Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Sako extractor vs stock Remington extractor on M700s

I know this may be a matter of religon for some. I have both on my 700s. I have an original 700 BDL in 270 I bought 40 years ago, never failed to feed or extract even when running some very hot loads during load development. Many thousands of rounds through that rife. I also have a one year old Rem XCR II in 375 H&H that came out of the box with an extractor that was too big (wouldn't chamber a Rem factory round). I didn't have time to send it back to the factory, so I had my gunsmith, Kevin Weaver who's worked on a ton of 700s, put a Sako extractor on it. It also has worked very well.

So, pros and cons? I know neither is a CRF, I have a CZ 550 in 500 Jeffery which is, but I've trusted the 270 with my life in several situations and it's never let me down. Though I think from now on the 500 Jeff will get that job.

Forty year old 700s worked to perfection. Seems that most of my friends who still persist, have to put large dollars into them to make some part of the system happy. Has quality gone south with the finish on most models? jack

don't take this wrong, but I am just curious....how do you trust a .270 with your life?

Here is the deal on 700 extractors. Untold hundreds of thousands of rounds of GI match 308 have been expended through M700's at the SOTIC course at Ft Bragg, and IIRC SGM/ret Rick Boucher has posted over at the Hide that they've seen something like one fail since 1985. He reccomends changing the extractor when you rebarrel for a 308.

Having said that, I personally have seen two 700 extractors break, one an 8mm mag in the 70's and a 7mm mag about ten years ago, both failed quickly with not many rounds in each gun.

I would not go Sako anyway, I'd just order a bolt and go with an M16 extractor unless it was a really big dangerous game cartridge, but then I'd be gettin' me a mauser,not a 700 for that.

Kevin gave me the M16 extractor option too, but my XCR II bolt had the TriNyte finish on it and I wanted to keep it that way. I would've brought my CZ in 500 Jeffery brown bear hunting but I was told blued metal and walnut not good in the rain. If I ever go again I'll get it restocked in synthetic and take it.

I was an assistant guide in the early 70s in Montana. We hunted the Bob Marshall on horseback. There used to be 25 grizzly tags a year, we'd always get a couple. My client shot one in the butt with a 300 Weatherby Mag (which he was afraid of, but wouldn't use my 270). I went in alone to finish him. He wasn't dead until I put the second 150g Partition in him. My XCR II has a brown bear at 13 yards to it's credit too, but then I had a guide as backup though I went into the brush after him with my guide (we found the bear dead) and I didn't have to skin him (I did help though) I think anyone who hunts regularly in grizzly or brown bear country should have a real trust in their rifle. You never know when you come to pack out that 2nd quarter of elk what will be sitting on it.

I don't have as much experience with 700s as most people on the fire, but I have not had the need or desire to modify the bolt due to the extractor.

I've had a recent 223 and a 7mm Rem Mag with the oversized extractor issue and both just got a to-spec M700 replacement extractor.

I was pretty moved by the "three rings of steel" thing and I wouldn't want to compromise that......:)

It seems that the larger calibers (.375 and up) have issues in Remington's. I don't know why that is exactly, but I'm guessing that the big bores just isn't Remington's strong point.

Anyway, I've never had a Remington extractor fail me, and have no plans of replacing them.

The only reason I replaced mine on the XCR II last year was it came from the factory non-functional. My 270 has the original extractor and has worked flawlessly for 40 years. Quality control has suffered at Remington over the last decade or so. I've heard it from a lot of folks who used to be die hard Remington fans. In our little family we have a Win Model 70 Classic in 416 Rem (left handed for my oldest) and a CZ 550 500 Jeffery which I love but took three gunsmiths to get it to feed flawlessly (Kevin finally made it happen). My oldest son also has an 80s vintage LH BDL in 270 that has always worked flawlessly as well.

In retrospect, maybe I should've done the same thing ...

Remington would replace the extractor for free, but I couldn't wait and paid $15 from Midway and did it myself.

I have both sako and factory,the sako's work great and are on custon actions, if I had a choice I would take the factory extractor for the safety factor or a mini M16 pinned extractor!

Standard cartridges do not require a rivet in the extractor. On the Mags they have a rivet and that is where they usually break. I have never had a problem with an extractor except one that came faulty from the REMINGTON CUSTOM SHOP

If I were to go custom again with a 700 I would sell the bolt and buy a PT&G bolt with a m16 extractor. I have that extractor or a variant on every Weatherby Mark V I ever owned with never a problem.

I am not all that familiar with Remington rifles but does the fitting of a Sako extractor compromise the safety aspect if a case fails and the subsequent escaping gases etc. ?

I have had 3, 700's with the M16 type and never had an issue. Right now, I am having a 243AI,22-250,308 switch barrel 700 built and it's getting an M16 as well.

That being said I am running 3 other 700's with factory extractors now, with the factory extractors.

The only one I have ever had an issue with was a factory extractor in a 223. Ordered one from Brownells, replaced it, problem solved.

when i first heard of the 'M700 extractor issue' on da net, i bought a couple of spares along with the rivets. i have magnum 700s on their third barrel and still have not used one of those spares.

my .223 AI 'brass burper' gets gunk behind the extractor every thousand rounds or so and needs a bolt face 'deep cleaning'

Yes, a Sako and M16 compromise the three rings of steel and a case failure can blow a Sako extractor and it's parts out the raceway, a pinned M16 might stay in place depending on how bad the failure was, and not all Sako extractors leave the bolt because of a failure, if I was to experience a failure I would want it to be with the factory setup!

I've had both and prefer the standard issue Remington extractor. I've never had one slip over a case head, which I've had happen with a Mauser claw and Sako style. My unscientific opinion on this matter is that most of the concern with Remington extractors has to do with perception because of the difference in physical size as opposed to performance differnces. Also, I like the M700's means of gas control and don't see a good reason to compromise that mechanism.

I have had to replace two remington 700 extractors since the late 60's. Some rifles had many, many rounds through them.

One of these actions that wore out an extractor had seen many barrels shot out on the action on p. dog towns starting in the late 70's, and the other example had the extractor damaged from a stuck round in the chamber.

There have been several examples of the Sako extractors injuring someone when a case head blew. Installing Sako extractors has been very popular when a guy wants to "true" up an action for benchrest purposes. I would only have a Sako extractor installed if there were no other options.

Another typical use of the installation of a Sako extractor would be when opening up a bolt fact on a Rem from the standard 308 size case head to a magnum, PPC, or bushing it to a Small size bolt face.

Sako looks better, but I think the Remington extractor is stronger.

Gunner