doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Speed features in doubles

I would love to own a nice Purdey self opener, but the feature is an abomination, in my opinion. A much smoother acting assisted opener is the Cogswell and Harrison Avant Tout or the Winchester Model 21. On these two guns, the assisted opening feature interferes very little with the closing of the gun, unlike the Purdey.

Eightbore I certainly give heavy import to your opinions. You once wrote that there is more fun to be had with a Parker VH 12 gauge shooter than any other shotgun. So I tried one out and you were absolutely right and I now have four of them.

But I also have a little 5-3/4 pound Purdey 20 bore with 28" barrels, made in 1927. Once I re-accustom myself to it it is a pleasure for me to close, shoot, and open the gun.

I suspect that's the key, the pleasure of it not technical differences that may or may not speed up reloading. If the features don't fit the image or uniqueness of the gun, why bother.

Cogswell so called assisted openers [Boss also comes in this category] are not actually assisted openers at all . I do not know why they are regarded as such .What happens is that until the gun is fired and the ejectors are held back into position till they trip, that being permanently spring loaded they bear on the face of the action pushing it open . So it is only an "assisted opener" when the gun is in its cocked unfired state .

This is correct. A true self opener 'self opens' both when the locks are cocked and after they have been fired. There are a number of so called 'self openers' that only actually 'self open' when the locks have not been fired - and these are called 'assisted openers'.
Boss did in fact make (a very small number) of true self openers, but the vast majority are 'assisted openers.

Such guns do not 'self open' once the locks have been fired.

I had an auto ejector Cogswell boxlock, and thought it was assisted in opening by the extractors bearing on the breech face. Somewhat later, I noticed that was not the case, but the assist came from the ejector mechanism bearing on the lug sticking from the end of the breech. The ejectors were the Harrison patent.

Mike, our northern Ruffed Grouse are larger than your quail, so they make a conscious effort to fly around the boundry of the pattern rather than through a hole which may not be quite large enough. Your problem is easier to solve by simply firing both barrels at the same time... unless the holes in your patterns from each barrel are overlapping. In that case, you may have to have your barrels regulated to place the pattern holes in a different location. But you probably already knew all of that and just wish to keep it sporting!

. An 'abomination'. A rather strong word in describing anything about a Purdey IMHO. I think the self-opening mechanism only represents the highest level of the double gunmakers art and in that regard is extraordinary. Whether the self-opening mechanism is utilitarian is mere academia. It's a Purdey, one of the finest guns in the world. That's what is remarkable IMHO.

Well said Stan.

Give me extractors.

For me, I would not have ejectors, or self openers or assisted opening...all require springs and leverage to engage, therefore the opening and closing requires more friction, simple geometry.

Give me extractors and I'm happy. There is nothing that I hunt that requires that much speed, if it did I would buy and use an automatic. I enjoy hunting and taking my time, not blasting and speed loading.

I have three guns with ejectors and on all three I have disabled the ejectors by removing the springs. Southgate ejectors are easy to disable by removing the leaf springs and L.C. Smith ejectors are also easy to disable by removing the factory springs and replacing them with carburetor springs. Then you have a gun that opens and closes as smooth as glass, time and time again, and you don't need to pick up your empties off the ground, snow, mud, weeds or hold your hand over the chambers as you open the gun to stop and deflect the ejection. Extractors are simple and easy and effortless and if you know the gun you can unload and load it blindfolded.

Something that is never mentioned on these threads are the dents that are caused by ejector deflections in the wood finish by the empty hulls and or snap caps as they bounce off of clothing or whatever then hit the stock. I see guns for sale quite often, here, and elsewhere with dents in the wood finish from these deflections. Just my opinion.

EJECTORS IN.....


EJECTORS OUT.....

Only one double barrel in my stable has ejectors, my 1900 Remington. I'm in no hurry when I'm shooting. I'll leave the speed loading/shooting to the German 88 gun crews from WWII.