I've always cradled my Krag with the barrel pointing to the left, and pulled up on the extractor with the notch of the forward knuckle of my left index finger (and yes, still painful) but that's how I've always done it!  Of course, no one ever instructed me when I acquired my first Krag (I was about 20 years old at the time), and had to figure it out on my own.

Now... about the chicken, I'll take a bucket of original recipe... and NO WINGS please!