INDIAN WARS, M-1882, TRAPDOOR .45/70 HEADLESS SHELL EXTRACTOR, 2nd PATTERN

An improvement on the First Pattern introduced in 1875, the Model 1882 Headless Shell Extractor were the result of the continuing effort to address the tendency of the soft copper cartridges to stick in the chamber of the Model 1873 Trapdoor Springfield Rifles and Carbines upon being fired.  This is the more commonly seen later pattern removable drift with a single row of gripping serrations around the centerline.

The Headless Shell Extractor provided the means for the soldier to drive out the cartridge case and rejoin the battle, thus one of the more important gun tools from the Indian War era.   See Gun Tools, Their History and Identification, Shaffer, Rutledge, and Dorsey, pages 257-260 for more information.