Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Pre 64 Mod 70 case head extractor tension

I need a little more tension on the case head in a pre 64 Model 70. I've bent the tail of the extractor some and it did help a little. I tried adjusting the ears on the extractor collar but the tightening caused the extractor to drag on the bolt lug. What else do I need to do? Should I give a claw a whack?

If I have the bolt out of the receiver and put a case up under the extractor, it will fall out fairly easily on its own..
Thanks
Phil

If it falls out on its own, you'll probably need to replace the extractor. It's apparent the lip might be either worn or slightly damaged - because a round should take a bit of resistance to insert manually under the extractor.. Is your rifle a magnum or standard?

Like redneck said. If you have the bolt out of the rifle, the extractor should hold the cartridge in place. It should NOT fall out. You also need to be careful with the extractor. Ive seen them with a hairline crack that makes them useless. One particular rifle (270 fwt) i had worked great until i let a buddy shoot it. We switched out rifles and i was shooting his savage. I didnt notice he was throwing them in the chamber and forcing the extractor over the rim of the cartridge, until it was too late. A bad pre 64 extractor will also cause poor ejection. OP, Id be looking for a good original extractor, if it were my rifle.

Its a standard bolt face. Comparing the claw to others, I can see no difference. This morning, I fairly gently tapped the claw with a brass punch. It now holds the case with the bolt out of the rifle although not with the tension I would like.
Phil

If a gentle tap with a brass punch helped perhaps another tap may help, if not then replacement may be the solution to the problem. The wear causing the problem may not be immediately visible by examination with the naked eye, could be in the tail that contacts the bolt as well as the claw or a combination of both.

If the extractor is dragging on the bolt lug, perhaps relieving this interference a bit (work on the "bad" extractor, not the bolt lug!) would allow the extractor to move in radially a bit more and hold the case a bit better?

Not likely that the original extractor is ever going to function satisfactorily after all the bends, adjustments, whacks and other tweaks it’s been subjected to. I’d just get another on eBay before something else gets messed up.

Well, I got tired of messing it, bought a new one, Williams I think. It slide right on, cured the problem after a slight bend on the tail. Case head is now secure against the bolt face with about .006-.007 tension.
Thanks for the help
Phil

Thats the best answer^^^^. These things are spring steel and you can only go so far with them. Some develop a hairline crack (like i mentioned in the previous post), that you dont even know is there, but wonder why in the hell its not working right anymore. Sometimes its a big waste of time working on the original. I love the pre 64 model 70 extractor, i use them on my m1917's as well), but when they are bad, they are bad.