I'm just wondering if my extractor is normal,
It's lower then the bolt, and it's very stiff and won't move. I put snap caps in and it won't grab the caps unless if I slam the carrier on the round. And it scratches up the rim of the caps.
Can anyone help me?
If you ride the charging handle, you're going to have to gently depress your forward assist to ease the round into battery. Think of how the round gets stripped off the mag, then chambered. The extractor gets pushed over the rim of the case. If your extractor tension starts to rip the rims off cases under live fire, try removing the O ring. The O ring is a reliability add on that increases extractor tension.
My AR-15's chew up the rim of a snap cap. I can only get many uses out of it. I stopped buying snap caps and just make my own inert rounds.
If you're more of a pistol person, the way the AR-15 will chew up the rim of a snap cap is a bit confusing. When a pistol chambers a round, it strips one off the mag, and the rim of the case slides under the extractor and the extractor pops a bit over the rim at the same time.
Do this. Safety check your semi-auto pistol. Lock the slide back. Drop a snap cap into the chamber. Ride the slide slowly home. The slide will not return to full battery without a fist-bump on the rear of the slide. You have to force the extractor over the rim of the case.
Now try the same exercise with a dummy round in a mag. Insert the mag with the dummy round. Slowly ride the slide home. You'll see that the pistol will return to full battery. You'll see what I'm talking about with the extractor.
...and I add the caveat that I'm not an AR-15 armorer, expert, or anything. I just play one on TV.
