Thread: Savage Extractor Replacement

Might be of interest……..long story.

Recently I had a self induced disaster – I broke the tip off the extractor claw on my Savage 22 Hornet (currently my favorite toy). I did a careless thing, tried to chamber an empty case from my BRNO Hornet in the Savage to see if it would fit. Mmmm it wouldn’t, far too tight dickhead and when I wrenched the bolt back (should have poked the case out with cleaning rod) I tore the tip off the RH extractor. And it wasn’t hard to do, no undue force.

Stripped both left and right claws out and examined them and they appeared to be poorly made mild steel stampings although the shear point had a crystalline look about it so maybe it was a tad harder/tougher than the rest of it

Then, just to compound matters over the course of the next few days I “lost” the RH broken one in my reloading room – no, it’s not too untidy. F…wit! Turned the joint upside down – at least useful to retrieve dead bloody primers.

That left me with only with the LH side claw.

Contacted Savage – no spares as rifle discontinued a few years ago, not very good. Nothing at Numrich or Brownells. Put posting on the USA Savage forum asking for assistance – no responses.

So, to make one myself. Searched thru all my junk steel and eventually found a very old scraper made out of a power hack saw blade – perfect for thickness and hardness. Replacement ended up taking many many hours to make. Thank goodness for the good old Dremel. Couldn’t totally use the LH claw as a template either as its tip is shaped slightly different to the RH side so had to do some suck it and see – shape a bit, try, shape a bit, try. Shit scared I would remove too much metal and have to start again. Bit of trickiness getting the right angle on the tip so that it engaged with the rim correctly and the cone shape of the back of the barrel. I was also able to just view the tips by looking in the gas ports on either side of the action and all good. Tempered the finished item and refitted everything and you beauty, perfect extraction. I will probably replace the LH claw at some stage as it is showing signs of wear.

Message to self – don’t do that again. Hate to think what a smith would have charged.