Broken excractor.

[Nimrod]

Is exctracter breakage somewhat normal in AR-15's? Or should I look at it as a symptom. I have about 1200 rounds through the gun. I have the piece of brass from when it broke to, it was left behind in the chamber, though it was not tight and was removed with nothing more than a gentle tap from a rod, the brass shows no damage or warning signs. Thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

[LRRPF52]

In all my years of shooting countless variants of AR15's, M16's, M4's, & AR10's, I can honestly say that I haven't ever seen a broken extractor. Heard of it, but haven't seen or experienced it...broken bolts, yes. I had a bad factory DMPS LR-308 extractor with an off-the-shelf LR-308, but dropped in a new one. Military small parts have to be Magnetic Particle Inspected, from what I've read, while civvy guns run the gamut of low cost, higher profit.

Where did your extractor break? Lip, body, pin hole?

[Variable]

I've broken one in a Grendel too. The forward lip snaps off. I think it may be the extractors themselves that are partially at fault. They grind out more material and I think it makes them weaker. I never pitched a fit though. It was in my 10.5" upper (very filthy!) while full auto suppressed IIRC. If anything would break one, I'd expect that to be the time.

I bought a bunch of extra bolts (expecting to break one) and neither I nor any of my friends have ever broken one of them. I ended up calling AA and having them send me a pack of extractors too, after the breakage. But everything so far is fine (cause I'm too broke to shoot much lately!LOL).

[Nimrod]

The body of mine broke right at the lip, nothing else seems to be wrong, so it is an easy fix, bit it sire messed up a Goo day at the range.

[stanc]

When I saw the thread title, I thought it must be about a former proctologist who was left destitute after his wife took off with all of his money.

Typos can be amusing...

[LRRPF52]

When I saw the thread title, I thought it must be about a former proctologist who was left destitute after his wife took off with all of his money.

Typos can be amusing...

Especially when you have a Goo day at the range!!!! Sorry, couldn't hold back Nimrod. I had a Goo day at the range last week with my .260 Rem, with a turd-eating grin across my face for most of the loads. Several were .4" or under, shooting 5-round groups. This past Friday wasn't so good, trying N550...crappy accuracy, pressure signs...pierced primer, bent firing pin retaining pin. Gonna try H4831 and 4130 next I think...

[Nimrod]

Sorry, my computer is down so all my posts and pics are from my phone, which has extremely small buttons and an irritating auto correct feature that I don't know how to turn off.

[glane5910]

I wonder if these broken extractors are for a standard bolt faced 7.62x39? If so they'd stick out that 0.011" further possibly causing the fracture to happen when the extracor hits the case instead of kissing it? Did any of these show extraction or feeding problems? How many rounds before they broke?

[Nimrod]

No, this is a Les Baer rifle built for this cartridge. I have over 1000 rounds through it. No trouble at any other time feeding or extracting.

[glane5910]

Ok, I had read of some bolts having the wrong extractors at some point. LB uses the recessed bolt face also. That's just not that many rounds down the tube for that lip to break off.

[Variable]

Mine was an AA bolt also. No other problems with it.

On a side note (and I've posted about it before): One other issue does seem to crop up with the Grendel extractors, and that's their being too sharp. I've had a number of them in builds for friends that needed filed to work properly. The problem has always been that when they cut the extraction groove (forming the lip) they leave the edges sharp. Too sharp (somewhat burred). They grab the brass too well and don't want to let go. You end up having failures to eject because the brass hung on the extractor too long. I just hit them with a jewelers file and the problem goes away. I haven't ordered any bolts from AA in a while though, so I don't know if it's still an occasional issue or not. Just figured I'd toss that in-- in case anyone else has that issue.

[Hektor]

This hard to see, but my extractor broke today in an informal competition. I posted a query elsewhere in this forum. I will call around about a replacement this week.

[LRRPF52]

Ouch! Do you think it broke from pulling, or from impacting the rear of the case?

[stokesrj]

Extractors break, it happens, I've seen more broken extractors on .223's than Grendels, but then there are a whole lot more .223's. Most of the competitors I shoot with keep a spare headspaced bolt with them so a quick change can be made. The rules are that you only have five minutes for a repair or you are disqualified. I actually saw a guy pull his bolt, replace the extractor, using a pin punch and hammer he had in his cart, and get back into competition within the time limit. But wow, that is extra pressure I wouldn't welcome, so I keep a spare bolt control group ready in my cart so I don't have to fiddle with it for long.
Bob

[Hektor]

My plan is to find another extractor and also buy a spare bolt. So, how critical is it to find a specific bolt? I have never had to deal with headspace issues with an AR-15 rifle.
I have shot .223 AR's for a long time and I only broke one extractor but that was in 1998.

[Hektor]

My replacement extractors arrived the other day from Alexander Arms and I installed it. It looks different than a .223 extractor, as it should. I have to wait a month or so to shoot it since I broke my foot last week.

[stokesrj]

You are breaking to many things!

[Sgt 45]

I had my extractor break after 9 rounds in a brand new Tactical Rifles SPG. It was a Sunday and I called them, they got back to me as I was leaving the range. I had a new extractor in a couple of days and then a new design extractor later. Haven't had a chance to shoot much for a slew of reasons.

[Glockzilla]

Now it happened to my Grendel.
The darn thing broke yesterday. Guess I have to cal AA. OR is there any other online store for quick delivery?

[Drifter]

I've used DPMS 7.62x39 extractors without issue. But I always make sure that the extractor face isn't above (or forward of) the bolt face after installation.

MidwayUSA has 'em.