doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Disassembly of Baker forend ejectors

Greetings all,
Does anyone have experience taking apart the "Baker" type ejectors? I have them in a Greener Grade M and they are giving me fits. Once the iron is off the wood, are there any other screws to contend with? There are only 4 screws on the forend I have - one for the finial and tail pipe, one in the middle going into the escutcheon and two very small ones that look like they retain the ejectors in some way.
Trying to decide if I'm brave/stupid enough to attempt to get them apart. They seem to have an incredible amount of tension on the springs as they kick out the empties 5 feet farther than my gun with Southgate ejectors and it's all I can do to cock them when they are off the gun!
Thanks for any advice...

Blue Grouse-
1. The two small screws do not retain the ejectors. They hold a hardened piece of steel in place where the ejectors bear on the forend iron.
2. To remove, put the forend on the gun and trip the locks using snap caps. Then open the gun so that the ejectors trip and remove the forend without first closing the gun. They are now in the "fired" position and have less tension. Remove the iron from the wood and notice a small cross pin in the iron. Drive this pin out left to right. Now the only thing holding the ejectors in is spring tension. With the forend on a padded surface, push down on the two lugs that protrude up through the iron. They will pop out with a little force.
3. If you cannot disassemble the ejectors, you probably should do no work on them other than removing them to make the gun an extractor.

Hammergun,
Thanks for your response. Point no.1 above makes perfect sense to me now. When you say "push down on the two lugs", I assume you mean the lugs protruding in the middle of the Iron?
How in the world do you get them together again with so much tension?

Yes, push down on the two lugs in the center. If they are really tight, tap them with a composition hammer or a block of wood. Assembly really is not difficult. It just takes a bit of practice. Perhaps your springs have been replaced with some that are overpowered. That could cause premature wear and subsequent timing issues. If they need work, find someone experianced in adjusting BAKER ejectors. They are simple, but need to be worked on by experianced hands. If you tire of your Greener, send it to me!

Right! Not tired of my Greener yet but it may prove to be a bit of a money pit by the time I'm done. For sure, the ejectors have been messed with at some point but I suppose that is to be expected with a gun that's 115 years old. Right now I'm having trouble getting the right arm back into bent and I'm wondering if the reinforced bit is worn/out of place. The ejectors send out the empties at least 10 feet and I have to put about 80 pounds of force to move the ejectors when they are out of the gun. Bloody frustrating this is!

The ejector hammer could be worn where it contacts the hardened plate. The ejector stem that cocks the ejector could be worn slightly short or the tip may have broken off.

Heavy springs could easily cause excess wear and strain on the parts. The ejector stems could break from the strain of cocking the ejector and the forend loop could come loose from the barrels. The springs are housed in a box and are easily swapped out. Try lighter springs and you may need to carefully stone the contact surfaces of the ejector hammer to square things up. It makes sense that the right ejector has the most wear. Go slowly and carefully. It is all delicate work and you need to proceed slowly. Be prepared to take it all apart again and again. Don't worry about the timing until you have the ejector cocking again. The timing is adjusted where the trigger box extension contacts the ejector trip protruding from the knuckle. The ejectors must fire at exactly the same time. If you are not used to this type of work, find someone who understands how it all works.

Hammergun, Thank you for taking the time to help me out.
After much investigation and finally getting the right ejector to go back into bent, I have determined a few issues, all that are contributing to the ejector problems and your insights are very accurate.
The action is slightly off face which changes the position of the forearm. The stem that cocks the ejectors is in excellent condition, however, the screw that retains it is stripped and when you close the gun. the strain from the ejectors pushes it back towards the breech face. Even with the hinge-pin shimmed to tighten the action, the forearm is still a little loose so there is an issue with the loop being either bent or it was brazed on in the wrong spot (we are only talking about a few thou but it sure makes a huge impact on how the ejectors work!)
As you can see, I'm worrying about the cart before the horse - or perhaps in this case, the air conditioning for the cart before the horse. I will have the other issues remedied before I get into taking the forend apart. Who knows? Perhaps they will start working again.I can tell that the right ejector hammer has either been welded or replaced and the left one looks original.
Rest assured, I will be in touch in the future if they are still not working.
Do you know any gunsmiths that are familliar with Baker ejectors?

I can't recommend a 'smith. I learned to repair them years ago because I couldn't find anyone familiar with them. Get that forend tighted up and maybe all will be well, you never know. It's amazing how one problem can cause a chain reaction of problems in a gun. I guess the detective work is part of the fun. Greeners are good guns and are worth putting back in order.

Good advice. Chain reactions are where people generally get caught out- making an adjustment to one part because they think it is the problem when actually it is the result of something wearing or moving elsewhere - then you get into a spiral of doom and despair!