this. I have a 10T 308 shooting 2 grains above max data with zero issues and a 338 FCP close to max load. Everything is working fine. Ejects the brass just fine. Is it a savage issue or user issue? Should I replace them before mine break at the wrong time? Didn’t mean to hijack but this issue seems to come up often.

[Harpoon1]

+1 Take a close look at them. The corner is "machined" away. I have worked on dozens of the 6.5 Creed's. They are all like that.

I believe you, but then that begs the question. Why do the replacement extractors
have all 4 corners? And the replacement parts extract the case much more reliably than the OEM part!

[sharpshooter]

The extractors with the corner milled off were originally put in the controlled round feed bolt heads.....something they don't use anymore. Utilizing these was an ill attempt to mimic an ejection problem fix, but unfortunately it doesn't work on a 6.5 CM because it has another set of problems. Most of CM's were set up with those extractors and an angled ejector pin to work with the AICS magazine systems found on chassis rifles.
The Creedmoor has it own downfall of having a shoulder diameter that is slightly larger than the width of the raceway, causing a wedge effect upon extracting, and physically pulling the case out of the bolt face before it can be ejected. The angle face ejectors they use are to cure a feeding problem with AICS magazines, but it also contributes to the lack of ejection strength.

[Harpoon1]

The extractors with the corner milled off were originally put in the controlled round feed bolt heads.....something they don't use anymore. Utilizing these was an ill attempt to mimic an ejection problem fix, but unfortunately it doesn't work on a 6.5 CM because it has another set of problems. Most of CM's were set up with those extractors and an angled ejector pin to work with the AICS magazine systems found on chassis rifles.
The Creedmoor has it own downfall of having a shoulder diameter that is slightly larger than the width of the raceway, causing a wedge effect upon extracting, and physically pulling the case out of the bolt face before it can be ejected. The angle face ejectors they use are to cure a feeding problem with AICS magazines, but it also contributes to the lack of ejection strength.


Awesome, great intel thanks.

Do you recommend swapping out the angled ejector for the round ones?

[foxx]

^^^Sharpshooter would know better, but if it is ejecting okay, stay with it. I don't have any issues with the angled ejectors.

[Harpoon1]

Awesome, great intel thanks.

Do you recommend swapping out the angled ejector for the round ones?


Well, I went ahead and swapped out 2 of the 3 rifles with the "round" ejector. Definitely have more positive, snappier, ejection with the round ejector. Having said that, there "may" be a bit of a feeding issue with the model 12 LRP now. Occasionally a round gets hung up the last 1/2 inch or so. Take the pessure off the bolt handle, the round appears to shift somewhat and then is better aligned with the bore, and then easily sent home. I say "may" because the gun was/is still relatively new to me and the bolt seemed a bit loose, fiddlely, from the git go out of the box. Very accurate, just a loose, sloppy, bolt. The ejection, or lack there of, was what was really bothering me though and was getting most of my attention. Im going to switch back to the angled ejector in the 12 and see if that helps, and will report back.

What I can say right now is, swapping out the OEM milled "3 corner" extractor with the regular "4 corner" replacment part has helped the extraction by an order of magnitude. At least for my 6.5 Creedmoors it has. Hardly ever fails to pull the case from the chamber now. Where as before, it seemd like it was 50/50 at best.

[J.Baker]

Loose/sloppy bolt fit is standard for Savage. That slop is necessary to allow the floating bolt-head to function as intended.

[Harpoon1]

Got it.

Thanks