Fox Ejector conversion from Extractor

[brookieslayer]

Good Morning Everyone,

First of all Happy Holidays!

I have recently purchased a 20 ga and a 16 ga fox Sterlingworth. Both Philli guns that are built on #3 barrels. Have any of you here had extractor guns converted to ejector guns?
How did the process go? Who might be a good Smith to talk to about it? Also any regrets?

Thanks in advance for the answers!


Paul

[Researcher]

At the time a Sterlingworth had a net selling price of $25, the charge to convert an extractor gun to ejectors was $10. This in a factory that had all the jigs, fixtures and parts to do it. Meanwhile the net selling price of a Sterlingworth Ejector was $32.50. What I'm getting at is that it is a bad idea. If you want ejectors, get an ejector gun and move the extractor guns on down the river of commerce.

[Silvers]

A little extra machining work is required inside the frame but your biggest challenge will be getting all the small bore ejector parts. NOS parts can be found but many of them are unfinished and need additional machining, heat treatment etc before being fitted. Best to find donor Fox Ejector small bore guns in bad shape but with good parts. Good luck on that. Also some of the parts have subtle dimensional differences and the conversions can become a nightmare with limited parts to mix/match into another Fox, and thus become a money pit. Then there's finding a good Fox 'smith who knows what he’s doing and has a relatively short queue.

Long story short, Dave is spot on. If you really want Fox small bore Ejector guns your best bet to sell yours and find two that don't need work.

frank

[TOOL MAN]

Brookie,

Trust me, over time you will learn to LOVE those extractors, like a full bottle of Extra Strength Excedrin.
In short......far fewer headaches!!!

[Jeff S]

I have 6 with ejectors,and 6 with extractors. The only time I miss the ejectors is when I'm shooting skeet while wearing gloves. Other than that, extractors are just fine.

[Stan Hillis]

I went through researching the same idea of conversion, and soon found it was wise to leave it alone.

But, I do love ejectors. I want them on every gun I own. They do not all have them, but if it was up to me they would. My first Fox was a 30" Sterly extractor gun, and I shot doves hard with it a whole season. After that season I decided I didn't want another, and have never bought one. I have shot with many different ejector guns for many years, even using them very hard on high volume shoots in Argentina. In tens of thousands of rounds I've never had an ejector to fail on me. They would get sluggish in Argentina due to plastic buildup in the chambers, but a few swipes with a chamber brush would restore perfect ejection for another 500-600 or so rounds. Never had one break. My only dealings with a broken ejector was with on a BE that I bought with a broken ejector guide pin. I repaired it myself several years ago and have been shooting it ever since with no issues. I detailed that repair procedure in a post on page 3 of our "Technician and Restoration Forum".

It's good that there are lots of extractor guns for those who prefer them, but the only way I see me buying another is if it was a screaming deal.

JME, SRH

[brookieslayer]

Guys,

Thanks for all the replies! I really do appreciate the insights. I do love my ejector guns, however, before getting serious about a conversion I will talk to a competent smith about the work and the likelihood of success with the projects.

Best of the New Year to all of you!

Paul

[jfky]

Converting is an uphill battle. Heck just converting a extractor barrel to ejector is a pain in the, well you get the point. I found a set of 32" orphan extractor barrels which I wanted to add to a 28" ejector gun. Found two complete fore ends with excellent wood and several sets of ejectors from parts guns with bad barrels. Fitting a set of barrels is something I have done many times. Fitting and converting this set was a time consuming ordeal. I ended up getting a friend to use his milling machine to save me hours of work. And I hated doing it but sometimes you just need to cut your losses and get it done.

[vaturkey]

I believe Dan Rossiter has done a few. I almost think from prior discussions with him, that the conversion on the frame side is easier then the work required on the forearm. Converting the barrels from extractor to ejector isn't as hard I believe and split ejector blades are available from Jason Barden. The actual innards of the forearm itself requires lots of parts and lots of fitting. The more fitting the more cost involved. I'd think you would be looking at more then $1,000 worth of labor itself to do this, not counting the price of the parts in the white.

IMO its only something you would do if you wanted to do a custom gun or upgrade a lower grade gun to a really high grade small bore gun (XE and above, which all came with ejectors). No one IMO would want to upgrade a base sterlingworth to an ejector sterlingworth. Just not worth the effort and cost involved. Right off the bat you would also be looking at making a brand new forearm to make it work.

PS. Actually the more I run the math through my head, its probably a $2,500 project to convert counting making a new forearm.

[Brian]

Get thee behind me Satan!!!!
don't do it.
I was going to do that with a gun Dan Rossiter was upgrading. I bough all of the parts including fore-end iron to make an ejector fore end and convert receiver to ejectors. cost north of 800.00
Dan was considering it.
even with unfit factory parts, lots and lots of work. The juice wasn't worth the squeeze so I went back to extractors.
I know Dan did one gun and I think if anyone asked him to do another , he would either break out the pistol and silver bullets (cuz you must be Satan to ask) or quote you a very high price.
In the end I went with extractors and haven't looked back.
If you cant live without ejectors, buy an ejector donor gun. even if you paid 3K for a really nice sterlingworth ejector 20 you would be light years ahead.

[Sporrns]

What Tom (VA Turkey) and Brian both said - I have a beautiful AE 20 that was completely restored over 45 years ago that the original forend wood disintegrated on. No choice but to have a new forend made. Dan Rossiter showed me why Fox ejector forearms, especially smallbores, are so expensive, time-consuming and delicate to get right the first time out. Inletting the ejector mechanism correctly where it butts up against the base of the forearm wood (at the action break) is like trying to carve a spider web out of hardwood. The bearing surfaces, especially on the sides of the forearm wood, are so thin that great care must be taken not to relieve too much; otherwise they will crack and ultimately break off after a couple of hundred rounds if not done correctly. Just having a new one made up to accommodate an extractor to ejector conversion will put you north of $1000 in a hurry. Kevin

[Brian Dudley]

Machining of the frame is NOT required to convert a Fox frame from ejector to extractor. The frame is ready machined for either. The factory just plugs up the holes for the trips in the knuckle of the frame. These plugs just need to be punched out and then the proper parts installed.
Granted they do not always come out that easy. But I at least wanted to correct previous miss-information posted in this thread.

Personally I would think you had REALLY want an ejector gun and have a lot of extra money to spend if you want to have this done. Just buy an ejector gun from the get go.

[Silvers]

Machining of the frame is NOT required to convert a Fox frame from ejector to extractor. The frame is ready machined for either. The factory just plugs up the holes for the trips in the knuckle of the frame. These plugs just need to be punched out and then the proper parts installed.
Granted they do not always come out that easy. But I at least wanted to correct previous miss-information posted in this thread.

Personally I would think you had REALLY want an ejector gun and have a lot of extra money to spend if you want to have this done. Just buy an ejector gun from the get go.

And let me correct misinformation just posted here by Mr Dudley. The nose of the long ejector-type mainspring follower must pass through a clearance hole in the hinge pin (on each side) and those holes are not always drilled through on extractor guns - no reason to do that for the extractor type follower. Thus some extra machining is required as I'd written here earlier. If Mr Dudley has his table at the Northeast SxS at Hausmann's in June I'll be happy to bring an extractor frame and an ejector mainspring follower and he can show me how that will work without drilling a concentric hole though the hinge pin on each side. Also a second correction - there are extractor Foxes that were not drilled and reamed for the plugs in the knuckle that he wrote about knocking out. Again I'll bring such a frame for show and tell if Mr Dudley is there.

frank

[Brian Dudley]

Funny, i hold in my hand, right now a 20g SW ejector frame that was fully machined for ejectors and then plugged up.

[Silvers]

Yep and when I replied earlier I had a 12 gauge A Grade extractor frame in hand and it doesn’t have the clearance holes through the hinge pin nor any plugs in the knuckle. Hence it would require machining to convert to ejector. I’ll be looking forward to reading the retraction of your correction of today, in June.