A hollow relativistic electron beam produced in a strong axial magnetic field has been extracted into a neutral gas cell where the field is zero. In the field‐free region, equilibrium is dictated by a balance between thevz×B&thgr;radial pinch force and the centrifugal outward force. Extraction and propagation of these beams has been studied experimentally with a variety of diagnostics. A strong, low‐frequency filamentation instability is observed after extraction. In general, 80% of the beam energy has been extracted and propagated 75 cm. Beam equilibrium properties are in good agreement with simple theory with the exception of the azimuthal plasma current.