Does anyone have an animation or good explanation of how it works?

What causes it to kick the brass the way it does? Rearward motion? Gas?

It does not kick the brass at all.  That is the job of the ejector on the opposite, inside section of your bolt head.  The extractor hold the brass on one side, the extractor pushes on the other side, and when the bolt moves to the rear as the rifle cycles the brass is no longer held by the chamber so it is free to flip out and back to the right.  The reason it doe snot do this when loading is becasue the round has to be seated and the extracotr only slips over the rim and the ejector is compressed after the round is chambered and the bolt locks into place.

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Quoted: It does not kick the brass at all.  That is the job of the ejector on the opposite, inside section of your bolt head.  The extractor hold the brass on one side, the extractor pushes on the other side, and when the bolt moves to the rear as the rifle cycles the brass is no longer held by the chamber so it is free to flip out and back to the right.  The reason it doe snot do this when loading is becasue the round has to be seated and the extracotr only slips over the rim and the ejector is compressed after the round is chambered and the bolt locks into place.

I didn't realize there was an ejector and an extractor.. I figured I was calling the extractor the wrong name when I called it the ejector.

So looking here



The little nub on the bolt face (#6) is the ejector? And #7 is the extractor?

Which one is prone to breaking? Which one do you buy new springs for?

So the extractor gets kicked out to the right a little when the spent brass is ejected? Is that what the spring in it is for?

Quoted: Quoted: It does not kick the brass at all.  That is the job of the ejector on the opposite, inside section of your bolt head.  The extractor hold the brass on one side, the extractor pushes on the other side, and when the bolt moves to the rear as the rifle cycles the brass is no longer held by the chamber so it is free to flip out and back to the right.  The reason it doe snot do this when loading is becasue the round has to be seated and the extracotr only slips over the rim and the ejector is compressed after the round is chambered and the bolt locks into place. I didn't realize there was an ejector and an extractor.. I figured I was calling the extractor the wrong name when I called it the ejector. So looking here www.impactguns.com/store/media/dpms-bt-parts.jpg The little nub on the bolt face (#6) is the ejector? And #7 is the extractor? Which one is prone to breaking? Which one do you buy new springs for? So the extractor gets kicked out to the right a little when the spent brass is ejected? Is that what the spring in it is for?

The spring forces the lip of the extractor over the rim on chambering.  When the bolt is traveling rearward, the case is held concentric with the chamber by the chamber until the neck of the case exits where the ejector flips the case out.  The case "rolls" out of the extractor.

The spring provides resistance to the extractor snapping off.  But a worn extractor or weak spring can inhibit it.

Cool, thanks for the info

what do the gas rings do?