Miroku Browning & Winchester High Walls - Ejector versus Extractor

[TexasMac]

I recently responded to an email from a Browning High Wall owner.  One of his questions was, “Do you know if the ejector function can be disabled yet leaving a working extractor?”

If you’re the owner of one of the Miroku Browning or Winchester 1885 High Wall with an ejector and are also a reloader, you likely don’t enjoy hunting for ejected cases or fixing bent ones.  In that case you might be interested in my response, which essentially was:
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By removing the forearm and removing the automatic ejector parts and spring, the ejector can be disabled and the extractor will continue to function, but you may have to press the extractor down out of the way prior to inserting an unfired cartridge.  Under normal ejector operation the spring loaded ejector system kicks the extractor completely back and holds it down after ejecting the case, which does not happen if the ejector system is disabled.  Functioning only as an extractor, the extractor will push the case back for manual removal, but it likely will not fully rotate down and out of the way.
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When Browning introduced the 1885 Black Powder Cartridge Rifle (BPCR) model in 1996 in 40-65 and 45-70 calibers, they were only offered with an extractor, the same .45-70 extractor previously used with the ejector system.  It normally had to be pressed down to load a new round.  Later (for the 1997 and 1998 rifles) the extractor was redesigned to ensure that it rotated fully out of the way after extraction.  Since then many of the 1996 rifle have been retrofitted with the new extractor design.  Disassembly of the action is required to replace the extractor, which is fully discussed in my book on the Browning’s (www.texas-mac.com)

Regards,
Wayne

[Rangr44]

Much ado, about nothing, IMHO.

FWIW, my Browning B78's and .45-70 1885 Traditional Hunter all have an adjustable angle shell deflector, located at the extreme rear of the action's cartridge trough, directly inline with the rear of the chamber(s), where an ejected cartridge case can strike it.

With it's raised ridge turned fully angled to one side or the other (with a cartridge rim or a screwdriver), the case will deflect off to either the right or left side - but with the ridge angled/positioned crtosswise to the bore C/L, the case will hit the deflector ridge flush, stopping in place for easy withdrawal.

I've never experienced a bent case, using it - since the cases are ejected beyond the breechblock..





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[TexasMac]

Rangr44,

Point well taken.  I posted the same comment on another forum and received as similar response.  See below.
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Mac, I have two Winchester Hi-Wall rifles with the ejector system; a 38-55 & a 45-70. I set the face of the stop square to the case rim and rarely have a case jump the track, so to speak. When shooting over sticks, it's easy to place the hand over the action and contain the case.

For those who don't like the ejector system, your answer turning it into an extractor only seems easy enough to implement.
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I'm mostly a BPCR guy, therefore my Browning's and Winchester's only have extractors, with the exception of one Browning .45-70 with an ejector. When shooting it, most of the time the case stop works, but some do bounce around and out of the action. If hunting or especially bench shooting, I end up having to retrieve them or find that I tend to step on a few. So I've disabled the ejector on that rifle.

By the way, the guy that asked me if the ejector could be disabled provided the following reason for the question: "I shoot mostly benchrest and am used to picking brass out of the chambers of my target rifles. I guess I just don’t like that “snap” at the final stage of extraction".

So if you fall into one of the above mentioned catagories the ejector is easy to disable.

Wayne