RFB extractor issues?

[sapper043]

So today I was enjoying my recent purchase until it failed to feed/eject every round no matter what. I fired about 35 rounds of 180 grain federal soft points before this began to happen without issue once and both my mags are new thermold mags.

After a detailed tear down I discovered that the extractors are the issue. When the bolt carrier is removed from the rifle completely they should be in the extract position (raised) but they are staying in the bolt face. I ensured that the spring is aligned and that they can move but there is definate friction in thier motion. I removed them and cleaned them and they were moving freely until I replaced the extractor spring clamp (PN#308), then the friction returned and they ceased moving without force. This would explain why it was feeding a round without extracting a casing as it is supposed too.

I had seen others with this issue as the empty casings were jammed into the ejector chute directly above the chamber leaving them square. Is there a replacement extractor lift spring with a higher tension (pn#306) or what was your solution?

I didn't even get enough rounds down range to finish my zero. I completed my gas setting adjustments and was starting to get rounds on paper (MBUS) but I wanted to actually try to get a grouping but was so frustrated having to drop the mag and fish out the casings after each round.

 

[stormtrooper1015]

I test my extractors with a round captured by them...so with my bolt carrier group removed they are stiff anf do not move freely until I put a round under the extractors. Some casings are different and do not "spread" the extractors enough for them to move freely.

 

[Throttle_monkey1]

I had the same issue. Some rounds are different of diameters when measured in the groove. Some hornady ammo mic'd 20 thou less than all my other ammo in the groove and wouldn't spread the extractors far enough apart. Lube the gun and it should be ok after checking your ammo.

I went as far as disassembling my extractors and polishing the sides of the bolt before checking my ammo

 

[sapper043]

I completely tore apart my bolt and extractors and cleaned the hell out of it. It wasn't dirty and I could find no visable burrs or debris but after reassembly I tried placing a round in the extractors empty and it was rasing them. Then I tried them in the gun and cycled the action manually and it was ejected the rounds smoothly.

I didn't realize that rounds base dia were so varied but I am still no happy with how much tension is there and would like it to move freely or with less binding than is occuring now. I may polish the insides of the extractors where they make contact with the bolt then do the same on the bolt. I have contacted Vault to see if they offer a replacement extractor spring.

No one wants a gun that jams and I know with any new rifle I will have some bugs to work out. I think once this gets resolved I can't see having too many issues in the future.

 

[sapper043]

I had the same issue. Some rounds are different of diameters when measured in the groove. Some hornady ammo mic'd 20 thou less than all my other ammo in the groove and wouldn't spread the extractors far enough apart. Lube the gun and it should be ok after checking your ammo.

I went as far as disassembling my extractors and polishing the sides of the bolt before checking my ammo

I test my extractors with a round captured by them...so with my bolt carrier group removed they are stiff anf do not move freely until I put a round under the extractors. Some casings are different and do not "spread" the extractors enough for them to move freely.

What did you do to prevent this from happening? Do you check every round or is there a brand to avoid (other than Hornady?

It should take any .308 casing without having to take out the calipers and measure the casings before use.



I measured the Federal 180 Grain Soft points and they were all .405 thou, and my bolt (gen2) is also .405 thou so I can see this being an issue and not spreading the extractors enough.

 

[Throttle_monkey1]

.405" sounds good. I had some bad cases that were around .383" that were causing me issues. My bolt measured .410" which is in spec. It had rough machining marks so I sanded it for a few hours to smooth it out. I didn't polish the extractors.

There are some YouTube vids out there. I was frustrated as well especially when I could barely move my extractors by hand. But when I put a good case in it, it was fine.

I only encountered the thin case grooves on one box of hornady 110 grain Vmax.

Lube your mags, and extractors and you should be good to go. Mine has been flawless with thermold mags or lubed steel mags once I broke it in.

 

[rally guy]

Cant help you much on this. Other then my extracter as always ben tight and never moved on is on(heavy friction) but it never gave me grief.

 

[rally guy]

Befor you put the file to it you should really shoot kel-tec a email. They will ben them self backwort to help you.

 

[stormtrooper1015]

Mine shoots what it is in the magazine - that steal cased Russian (I think...) from SFRC for plunking, and Winchester Ballistic Silvertip for game - zero extraction issues...

 

[enfield303t]

My son had one that was a problem from the second round on. I think it may be the first one that had the ejector problem. Went for repair which took a few months as he was told they actually had to make a tool to repair the ejector problem. When returned it had a even more serious problem. Returned it and would never buy another one.

I will say the dealer he bought it from was more than courteous to deal with and they were caught in the middle. In the end they agreed to take the gun back, have no idea what happened with it after that.