I'm not positive but it looks like the extractor spring plunger but then the extractor and spring would be missing. I had the extractor blow out when a case ruptured, I went back to the store and north sylva mailed out a replacement in a few weeks, a few weeks later I had another case rupture and lost another extractor. It was without a extractor for a couple a years until a local guy sold me one of his spares, but it ejected and worked fine without a extractor.