I dropped it off with an old-time gunsmith this week that said he’d have it fixed for me in a few weeks, so we’ll see what happens, thanks everyone.
Good call on taking it to a good gunsmith. It looks like to me that someone replaced the claw extractor with one for a standard cartridge and not a magnum. It is a easy fix to get the contour correct and the right fit for a competent gunsmith. Should be sorted out in a short period of time.
Just following up here, picked the gun from from the Smith last week, took it out to the ranch yesterday, functioning great. Thanks to everyone for your input!
I think he slightly adjusted the pitch of the extractor at its lowest point and maybe added a little relief to the fixed side of the bolt.
Thank you 686 Good! As I wrote in September 22th, the pitch of the extractor at its lowest point is what I saw as the main cause of the tight fit. Good luck! CF