[ithacaartist]

I shoot from within a cardboard box with appropriate holes, until I have developed at least some confidence that the replacement extractor will stay in place! This practice has saved the day.

I have the opposite problem with the conversion kit I have--I cannot get the extractor out in order to clean. The breech block of the kit presents an opening in the front, from which the extractor's claw protrudes, and a vertical hole in the top. The blocks of the KGP pistols are open on top--a slot for the extractor body with a vertical hole at its rear. Both kits and KGP pistols house the spring and plunger in a horizontal hole that opens into the toggle pin hole, toward the rear of the block.

Theoretically, one would reach into the hole in the top of the block and press the plunger and spring back into their well/hole so they do not intrude into the vertical hole. The extractor can then rise so that its "tail" piece is clear of its well/hole, at which point the extractor body can be pulled out forward from its confines. I can get the plunger back, but the extractor body refuses to budge in this way. It does pivot up OK, to latch onto the round's rim.