Apparatus and methods to improve the functioning of a firearm includes a simplistic, condensed extractor mechanism that is easy to manufacture. Two symmetrical extractors mounted on the sides of a sliding breech block rotate around a pivot point and navigate forward to connect to the rim of a cartridge in the barrel of a firearm. Spring arrangements force the extractors upward and forward in an extraction/ejection cycle that begins with the extractor arms grabbing the rear end of a cartridge, moving rearward with the cartridge or spent case on a horizontal plane relative to the rifle barrel. The extracted case is rotated upward at an angle, then moved forward and fed into an ejection chute just above the barrel. Concurrently, another round is fed into the chamber of the barrel and the extractor arms cam down thereby engaging the rim of a new cartridge; thus completing the cycle.