Extractors vs Ejectors

[Dblgunnut]

Does a graded gun having extractors vs ejectors affect desirability? Is it charted somewhere the number of graded guns with extractors vs ejectors? I have always hunted with my doubles and prefer extractors for keeping up with my empty hulls. It seems like many of the Foxes I have run across recently have extractors so maybe I am not alone, or ejectors were too much added expense.

[Jimmy Goodtime]

Some want extractors, some want ejectors, others may be indifferent. So desirability is really up to the individual. But ejectors will definitely bring more money. They cost more then and cost more now! I don’t know the break downs, but it seems to me that most B grades and above usually have ejectors.

[44whiskey]

i tend to like the simplest mechanical systems on anything i own,that being said 4 of my 5 double guns are ejectors. condition seems the most important factor in catching my interest when gun shopping.fred

[Researcher]

The Honorable T. Roosevelt didn't need ejectors on is Fox!!

[Stan Hillis]

I'm an unabashed ejector man. I want them on all my doubleguns, and haven't bought one that didn't have ejectors in many years. I have had only one to break on me, and I repaired it myself. I understand I may have been "lucky", but just reporting the facts. My first doublegun had extractors and I used it to kill dove and quail as a kid. When I acquired my first BLE gun for hunting I fell in love. Early on I taught myself to trap the ejected hulls in my right hand as I opened the top lever with the meaty part of the base of my thumb, which put my fingers in perfect position to trap the ejected hull(s). I dropped more hulls on the ground accidentally when pulling them out of an extractor gun than I ever have trapping them from ejectors.

A bit of a ramble but, the point is that, to me, ejector guns have way more value, to the extent that I'd have to come across a screamer of a deal on a nice extractor gun to entice me to buy it. That's just my opinion, which is worth what you paid for it.

The Honorable T. Roosevelt didn't need ejectors on is Fox!!

Maybe, maybe not. Wasn't the Fox gun a gift from his wife? Maybe he specified what he wanted her to get him, maybe not. I dunno.

[Silvers]

Stan and I are on the same wavelength. I often chuckle when I hear someone say or write how they don't like bending over to pick up hulls when out clays shooting or leaving them in the woods while hunting. But really, it’s a so easy to "trap" the ejected hulls in the palm of your hand in all but the most intense firing as when shooting a flurry or with hordes of doves flying by. Hull trapping is common practice with sporting and skeet shooters using over/under guns and anyone vague on that might want to visit a course or field and learn. One caution though, if a right shoulder shooter and after let's say 100 rounds you'll come back into the clubhouse with right palm and fingers a little dirty along with some nitro compounds, more so than if pulling hulls from extractors, and thus you'll want to wash up before chowing down on post-shooting goodies brought in by you or your gang. Opposite of course for left shooters. Now to A H Fox guns and Russell Patent ejectors, ime they're perhaps the most reliable of the vintage American designs. Yes the guide pins can fatigue and break off over long use and especially with abuse but easily replaced, and the rest of the mechanism is typically super reliable unless someone tries to do their own retiming etc, Net, IMO the comparison between a Fox with ejectors or extractors is similar to owning a car with or without power steering. That's of course for those who shoot often; and the fella who pops a few caps/year while hunting or keeping the garden free of woodchucks can do just nicely with extractors. Me, if looking at the same Fox with or without ejectors I’ll take the ejectors any day of the week despite premium cost. frank

[Researcher]

The 1913 "A Fox Gets the Game" catalog is the last to offer the C-, D- and F-Grades. I have done Cards of the Month where customers ordered these higher grades without ejectors -- January & May 2015, March 2020, June 2021 and February 2022.

The two Ansley H. Fox doubles I hunt with the most are 1913 20-gauge and 1914 12-gauge extractor guns. The Fox I've put the most shells through in the last 30 years is my 12-gauge Fox-Sterlingworth Ejector Skeet & Upland Game Gun and I've become very adept at hitting that tall Savage top-lever with the base of my thumb and catching the empties.

[hannibal smith]

I have quite a few shotguns, so naturally, I have experience with both. I enjoy each gun within it's capacity, so I am not hung up on one vs. the other.

For a hunting arm, I prefer ejectors, but I do have a sweet 20G O/U that is extractor, but luckily the expended shell comes out quite a bit, and is easy to grab. Not ideal, but it has never stopped me from using it.

On my competition guns, I go either way, but the majority are ejector.

Mechanical execution- This is where I get particular. I have a Beretta 690F3 that is a Dove crusher. It has ejectors, but the mechanical stop for the mechanism is this tiny "arm" that stops the ejector. The ejector springs are very strong, and in the back of my mind I cringe a little when I hear it hit the stop. I shortened the ejector springs a little to give that little abutment a fighting chance.

In a nutshell, it depends on how either method is accomplished by the maker.

[ROMAC]

I can live with extractors most of the time but when the birds are really flying I'm grateful to be able to pop open the chamber and let the empties fly!

I also usually use the technique described whereby I catch the empties with my left hand (being a lefty) so I don't have to chase them down.

No big deal to have to stoop to pick them up the empties after things cool down.

[Silvers]

Tale of a fella that preferred an extractor ….. so I picked up a Baker SBT gun recently, one of the last ones made per the serial number. Just got around to working on the ejector which was really wimpy, little more than an extractor. Anyway, on disassembly yesterday I found that someone had solidified most of the ejector spring and it wouldn’t decompress more than about 1/3 its length. The stuff looked like the brownish Brownells Microbed stuff from the 60’s. Just a touch with the torch broke down the polymer, then parts removal and soaking to dissolve the residual stuff in solvents. Apparently the fella didn’t want to chase hulls on the trap field and didn’t know that Baker SBT’s will either extract or eject depending on how smartly you open the fired gun. More than one way to get things done.

[jolly bill]

Seeing this is sort of personal preference kind of a thread, I'll add my nickel's worth.

For a gun that doesn't get shot much, or at all, I like a Fox with SST (Single Selective Trigger) and auto ejectors. It would probably be a higher grade gun that just looks nicer in the gun rack.

For a shooting gun, especially at targets, I prefer simple extractors and two triggers. As in my early A grade 12, serial number 7983 that I've had more than 53 years and put probably getting close to having 20,000 rounds thru it. Mostly, light 1/2 and 3/4 ounce loads.

Big reason is not having to compress and cock the ejectors. Just less effort, I guess. And having two triggers to simplify barrel selection.

And by the way, I really don't have a need for a 4 wheel drive truck despite living about a mile from the south shore of Lake Ontario and having a driveway 700 feet long. My current truck (2021 Toyota Tacoma SR model) I had to special order it and it took 3 months to get. The reason, I wanted 2 wheel drive.

Yeah, my wife thinks I'm kinda odd too!

However, and as a side story, I should tell all of this story. She's an ex-nun and she had a choice: God or me. She choose me.

Jolly