I recently acquired a Model 52-1 with an early style extractor. It is my policy to completely disassemble any newly acquired S&W 52 in order to properly clean and inspect the internal parts to make sure that all is well. I noticed when I removed the extractor the well beneath was heavily packed with gun powder residue. Because of how tightly packed the gun powder guck was, the extractor appeared to have no room for flexibility which could lead to breakage when extracting a shell. It then occurred to me that this could probably be one of the primary reason that this extractor has a tendency to break. I don't in any way profess to be an expert on this, it just a suggestion as to it being one of the major reason for breakage. Even though I suggest extreme caution when doing so, the extractor should be removed at some time to inspect what's underneath it and should probably be done by a gunsmith if your the least bit skittish about doing it. In all probability, the extractor has never been removed since leaving the factory.