Quote Originally Posted by gew8805 View Post
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The oil bottle? The broken shell extractor won't fit in the oil bottle and if you store spare parts in it, where will you keep your oil? Oil is guaranteed to be needed and the average soldier was not encouraged to replace broken extractors and springs. Not that they couldn't, it was just that they were going to need oil more than spare parts. Unit armorers had the spare parts.
Absolutely correct in WW1 & WW2 the soldier couldnt go home in the evening, and in the comfort of his own home, strip down and clean his rifle - we can.

Slide forward 50 - 100 years
We dont need oil in the bottle (and anyway, most of them leak and oil-soak your butt.

Its a great idea to have easily broken, small parts on hand when at the range or out hunting. a broken extractor can ruin your day, but if you've got one with you it can be fixed in minutes.
I have a 'repair kit' in an oil botle for each of my 303s - and yes - a broken case extractor easily fits in the bottle (but you do need to unscrew/remove the spoon) You can even fit in a small watchmakers screwdriver.