[Fake Name]

I have seen broken shell extractors for sale in various catalogs and internet sites. Is it worth buying? Has anyone here ever had a broken shell casing and not been able to get it out?

Here's what I'm talking about:
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/SKS080-1176-902.html

[wideym]

I've only seen one shell that had the bottom of the case ripped off and it was on a M2 .50cal. The squad forgot to bring their assceory bag and tried to pry the stuck case out with a knife and a screwdriver, leaving the case hopelessly stuck. I ended up having to code out the barrel and order a new one.

I would'nt waste my money on a SKS shell extractor though. Most SKS ammo is steel cased and I've never seen or heard of one ripping. Maybe reloaded brass might.

[bmitchell]

The customer reviews on the site both mention that neither of them have ever needed to use the tool but give it several marks anyway. I don't get this.
Anyway,
To supplement wideym's response, the 7.62x39 is a fairly tapered casing and unless your chamber is severely pitted this tool doesn't seem necessary.

[rcmodel]

If only the rim is ripped off, you can knock the case out with a cleaning rod every time.

If the case is actually broken, the front section can usually be snatched out with a bronze bore brush pushed partway in, and then reversed and pushed out so the bristles are leaning into the case mouth.

Further, if you are consistently breaking cases, either your old mil-sup ammo is bad, or you have a seriously excessive headspace problem with the rifle that needs to be fixed.

rcmodel

[Onmilo]

Broken cases occur much more frequently in machine guns than rifles.
I have a set of shell extractors in the tool kit and have used a shell extractor
on a rifle maybe twice in twenty some years of gunsmithing.

When a shell breaks in a machine gun chamber it usually ties the gun up and invloves taking the gun down to clear the live round, then reassembling the gun and then using the shell extractor to clear the broken case.

Broken cartridge cases occurred much more frequently fifty years ago when cartridge cases were much weaker than they are today.