I bought one of these actions a dozen years ago and have finally begun a rifle on it. It was new but didn’t have an extractor. It took two months but Dakota (Remington Custom Shop) sold me an extractor but I just don’t see how the part they sent could possibly work. Anyone out there have or have worked on one of these? I’d like to see what the extractor cut in the breachface looks like as well as what the extractor looks like, and if there’s a spring involved with it.

Contact James Anderson. He posts as Gunmaker on this board. He also worked for Dakota and knows the workings of the actions well.

It's been 23 years since I've worked on one. Pretty sure I used to draw a 45 degree sharpie line on the receiver and swing the turret on the Bridgeport over to one side so the barrel would clear. using a long endmill just machine at the 45 deg until the extractor rim was exposed enough for the extractor to engage. Pretty sure there was a mousetrap spring installed on the pivot of the extractor. The extractor cut machined a slot in the receiver as well as the barrel.

It's been a long time so this info could be out dated. I know they changed part of the receiver after I left back in 1997.

Thanks, James. What you describe is about what I’ve figured out. What threw me is the receiver. There was a slot cut with a 1/4” end mill at the bottom center, where I now know the extractor has to fit. The extractor is.275” wide so I opened that up so the extractor would fit and guesstimated a 30-degree angle and fabricated a dummy barrel shank to experiment with. So far it looks like I have to cut that slot in the receiver quite a bit further forward for it to work. I’ll try 45-degrees tomorrow.

I’ve been trying to get info from Dakota but they haven’t yet been helpful. In desperation I called Henderson’s this morning and one of their folks texted me a couple photos of a completed rifle’s breachface which helped a lot, but when I asked if the extractor was spring loaded he said it wasn’t. I was pretty sure it won’t work without a spring holding it up against the barrel and you’ve confirmed that. Thanks.

Again it's been 23 years and I'm just guessing at 45 degrees.

As Dr. MC Coy said to the reborn Spock in regards to Jumping the Time Travel Equation in Space: "he has more faith in your guesses than most people's facts"

James, you have proven yourself to be knowledgeable and careful. Your skills are very good. Therefore, I am never hesitant to suggest to another craftsman that you may have the ability to help. I do not do it lightly or often.

James is correct. It is 45 degrees.

45 it is then. So as I find my long 1/4” end mill I’ll cut it. Thanks a bunch.