Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing X Bolt stuck extractor: disassembly

I have an X Bolt, stainless, stays in one of my trucks. Hadn't shot in a few months. The extractor is stuck in. I can shoot it, but won't throw. Can I drive one of the pins out that looks like it retains the extractor and spring? But may need further access in case it is really stuck. Left it soaking overnight in Kroil, tried vibrating it with air chisel, but won't shake loose...

I have seen this happen at least once... There was a generation of A-Bolts (yes, I understand yours is an X) with little regard to metalurgy and if you show them to the ocean they seize. I have bashed A-Bolts a lot here and will leave it at that.

I would suggest it will take a serious breakdown and cleaning, perhaps it is beyond your skill set? Anyway, everything needs to be taken apart and examined to determine what needs to be done to stop the next seizure...

Keep the Kroil on it, eventually it will soak into the right spot. Try tapping the ejector further into the bolt to break it free.

Yes, try that first - but just hold the punch a bit away from the ejector and use a small hammer to tap the punch onto the ejector.. Sometimes that works.. If that fails, and Kroil fails, next step might be ascertaining the diameter of the ejector and using an end mill to 'grab' it and spin.. That alone might free it up if the first stuff fails.. It's worked for me several times over the years.. Problem is, that takes either a mill/drill with a highly adjustable base along with a suitable vise to hold the bolt perfectly upright.....which may involve a trip to your local machine shop..