[eajonesyk2]

Hi, thank you for this forum.

It appears from posts here and elsewhere that many of the XL7's have a weak extractor issue. Mine broke this weekend and indeed it looks like cast material. I called Marlin this morning and after a long period of being on hold I finally got through to a person. They said the extractors are on back order and it would be at least 2 weeks maybe longer before they would expect them in. I asked if they could just replace the bolt head and he said I would have to send in the rifle but those are on back order as well. I found a savage part at Brownell's that looks very close to the Marlin part but one of the techs there actually measured the part for me and it is too large.

Does anybody have a source for the Marlin XL7 extractor? I read an earlier post where somebody suggested there would be a market for an upgraded machined part. I agree and would buy one. If anybody has extras and an account on Gunbroker put them up there they might fetch there weight in gold.

I am joining a local gun club with a 230 acre range area next weekend and it looks like I will be shooting my newly converted "muzzle unloader".
Take a shot and then tap out old case with cleaning rod, take another shot, rinse and repeat.

 

[dmsbandit]

I've never heard of an extractor issue, just an ejector issue. The ejector has a weak spring that any 'smith can replace, and I bet a 'smith can handle the extractor issue too.

 

[grout-scout]

How in the heck did the extractor break? I think you might have gotten a bad part.

 

[karatoula]

There have been many issues with the extractor breaking in the X series, it's an MIM (metal injection molding) piece. They are very cheap and eventually will weaken over time and probably will break at some point in time. That is one of the reasons why the Marlin X series retail for what is a low price in todays market, that and the cast bolt and receiver, they are much cheaper to produce than forged pieces, and more than likely will not last as long as forged pieces.

 

[eajonesyk2]

It is definitely the extractor. The claw part that grabs the case snapped off. The ejector pin is still intact and seems to be working fine. For such a small part I can't see why they could not have used forged steel for this part. The fact that Marlin has the parts on back order along with the bolt head reinforces my belief that this more common problem then we know. I have read posts regarding Savage having a similar problem in the past, maybe due to a bad batch of extractors.

For now I will load one at a time and manually tap out the cases. This will not make a good first impression at the new range. I can hear it now, look at that dude trying to load his centerfire with black powder. I only paid $240 for this rifle and I love it. Much more fun to shoot than the Savage 111(no adjustable trigger) I had before. Recoil is pleasant and it shoots much better than I can. Hopefully a new extractor will show up sooner rather than later. Having a gunsmith work on it is not in my budget right now, club fees are going to be over $200.

 

[grout-scout]

Man that sure does suck for you! I think alot of their parts are backordered because of the move to the new plants, at least that's what a fella told me when I tried to order another stock. His exact words were "A bunch of our parts are backordered because of the move," so I take that as they are in boxes and nobody can find them. If you need a bolt bad enough I'll mail you one of mine to use as long as you pay whatever the shippings cost are. You need a XS or XL I have one of each.

 

[eajonesyk2]

Hey grout-scout I really appreciate the loaner offer but with my luck I would rather not risk anyone's stuff but my own. Thanks again though for the offer, very kind.

That makes sense about the move so hopefully they get settled in pretty quick. It could be worse, at least my rifle can be safely fired. By loading one at a time and tapping out the spent cases I might meet some people. If I saw somebody shoving a cleaning rod down his tube after every shot I would ask him what was up.

 

[MarlinXL7]

At least you can get the cases out with a cleaning rod. The extractor on my brother's Savage MkII is pretty worn now, and it looks kinda dumb to pull out your knife and try to catch the rim of the case whenever one gets stuck (which is pretty often).

 

[dmsbandit]

Contrary to popular belief, there is no reason for the cast parts to fail sooner. Ruger makes most of their firearms with cast parts and I hear no one complain about Rugers falling apart. I have thousands of rounds thru 2 of my "X" guns and they have had no issues at all relating to their MFG processes.

 

[woodyed]

I'm pretty sure you can't just have the exractor sent to you either. If I'm reading and interpeting their manual right, the extractor, ball, and spring have to be factory installed. This sounds like you have to send them your bolt, or maybe even the complete rifle, for their factory installation, I don't know which. I agree with another posters observation that Ruger has been using MIM parts for many years now and I've never heard of any complaints. I sure hope Marlin addresses this problem and doesn't follow in Remington's footsteps regarding the gun discharging when the safety was taken off. Now that Marlin is associated with and in bed with Remington, this worries me.

 

[eajonesyk2]

Woodyed, the manual does indicate that these parts are restricted and must be factory installed but the Marlin guy I talked to said they will send me the extractor and a ball and spring second day air when the extractors arrive. They do not require the gun to be sent in for these parts.

I would have like to have purchased a Ruger but they sell for at least twice the price. Maybe the MIM process in general is not the problem. It just seems like such a small thin part doing a hard job could be made out of a more rugged material for little extra expense.

 

[eajonesyk2]

You won't believe this but my extractor arrived today. They shipped it next day air from UPS. I take back all the bad things I said or was thinking about them. I will call tomorrow and thank them. I might try to order another one for safe keeping. The new part fit like a glove and it is very black in color compared to the old one which had almost a dark bronze color to it. My old extractor had a number 2 stamped on it but the new part has a number 3 stamped on it. I wonder if this number is related to a revision of the part. Anyways I am going to baby this one and I am looking forward to joining the gun club this weekend. By the way the package was sent from Remington Arms. One other note the extractor is listed on the invoice as "EXTRACTOR, MIM"

Quick survey: Does anybody have a number other than a 2 or 3 stamped on their extractor?

 

[teacherboy]

Nice, nice, nice

 

[45-70marlin]

My extractor is stamped no. 4 on my 7mm-08, I also ordered another one for my rifle. The guy I talked to [Steve] was very nice and I asked him if he heard anything on this broken extractor stuff. he said he didnt hear anything about problems with them. go figure. ???

 

[woodyed]

eajonesyk2--- did you have to remove the bolt head to install the new exractor?

 

[eajonesyk2]

woodyed, that is a big negative, no bolt head removal necessary. Use a small flat screwdriver and push old extractor from the inside to the outside. watch out for the small ball bearing that may go flying. The spring will likely just stay in it's hole. I held down the ball with the blade of the flat screwdriver as I slid the new extractor in.

The ejector pin would be a different story, bolt head would probably have to come off to replace that.

 

[DannoBoone]

Does anyone here know how to remove/replace the bolt head?

The #4 is also stamped on the extractor of my 7mm-08.

 

[Dangerous Dan]

A Savage Extractor will Work Just Fine In a Marlin DD

 

[45-70marlin]

Hey Danno, to remove the bolt head take out the bolt from the rifle and look underneath the bolt shroud and you will see a square grove cut in it, you will see that it goes right threw the other side. place a punch the right size of the opening or a finnishing nail as I use and procead to unscrew out the striker assembly. that would be the bolt shroud and fireing pin. you will notice it is in a small notch in the bolt body so when you unscrew it you still may have to pull back some on the puch to release the assembly to unscrew it. when you remove the striker assembly you then can push out the bolt head pin, then remove the bolt head. to reassemble just do in reverse. its not that hard. it takes me longer to write this than dissasemble it.

 

[DannoBoone]

Thanks, 45-70marlin! My punches are too large, and nails are either too large or way too small, but I
see exactly what ya mean. It's much like the Rem788, except with a square groove instead of a
small hole. ;D Once I get the correct size of sumthin', it will be a simple piece of cake. Thanks
again!