The Mauser was intended to be magazine fed, but they can be fired single shot and the bolt should close on a hand inserted round, though it takes a bit of force. Jim
Jim: Depends on the extractor. I don't have a picture of an altered Mauser extractor but some militaries issued Mausers that had a bevel on the extractor. I took my Dremel tool and ground a slight radius on the bottom of the issue Mauser extractor and an increased bevel. There are Mauser extractors that are magazine feed only, and then there are the altered ones that will snap over a round in the chamber. I recommend only feeding from the magazine to spare the extractor and I do that on all claw extractor rifles, including the M70. A bud of mine broke his M70 extractor through fatigue fracture by not feeding from the magazine.
Looks like the bevel was addressed in this thread:
https://www.shootersforum.com/gunsmithing/115545-fitting-mauser-extractors.html
As mentioned earlier, the Ruger M77 as produced for the first 30-or so years(?) of production fed 100% of its rounds with the extractor snapping over the cartridge rim. Ive not had problems with the ones Ive had, or heard of them being prone to breaking extractors, or advised to keep a spare handy.
That type ejector hasn't been mentioned as a weak point in M1 Garands, M14s, ARs or the M16 family, or any other gun with similar ejectors.
I have an early push feed Ruger M77 and I don't like the snap over only feature. I don't know where to get a replacement, maybe you know a source for tang safety extractors? Unless you have worn barrels out on your push feed M77, then you are not going to see failure mechanisms that high volume shooters experience. I can go to the local Gunstore and I doubt I will find one used bolt gun where the barrel was shot out. I will find some where the barrel was rusted out, but I think the average bolt gun is fired less than 100 rounds.
Given time all extractors will failure. I have been on the firing line when push feed M70 extractors failed, and the match director had a kit with replacement extractors! I have seen M700 extractors fail, I have not worn out an AR15 extractor but it is a matter of time. I have had a Garand extractor break and disappear. Extractors are thin but highly stressed. This is another reason to lubricate cartridges for gas guns as rounds between extractor failure will increase. One of the many good reasons POF has fluted its E squared chamber.
In the book, Random Shots page 65, American test FN rifles were breaking their extractors sooner than Belgium test FN rifles. It turns out the Belgium rounds were coated with a light oil which broke the friction between case and chamber, reducing extraction forces . Once the American's got the oil removed, Belgium extractors broke at the same rate as American extractors! Hatcherites would consider this progress.
I would prefer not to stress any of my claw extractors un necessarily. When the pre 64's went out of production, owners who had rifles with worn out extractors were in a pickle. I have one pre 64 with a modified M1917 extractor. Gunsmiths could mill and machine a M1917 extractor to fit, but it was not cheap!. The alternative was a single shot M70, one you manually pushed the round in the chamber, and knocked out with a cleaning rod. I think I took that extractor off and put on a newly made M70 claw, extractors which I have stockpiled for the day they again become hard to find.
The second part quoted was ejector. That part, solid ejector over spring powered plunger in the bolt face, sometimes being mentioned as a desirable advantage in controlled feed over push feed. For myself, Ive not had any failures to eject entirely clear of the action with plunger ejectors, even if trying to save losing the brass or just look at it when working up loads, which I think is a really bad training habit.
It is NOT supposed to be closed on a round dropped into the chamber. This can wreck the extractor.
For those who refuse to believe the Springfield Rifle bolt will close on a single round dropped into the chamber please read " Model 1903 Springfield Rifles " which is an American Rifleman reprint