Remington 721 not extracting?

[engineer40]

I was fortunate enough that my Dad just handed down to me a couple family rifles. 1 is my great grandpa's Remington 721 chambered in 270.

My Dad actually shot this rifle a ton back in the late 80's/early 90's. At that time we had a 300 yard shooting range out the back door of our house. (Geez, what I would give for that now!) When my Dad was learning about reloading and learning more about shooting, this was the rifle that he used.

He eventually transitioned to a newer Remington 700. This 721 sat in the closet for 20 years. According to him, it was still in perfect working condition and was still accurate when he last shot it.

More recently when he tried to shoot it again, it was not extracting consistently. He changed out the extractor on the bolt and that was no help.

He has a theory that the throat may not be in as good of shape as it once was and that could be causing the problems.

Have you guys ever heard of throat wear causing extractor issues before? Is that a good place to start investigating?

Thanks! I appreciate your opinions.

 

[shortgrass]

Nerver heard of the throat causing problems like that, but if the bullet is jammed into the rifling....... Most likely, there's some rust or pits in the chamber from sitting for 20 yrs.

 

[engineer40]

Thanks for the tip shortgrass.


I got out and tested the rifle myself this weekend. I'm hoping someone has seen this behavior before...

With unfired ammo, the rifle cycles perfectly. It never missed. I fully loaded the mag 5 times and it ejected all of them.

Once you fire a round, that's where everything falls apart. Every fired round acted the same.
-The empty cases do get pulled about 1/3 of the way out but then the bolt just drops them. The amount did vary a bit; probably as low as 1/4 and as long as 1/2 of the way out sometimes.
-No difference between cycling it slow vs cycling it fast.
-The cases do not feel to be stuck in the chamber. The bolt handle pulls back easily as it should.
-There is no feel of any snag when the cases get dropped. It appears to just "let go" of the case for some reason.
-To get the "dropped" cases out is easy. I can just tip the rifle back or put my finger on the end near the case head and pull it back and then pull it out.

Any ideas? Or any more details that I can provide?

I've Google'ed a bunch. But almost every result I can find is talking about AR rifles not bolt rifles.

Thank you.

 

[shortgrass]

Was the proper extractor installed? The 721 uses the rivited kind. Remove the bolt from the rifle. Remove the ejector. See how a fired case fits the bolt face with the rim hooked under the extractor. You shouldn't be able to pull the case straight off, it should have to 'hinge' its way from under the extractor.

 

[MTBULLET]

+1 on "correct" extractor

 

[ntg]

I'm not certain, but I believe that only the mag calibers had a riveted extractor. I have a 721 in a 270 and I don't thing it has rivets. I'll double check when I can.

 

[shortgrass]

I'm not certain, but I believe that only the mag calibers had a riveted extractor. I have a 721 in a 270 and I don't thing it has rivets. I'll double check when I can.

You may be right! Further thought says they use a unique extractor that doesn't use a rivit. So, If an extractor for a 700 was used, it may not work. Those are the breaks when dealing with the obsolete. I rarely see 721-722s.

 

[ntg]

I ran out of time last night and didn't get a chance to look at my 721, but I fairly sure about it not being riveted. I do recall reading somewhere about using a 700 extractor that you'd have to modify a little to fit in the spot. You'll have to take care to not get it hot or the "spring" will be lost from the metal. I have not personally tried it yet.

 

[ARKLITE881South]

the 721's have 3 different sized extractors, one for magnum bolt faced calibers, one for medium bolt faced calibers and one for smaller bolt faced cal . The 700 non riveted extractor will NOT work, you'll end up breaking it or ruining it. A remington tech told my buddy, the 700 non riveted would work, it didn't. To be fair, they did give my friend a refund. The originals are very hard to find. Hope you find one.

 

[LoneTraveler]

The extractor is the main problem with the Remington 721, 722. They are hard to find at times. I lost the old gunsmith in my area who had quite a stash of 722 721 extractors. His parts just seemed to disappear. I would suggest that you change the main spring in the bolt to. These guns are over 50 years old now. My dad's 722 was giving him problems with popping the firing pen dent out of the primers and the gun went to about 2 inches at 100 yds. I had the main spring replaced with a short action 700 Remington and it cured the holes in the primers and the gun went back below 3/4 inch groups at 100 yds. Good Luck in getting the old shooter back working great.

 

[engineer40]

Was the proper extractor installed? The 721 uses the rivited kind. Remove the bolt from the rifle. Remove the ejector. See how a fired case fits the bolt face with the rim hooked under the extractor. You shouldn't be able to pull the case straight off, it should have to 'hinge' its way from under the extractor.

Thanks for this suggestion. I did perform this test. I can pull the case straight off without needing to hinge it off.

+1 on "correct" extractor

I do believe he put in the correct extractor, unless someone sold him the wrong ones. I know he realizes a 700 extractor would not work. When he gave me the rifle he said "I've already changed out the extractor with a new one but it's still having problems. They are a pain in the butt to find so when I did I bought 2 of them." The spare extractor he gave me looks identical to the one that's installed in the bolt already.


I appreciate everyone's suggestions. It will be nice to get my great grandpa's rifle working again.

 

[shortgrass]

Unfortunately, many used parts, from the used parts dealers, are as worn out as the parts you are trying to replace.

 

[just country]

I bought 6 721's for the actions. I had sako extractors put on all of the bolts. $90.

each. if used for standard calibers. the bolt face will b unaltered. if want to build

a magnum have the smith open the bolt at the time of the extractor replacement.

extremely strong actions.lightbulb

lightbulbu can have good smith true the action. u can

polish the bolt with a jewelers rouge and pencil erases in a battery powered

drill. polish the bolt lugs at the same time.

 

[Lee Goodwin]

Here's a possibility, one day..?

Extractor, Standard Non-Magnum Calibers, New Reproduction (Not For .222 Rem)

REMINGTON 721, 722, 725 Extractor, Standard Non-Magnum Calibers, New Reproduction (Not For .222 Rem)

www.gunpartscorp.com