Lunger Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Have a friend new to cas and his big boy ejects live ammo really good. Everytime he shoots live fire, the brass just bleeds off the side of the receiver. It doesn't spit em out with any authority. Sometimes it doesn't get the empty out at all. The extractor is pulling the brass out of the chamber Everytime though. Does he need a new ejector, and or spring on left side of the bolt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace_of_Hearts Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 The ejector on a Henry Big Boy is identical to a Marlin ejector. The spring is part of the ejector, not on the bolt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudflat Mike, SASS #20904 Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 He's lucky it fires! Yesterday we shot with a new shooter who's "Big Boy" wouldn't feed at all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunger Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 Can I rob the ejector from a marlin to get him going? Would they swap out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunger Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 Man that's funny, Mudflat! His wouldn't feed either! I made extra long cartridges for him and it feeds like a sewing machine! It just barely ejects now. Lol!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace_of_Hearts Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 The Henry Big Boy likes rounds that are loaded to 357 length. You can either load 357 brass or load your lead bullets out to 1.5 with a 38 special case. Like the Marlin, they prefer a truncated cone bullet shape. From your original post it sounds as if the EXTRACTOR is weak has dirt/soot underneath it. The weight of a loaded case keeps it in place till the bolt retracts and the round encounters the ejector. Unloaded rounds have a tendency to fall off the face of the bolt during extraction and never come in contact with the ejector. The inner workings is very similar to a Marlin. Very simple but there is a lot going on at one time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunger Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 Thanks a bunch, Ace! That makes sense. That longer ammo I loaded for him measures 1.530. Basically crimping just above the grease groove on a 125 gr bullet. Maybe I could stretch his extractor spring slightly while he's waiting on a new one. And clean it of coarse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace_of_Hearts Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Do not bend/stretch springs anywhere. Henry has gone through several styles of extractors in the last 5 years. The older ones were prone to get soot in the extractor channel/hole and stick in the open position. The extractor would simply fall out of the gun. The problem only occurred when shooting our rather weak cowboy loads that had a lot of blow back. Factory rounds worked perfectly. The newer model extractors seam to work well but can be improved with minor gunsmithing to hold the case tighter against the bolt. The older models can be fixed with a stronger extractor spring of the same diameter and length. A heavy duty marlin ejector from Wild West Guns and an adjustable Marlin hammer spring from Unitek really helps with reducing lever force and increased reliability. The gun gets smoother with proper relief on the feed tube, relief and polishing of the upper part of the chamber and a polishing of wear points inside the gun. If the gun was lighter in weight there is no reason that is shouldn't be as fast and reliable as any Marlin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunger Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 Sure appreciate the help. Ill call him in the morning about it. I think someone had slicked it up some before he bought it. He asked me totry a speed rifle run with it today when he was here. Got a 343 pattern done in 4.1 secs, but his brass dribbled on my boot the whole time. Lol!!!! I run a short stroked 66 carbine, so his rig felt pretty funny in my hands! I was surprised though..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster Ron Wayne Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 I am not a fast shooter by any means . But I took new out of the box Big boy 44 mag. And shot a clean match ! Henry has made some improvements to make this gun more reliable. Yes there are better rifles made for this sport. But the Big boy can do just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Loco Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Wait, is this still true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-BAR #18287 Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Contact Henry about sending it in for repair. They have excellent customer service. They repaired my .22 and my only cost was postage getting it to them. In my experience they stand behind their products like we wish all companies would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Canyon Kid #43974 Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 A sad fact of SASS is the number of new shooters that purchase the Big Boy because of price. They quickly learn they got what they paid for. Further few gunsmiths want to touch them. Then they learn there are few after market parts for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastmaster Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 The Henry Big Boy should be in a category all itself. Well, perhaps you could put the Spencer rifle in for variety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Call Henry. They will either ship you a return label or if you have an email, they will email you a return shipping label for UPS to take back to them. If needed, they will probably do a pick-up order for UPS to come to your house and pick up your box. Based on your symptoms, my guess is that your problem is in the EXTRACTOR and not the Ejector. When a weighted round is extracted, the rim of that round puts a slight press against the Extractor, which keeps it on the bolt face. BUT, when an empty shell is Extracted, there is no weight to put any pressure against the Extractor to help hold it onto the bolt face. Therefore, it just dangles around once the case mouth exits the chamber entrance. If you don't know how to make the right adjustment to these problems.......send it back to the factory and let them fix it up for you. They will have it back to you in a very short turn around time. ..........Widder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I always love it when we beat something to death then someone doesn't notice the topic has been dead for years and we beat the same topic to death again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-BAR #18287 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 My bad... I swallowed the hook really quick!😝 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I always love it when we beat something to death then someone doesn't notice the topic has been dead for years and we beat the same topic to death again. I'll laugh at meowndangself on this one also because I didn't even look at the date of the OP. ..........Widder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACKFOOT SASS #11947 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 ----and the forum description says "all postings are deleted after 30 days"------- Blackfoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastmaster Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Interesting that someone was scrounging topics way back there to post something on it today. I have seen this twilight zone posting before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Rapid Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I don't own a Big Boy, but have worked on a few. I have found that Henry Big Boys can be problematic on ejecting due to simple design of the lever. The length of the lever's cam is critical and determines how far forward the bolt is driven when the lever is fully closed. If the bolt does not close fully against the shell, the extractor will hang up on the edge of the shell's rim - rather than on the forward side of the rim - and it will either slip off of the rim and not extract a tight shell, or partially pull the shell from the chamber, or pull it far enough back to engage the ejector but not engage it with enough effort to kick the shell out of the rifle. And worse yet, in some cases, if the extractor hangs up on the edge of the shell (which means the extractor is now protruding from the bolt) when the bolt is drawn back all the way the extractor will hit the frame of the receiver and can be knocked free of the bolt resulting in the extractor and the extractor's plunger going for a ride (read this to mean that you better have a magnet handy!!!!). You can test how fully the bolt closes by placing an empty cartridge in the chamber, closing the lever, and see if you can still push the bolt further forward. Reworking (lengthening) the lever's cam so that it drives the bolt fully closed against the shell will go a long way to helping to solve the problem - but even with that the Big Boys are still problematic... RR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster Ron Wayne Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Send it back to Henry . They will fix it free . You will only have shipping out of pocket :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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