Miroku Browning & Winchester High Walls - Ejector versus Extractor

[Wayne McLerren]

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