Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Rem 700 extractor removal and install

Are you using something like the Hornady tool to check the shoulder push back?

Yes.

Great. Make sure the case(s) you're using to set the f.l. die up has the fired primers removed as that can add a couple thou. to your measurements...makes it look like you're backing the shoulder up .002 or so when in fact you haven't touched it yet. -Al

Ok, so I stepped away from this for a day and then messed with it again yesterday. I am almost certain it’s an extractor issue. I took the cleaned, deprimed and now some of it 2X fired brass and some 1x fired brass and full length resized them bumping the shoulders back in different increments and all brass trimmed to 2.086”. I insert a case of one length and the bolt will close and then eject the brass just fine. I can do this and then the next one can have less or more shoulder bump and then the bolt will not close at all. I can mark the brass that the bolt would not close on, reinsert it and the bolt closes on it just fine and ejects the brass with no issues. For the factory ammo, all of the ones the bolt will close, but some are a lot harder than others. Take them out mix them up and then the one the bolt closes on easily before, the bolt will now not close at all. I even pulled the firing pin from the bolt and nothing has changed.

Gun gremlins.... Should be extractors around. Try Jack First, Brownells, Amazon, e-bay.

Doesn't take long to make a staking anvil. Store-bought run about $50 IIRC.. I have a home-built out of bar iron (not hardened either) that I used successfully on my .260. PM me if you need it. No guarantees tho - this is me....

If building your own, just take a gander at Brownells picture, as I did.

I've looked at several websites and I can't find any riveted extractors. I can find rivets, no extractors though.

If it was here, I'd remove the ejector next and see if the bolt closes freely on all cases. Keep the firing pin removed when you do this.

If it still acts the same, keep the ejector out and remove the extractor and try it.


You never answered if you had removed the spent primers before adjusting the f.l. die to push the shoulders back..... -Al

Not following how a primer would mess up bumping shoulders back? The middle of the shell holder is cut out to clear the primer.

What it affects is the measurement from case head to datum.

Yes. Primers were removed from all empty cases before I ever started working on this rifle. I always deprime and then wet tumble my brass.

Obviously, but the case head contacts the shell holder, the center is cut out to clear the primer.

When you use the Hornady tool, the caliper jaw goes across the primer pocket area of the case. Most fired primers will measure about .002-.003 above the case head.

If you don't remove the primers before you get your measurement, you can think you're moving the shoulder back a couple thousand when in fact you're just coming up on it.

Ahh, got ya. I was thinking setting the shoulder back, not measuring the setback.

Since I was just sizing some cases, I snapped these as an example.

Case head to datum (with fired primer in place) : 1.458



Same case with fired primer removed. Case head to datum: 1.456



If you incorrectly use the 1.458 as your 'zero' point and want to move the shoulder back .002, adjusting the die to get 1.456 only gets you back to the 'true zero' number. At 1.456 you're not moving the shoulder at all....just up to it. For .002 shoulder bump, 1.454 is actually where you need to be.

very good explanation

Al Nyhus, very good explanation. I was given an explanation almost identical to yours when I first bought the Hornady comparator and started using them. Honestly, this particular rifle has always cratered the primers. It doesn’t matter if it’s factory load which I shot innit exclusively until recently last year. Even weak loads in it will crater the primers. I looked at the rifle again and now any cases that the bolt will not close on or they are hard to close are leaving little slivers of brass on the bolt head right near the extractor. It they close, it does not do that.

Remove the ejector and see if it makes any difference. Get a plastic baggie and put the bolt in that when you pull the pin out...everything gets contained in the baggie.

How's the pin fit on the bolt face? Crater may have nothing to do with the chamber issue.

Will a piece of resized but un seated brass chamber? Often the brass will get into the crimp section during seating too soon and it will cause the shoulder to change shape. When this happens it is hard to spot if you don't know what to look for.

Place a new piece of brass flat on a surface and one that is giving you trouble next to it......make them touch at the case head and body length. They should be in contact the entire way. If there's light near the shoulder.....the situation I described is occurring. If there's light at the case head.....you pushed the brass beyond its yield point and short of a small base die or maybe comp shell holders....its trash.

Good advice. A couple of other points, while we're on the subject:

-The case-head-to-datum dimension generally gets bigger as the case is sized and the die screwed down to set the shoulder set back...right up until the shoulder of the case contacts the shoulder area in the die. Then, it gets less as the shoulder is pushed back.

-If the neck is sized excessively and the expander has to really pull the neck back open, the shoulder at the neck/shoulder junction can get pulled forward and cause hard chambering. As this isn't the datum point, you often won't see this as an increased case-head-to-datum figure. But the bolt will still close hard as the shoulder shape is changed.

This is pretty common and seems to be more of an issue with the WSM stuff I've worked with.

Hopefully, the O.P. is checking the case fit w/o using an expander during sizing?

An oversized firing pin hole (not uncommon with Remington rifles) will cause cratering even with the mildest loads. It's mostly cosmetic but I think it can cause a primer to leak. Greg Tannel does an outstanding job bushing the bolt head and turning down the firing pin to fit the new much smaller firing pin hole.

He has a YouTube video explaining the process as does his web page. I have had it done and highly reccomend it.