3-S,  I have never done anything with 'walls in .22 except to continue using the same extractors that Winchester gave them.  However, if you go deeply into the archives of this board, you will find a couple of quite extensive discussions on this very topic.  IIRC, the lamented former member, JD Steele, a very senior 'wall enthusiast, FITZ, and a couple of others used a lot of bandwidth to good effect discussing the pros and cons of both original strategies and several alternatives.

HTH ~ Froggie

The extractor 40rod describes is a takeoff from early Ballards. It was perfected I believe by Eric Johnson in small bore match rifles. Later picked up by Arthur Elliot a barrel maker from Fall River Mass. who specialised in .22 caliber target rifles, mostly Schuetzen. I have two by Elliot, one a Winchester Hiwall and the second a Ballard 6 1/2 they are both superb rifles. The extractor cut is a "T" slot along the side of the Barrel and the extractor is fitted to it so the that it moves along the axis of the barrel. It is fitted so closely that when you first open the action slowly you cannot see where it is fitted. But when you continue the lever motion all of a sudden it slides out. The extractor is slotted so that an extractor arm that is in place of the original extractor
and rides in the slot just moves it smoothly back and forth as the action is operated. The extractor is fitted to the chamber Rim cut the same as a center fire and is a joy to see. In a Hiwall it sometimes is a pain to remove the empty shells as the extractor just barely clears them from the chamber. You get very adept at resting the front end of the barrel on something with a soft cloth so you can flip the rifle upside down to let the empty drop out. Makes it clear why Pope machined off one sidewall on High Wall small bore rifles. HTH.
Regards, FITZ.

Bibbyman, I am a Hiwall enthusiast. But I truly believe that the .22 Extractor that Winchester chose must have been designed by an internal enemy of the company. The Winder Musket version just made it worse because so many were built. The two piece Ballard design could not be considered a "Drop in conversion" The proper way would be to start by setting the barrel back to romove that nasty milled cut across the bootom edge of the chamber. Once that was done then you could move forward with the proper machining of a "T" slot along the axis the bore. This needs to be done very carefully in order for the extractor to move smoothly. The new extractor arm could be made out of the old extractor as it is a flat arm that sticks up into a slot in the new extractor/ejector. If I were planning on a serious match shooting career with this rifle I would probably
mill out the side wall on the right hand side to facilitate loading and removal of empty's. Having to flip the rifle over and fight to remove fired shell which in some cases can get bent or stuck tring to remove them by raising the breech block will take from your concentration for match shooting efforts. You do not need extra distractions and work to affect your shooting effort. I have an A. Elliot match schuetzen that I am planning on a complete restoration and I am planning on cutting away the side wall as a result of past experince. HTH Regards, FITZ.

Ballard arms has new extractors for $75. I have a few wax cast ones left that will require fitting and case hardening at $20 each. I own the mold but I don't have the equipment to do the casting and that's what they cost me after the shipping. If I get any more cast I will have them made from 4140 so the heat treat will be easier.
A two piece extractor could be made but requires someone with machining skills. I just made one for a Ballard centerfire that was converted to rimfire but did not have the firing pin moved, the barrel was set off center with the chamber at the 12 o'clock position.

Somewhere in my foggy memory there is a vision of a 22 firing pin that hit in two places 180º apart.

John Taylor wrote on Jul 14^th, 2013 at 10:19am:


How much fitting?   

Will it require a chamber reamer to cut the chamber and rim pocket?

Simple hardening instructions any novice gunsmith could handle?  I apparently didn't do the one that's broke any good.

I don't have a vertical mill or free access to one. But I recently bought a mini lathe from Harbor Fraight.  I've not even used it yet. May be able to use it like a horizontal mill. I'll have to do some head scratching.   

I have done a lot of file work that has turned out well. And I have the old part to use as a guide. 

The shaky part is the harding.  I'd need some guidance to try it again.