Hammer/ejector cocking improvement?

[Bill Graham]

Hey All. I think I might be posting here too much. If so, someone will let me know I expect.

The 20ga ejector Sterly is too hard for my wife to cock the hammers and ejectors. She likes the gun, but this isn't going to work. We had some struggles with light strikes, which are now resolved. I don't think I should then go and try to swap springs for weaker ones.

The ejectors are far more powerful then they need be. As far as I know they are stock springs. They launch hulls a good 6-8 feet. Neither of us wants to chase them, and it's unlikely she'll learn to capture them in hand when the gun is too hard for her to use in the first place. The night before the Southern I took the ejector sears out, but then the ejector hammers were not in the right position to put the forend back on.

I'm wishing this was a extractor gun. Swapping for one would work, as long as it was similar enough for Mrs. to not notice. This gun is special in that I found it for her, with her Dad's help, but it was an opportunistic acquisition, not a selection with her capabilities in mind. Her Dad just decided she needed a shotgun and this one came along.

Thoughts? Grab another set of ejector springs, weaken them, and at least make that operation easier?

Thanks for your council.

[Bill Graham]

In the event that someone else comes along with a similar issue, I cut three coils off of each ejector hammer spring. I also cleaned up the sides of the ejector sears and hammers. The hammers were binding on the long screw that anchors the iron to forend insert.

Hulls eject and land right togther at about 4 feet, and the gun is easier for my wife to close it. She wanted to shoot it on Mother's Day, and all was well. 100% functional and enjoyable for her to shoot.

[Silvers]

Your issues are hard to understand. The A H Fox firing hammers cock when the fired gun is opened, and the ejector hammers cock when the fired gun is closed. Compression of the corresponding springs takes place with separate and different movements. If your wife has trouble when opening the fired gun, it's possible the hammer springs (mainsprings) are too stout. I read on another thread that you replaced the mainsprings in an attempt to resolve an intermittent misfire problem. The mainsprings for a extractor Fox are longer than those for an ejector gun. Thus, if you installed extractor springs in your ejector Fox, that could cause it to open hard. Also, when replacing mainsprings it's always good to measure spring diameter, wire diameter, number of coils and overall length ..... and replace in kind.

Regarding the ejectors, a properly functioning ejector Fox should throw plastic hulls a good 6-8 feet. Personally I wouldn't be cutting coils off the ejector springs. They are relatively weak as compared with the mainsprings, and as previously written, they cock when the fired gun is closed, not opened. It should be far easier to compress them than the mainsprings. Silvers

[Bill Graham]

I replace both hammer springs with new factory springs appropriate for an ejector gun, as well as the hammer spring guide rods (split ends for interfacing with the ejector tabs for tripping the ejector sears), and that solved the light strike problem. The dimensions of the new springs matched the old springs. She found the gun hard to open after firing but she is getting used to it.

I found the ejector hammer springs to be unneccesarily stout, and neatly trimming a couple of coils has kept the ejection of the hulls sufficiently strong, and doing so also made a difference in how hard it is for her to close the gun, so much so that she's now enjoying it and it's working perfectly well for her.