# Remington 700 Extractor



## hayseed_theology (Feb 15, 2014)

Anybody ever replaced a riveted magnum extractor on a Remington 700?  Is it possible to do it without buying the $90 anvil from Brownells?


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## TrailBlazinMan (Feb 17, 2014)

Yes and yes. 

Disassemble the bolt completely for easier cleaning later. Grind out the head of the rivet on the outside of the bolt nose with a rotary tool, then tap out the rivet. Make sure to clean out the bevel on the outside of the bolt nose to leave something for the new rivet to fill in. 

With some patience and a good grinder you can make your own anvil. I use a thick piece of drill rod thats been ground at the nose end to fit inside the bolt nose. I then clamp this in the vice and hold the bolt against it while peening the rivet. Make sure that the new rivet will not interfere with the operation of the bolt.

Once all done clean out the bolt body well and reassemble.


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## hayseed_theology (Feb 17, 2014)

TrailBlazinMan said:


> Yes and yes.
> 
> Disassemble the bolt completely for easier cleaning later. Grind out the head of the rivet on the outside of the bolt nose with a rotary tool, then tap out the rivet. Make sure to clean out the bevel on the outside of the bolt nose to leave something for the new rivet to fill in.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the help!


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## TrailBlazinMan (Feb 18, 2014)

No problem!


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## hayseed_theology (Sep 9, 2014)

Well, I finally got around to tinkering with this because it needs to get fixed before deer season.  I tapped the old rivet out with a center punch and a stout hammer.

It took a minute to snap in the new extractor.  It's a little tricky.   Then, I did it.  I dropped the new rivet on the tan shag carpet.    $8.50 lost in the tall carpet.  Terrible.  Midway and Brownells are sold out.  Got two new ones on order from Remington.  How can they charge $6 to ship something that weighs less than an ounce.  It really just needs to be dropped in an envelope with a stamp on it.


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## ironhead7544 (Sep 10, 2014)

Get a big magnet to find the part.   I do it all the time.   Hazards of tinkering.

What happened to the extractor that made you replace it?


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## TrailBlazinMan (Sep 10, 2014)

Drink a few beers, go to bed and set your alarm for 4:30am. Wake up and walk around barefoot on the carpet. You will find it.


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## hayseed_theology (Sep 10, 2014)

ironhead7544 said:


> Get a big magnet to find the part.   I do it all the time.   Hazards of tinkering.
> 
> What happened to the extractor that made you replace it?



I tried the magnet.  It must not be magnetic.  It's a pretty soft metal since you have to peen it in place, so I guess it's not magnetic.  Not sure what kind of metal it is.

As far as what happened to the extractor, it's kind of a long story.  The bolt on this rifle has been very hard to close when chambering a round since I got the rifle.  It opened and closed very smoothly with no cartridge in there. It was the first bolt gun I owned, so I just assumed that was normal.  Then it got worse.  I did the trick of writing all over a spent case in sharpie and seeing where it rubbed.  This revealed a spot in the chamber right at the shoulder where it was rubbing.  I found some sort of build up right there and was able to scrape it off.  It chambered easier, but still didn't seem right.

I have read that a burr on the ejector will sometimes cause that condition, but the ejector seems to move freely.  Also, I have read before that sometimes a problem with the extractor can cause it to be difficult to close the bolt on a round.  In that case, either a bad extractor (some how misshapen) or something behind the extractor in the groove now allowing it to move.  The extractor seemed to be chewing up the brass a little, so I thought that might be the problem.  I decided to take the extractor out and test a round.  Then, clean the extractor groove real well and reinstall.  So that's what I did.  I promptly popped the extractor out, and then I realized it was riveted in place.    The rivet was still in the bolt, and most of the extractor was in my hand.  I assume I broke it, but the ease with which it came out makes me wonder if it was already broken.  Either way, when trying a snap cap and a handloaded dummy round, the bolt seems to close like it should.  I tried it without an extractor and then with the new extractor (obviously not yet riveted in place), and it seems better.  Hopefully that took care of it, we'll see when I get the extractor rivet in and take it to the range.




TrailBlazinMan said:


> Drink a few beers, go to bed and set your alarm for 4:30am. Wake up and walk around barefoot on the carpet. You will find it.



I had my wife's eagle eyes hunting for it while I held a light for her.  If she can't find it, I'm hopeless.


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## Gordief (Sep 10, 2014)

try the vacum cleaner...

you'll hear it... and it will be in the bag...


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## hayseed_theology (Sep 10, 2014)

Gordief said:


> try the vacum cleaner...
> 
> you'll hear it... and it will be in the bag...



It crossed my mind.  If the vacuum picked it up, the thing is so dang small that I don't think I could find it in the bag.


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## hayseed_theology (Oct 9, 2014)

*Update 1*

I got around to working on the 700 bolt the other week.

The first order of business was to disassemble the bolt.  This is a good video on removing the firing pin assembly:




After removing the firing pin assembly, I needed to remove the ejector.  As he mentioned in the video, there is a fancy tool that helps with this.  I don't have that tool, so I took a spent case and cut it just in front of the belt.  I then put the cut off portion in the bolt face and compressed it with an adjustable clamp.  Once compressed, I drove out the cross pin.

While I had the ejector out, I went over it with some 800 grit sandpaper just to make sure everything was smooth.


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## hayseed_theology (Oct 9, 2014)

*Update 2*

After disassembly, I started working on creating an anvil.  I had an old chunk of metal laying around so I started shaving it down.  I constantly checked to see if it fit the bolt because I wanted it to be a tight fit.  Once it would fit in the bolt face, I clamped it in a vise.  I slid the rivet into place, slid the bolt face over the anvil, and started hammering on the rivet.  It mushroomed out nicely to fill the hole.  It left a little gap to one side, but it seems to be holding well.  It doesn't look as good as the factory job but seems functional.  After I finished hammering, I cleaned it up with a small file to make sure there were no burrs or catches.

I reassembled the bolt and slid it back in the gun.  I tested it with once fired brass - worked flawlessly.  I tested it with a dummy round I loaded up - worked flawlessly.  I tested it with an A-Zoom snap cap - worked half the time  .  So, I broke out the digital calipers to do some investigating.  It turns out the rim on the snap cap is .010" thinner than the rim on my Hornady brass.  Consequently, when I measure the headspace from the bottom of the rim to the front of the belt, it comes out below SAAMI spec.  So... it's not 100% reliable with out-of-spec snap caps.    I can live with that.

I plan on going to the range sometime this week or next week.  That will be the real test.

On a different note, in the first pic, does that "J" shape on the bolt near the rivet hole mean that one of my scope mount screws is too long?


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## TrailBlazinMan (Oct 10, 2014)

Nice job! Dont forget to put the ejector back in hehehe.....


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## hayseed_theology (Oct 17, 2014)

I ran out to Chickasawhatchee today and checked the zero on this puppy before gun season cranks up.  The bolt closed smooth and easy when chambering a round which is something it has not done since I bought it.  It seems the extractor replacement cured the problem.  The new extractor worked flawlessly.


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