Butch,
You apparently missed that the "punch press" quote was from an article in the 1958 GUN DIGEST written by Bob Wallack, a well-known gunsmith and gun writer of the day--and was about the 721/722, not the present 700. While Wallack doesn't specify what parts were "punch pressed," I would guess one would be the sheet-metal floorplate, with other possibilities the extractor and bolt stop.
The Sakos I've owned have had the extractor located alongside (not in) the upper edge of the right locking lug, which means they're alongside the very upper edge of the right raceway, not exactly IN the raceway. (If they were, part of the locking lug would have to be machined away) It's the same location where Dave Gentry installed Sako extractors on 700 actions.
It's also the same place the "Sako-type" extractor is located in the Tikka T3, Howa and Nosler actions. Yet you wrote, "If you will look at a Sako extractor on a Sako you will see why they are not dangerous." If they're not dangerous on a Sako, why would they be dangerous in the same location on a 700, or those other rifles? (Saw an on-line description of a Tikka blowing up a number of years ago, but the bolt remained intact, including the extractor.)
Never heard of any problems with Dave Gentry-installed Sako extractors on 700's, and never had the slightest trouble with mine, even though I was something of a handloading hot-rodder back then, as was Dave himself. In fact that Gentry custom, a .280, was my primary big game rifle for several years, used from Montana to the Arctic Circle. I eventually traded it to a friend, who then used it for quite a while before finally trading it back to me. After another couple of years I sold it to a guy through the Campfire Classifieds, and heard not too long ago that he's still using it with no problems. An example of one, of course--but dunno how many Sakos, Tikkas, Howas and Noslers are out there with the same basic system.
