I shot pigeons and dove again last April in Cordoba. I was shooting a basic 12 gauge Ugartechea side b side with extractors and I had no trouble with shells sticking in the chambers.

Several in the party were using moderately priced 20 gauge over and unders with ejectors. They had multiple jams every day despite cleaning their guns daily.

Are extractors more reliable than ejectors?

Is there any reason the 20 gauges kept jamming versus a 12 gauge?

Is a side by side more reliable than an over and under?

You must realize that we were shooting 1000 shells a day for 5 days.

I am wanting to buy a 20 gauge for high volume wingshooting that is reliable and not too expensive. I am not interested in purchasing a semiauto at this time.

Ron Liljedahl

My opinion is an extractor is the more reliable. Ejectors have mechanical parts that allow a spring to eject the case. Most depending if the case has been fired.

20 vs 12 shouldn't make a difference unless the 20 ga ammo was more dirty.

How were the ejectors jaming? No function at all or slipping past the rim?

Both my SXS have extractors my O/U have ejectors. Ejectors will add to the cost.

Ramrod

Thanks for the reply.

These were not my 20 gauge guns. The bird boys were having to use a pocket knife to pop the fired shell out of the chamber. This happened with 3 different over and unders while I was there.

Ron Liljedahl

quote:

Several in the party were using moderately priced 20 gauge over and unders with ejectors. They had multiple jams every day despite cleaning their guns daily.

Are extractors more reliable than ejectors?

The key here is "moderately priced". I have never had an ejection problem with my Heym or a Browning Superposed.......

Are extractors more reliable than ejectors? Not if they ejectors are made correctly.......

But in a double rifle for dangerous game, I prefer extractors only-not just for reliability, but for quietness! You don't want Tembo or M'Bogo to pinpoint your location......

quote:

Originally posted by Ron L:
I shot pigeons and dove again last April in Cordoba. I was shooting a basic 12 gauge Ugartechea side b side with extractors and I had no trouble with shells sticking in the chambers.

Several in the party were using moderately priced 20 gauge over and unders with ejectors. They had multiple jams every day despite cleaning their guns daily.

Are extractors more reliable than ejectors?

Is there any reason the 20 gauges kept jamming versus a 12 gauge?

Is a side by side more reliable than an over and under?

You must realize that we were shooting 1000 shells a day for 5 days.

I am wanting to buy a 20 gauge for high volume wingshooting that is reliable and not too expensive. I am not interested in purchasing a semiauto at this time.

Ron Liljedahl

Ron,

All guns have extractors. The extractor is what extracts, or, lifts the cartridge from the chamber when you break open the gun. The ejector on over and unders and side by sides operate off the hammer. When the hammer moves forward, there is a little rod that is pushed forward by a protrusion on the hammer, which trips the ejectors mechanism in the forearm, which in turn propels the extractor rearward, resulting in the forceful ejection of the fired case from the chamber.

Most shooters prefer to have the ejector function disabled so their fired hulls don't slam into their chests when they break open their guns. It also keeps them from having to bend over to retrieve their fired cases. God forbid. Disabling the ejector is easy and a common request at my shop.

A good quality O/U or S/S should not have any problems extracting or ejecting shells. Neither the O/U or the S/S is anymore or less reliable than the other. The benefit of the O/U is that both barrels are under the sights.

What kind of jamming were your friends experiencing? 1000 shells a day, between how many guns?

When looking for a 20 gauge. Look for a brand that you can easily get replacement parts for. Some of the foreign jobs are tough to get parts for. The Browning Citori's are fairly reliable. Remember also when looking for a durable gun, the more complicated the action, the more can go wrong.

Malm

We were shooting 1000 shells per day for each gun for a total of 5 days.

I noticed the guns jamming about once per box of shells after the 3rd day of shooting.

Is a Ruger red label considered a reliable gun with a simple action and easily found replacement parts?

Ron Liljedahl

quote:

Originally posted by Ron L:
Malm

We were shooting 1000 shells per day for each gun for a total of 5 days.

I noticed the guns jamming about once per box of shells after the 3rd day of shooting.

Is a Ruger red label considered a reliable gun with a simple action and easily found replacement parts?

Ron Liljedahl

The Ruger Red Label is fine. The only jam I can figure on a S/S or O/U would be having the extractor slip over the rim. Was that what was occuring?

quote:

We were shooting 1000 shells per day for each gun for a total of 5 days.

I noticed the guns jamming about once per box of shells after the 3rd day of shooting.

Is a Ruger red label considered a reliable gun with a simple action

While this seems a lot of shooting, if you've been to South America shooting doves it's more the norm than the exception and at least one fella claims to have shot 4,500 rounds in a single day!!! With one gun and you can't have jams and make a record like that.

To have a jam per 25 rounds is a very poor track record and could happen with any gun as things can go wrong with the very best of them. Having said that, it's unlikely that this will happen to guns such as the Citori as their so very well nade but is far more likely to happen to other (cheaper) guns.

As to the Ruger Red Label, while there are folks that swear by them, I'm not among them! My personal experience with Ruger rifles and shotguns has been far less than happy. While their handguns have been excellent in my experience, their long guns are not at all what they need to be. If you're having a jam per 25 rounds I'd just call it another Ruger!

I read another post some time ago where the poster said there was no Ruger long guns in his house and for a reason. I'm in tune with that fella as it's my feeling as well. There are no Ruger long guns here any more either!

I've taken a Citori and a Beretta O/U 20ga on these high-volume dove hunts. Neither failed to eject at any time. On these type of hunts, I prefer my ejectors. On a skeet range, I remove springs so that I only have extractors.

Up here in the cold north during late goose hunting there are many o/u that experience ejector failure. The problem comes from the slow burning powder used for steel shot aand the ensuing build up of powder and wax from the wad. The shell just sticks in the chamber and the ejector spring just can't get it moving. If the design of the shotgun alows the extractors to "lift" a small amount prior to releasing and ejecting there is seldom a problem. The problem come with the designs that just release and expect the spring pressure to to it all. My guess is with the dove guns the problem is related.