doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Dragging firing pins?

I took the 12 bore 3" Cogswell and Harrison outside to fire a couple of shots, I did try it with snapcaps when I traded it off and it seemed fine. I used a couple of WalMart cheap Winchester promo loads, it fired fine, but was quite hard to open. When I did I found the primers had deep indentations but no "drag" marks.
Its too bloody cold to go out again, to try another brand. This is a boxlock and the pins are integral on the hammers, right?
I'll try it out again to see if it's the shells or not.What's the cure if the firinf pins are too long on a boxlocK?
Also there is a steel box with a pair of holes attached to the underside of the barrel hidden by the forend. Terry Lubzinsky send me a pic of a similar 3" Coggie but his was an ejector model, and this box contained his ejector bits and springs. so it looks like someone might have removed the ejector system on my gun, or was it sold as a BLNE?
Mike

If it was an ejector mechanism, the ejectors , etc in your gun would be split. I am not familiar with your gun, but if not prooved for 3" shells, the Wal Mart promo stuff might be the wrong shell to use. I'm sure, though, Terry warned you about this.

Darryl, the extractors are solid, not split, so I guess one had the option when you bought the gun. BLE or BLN I prefer extractors anyway, so the hulls are not flipped into the mud of the saltings.
The gun very heavy,is a fowler from 1900, is Nitro proved for 1 1/2 oz of shot, 3" chambers, so it will handle anything in 2 3/4" US shells, I'd imagine, but thanks for the heads-up, Darryl. I do not plan shooting US 3" shells in the gun
Do soft primers lead to difficulty in opening a gun like this?
I guess that is my question? If it was not -42 with the wind chill I'd get my neighbour's kids around to shoot a few clays.
I'll try some Federals tomorrow, with their rounded primers.
I shot off 2 cases of this WalMart 1 1.8 last fall with no bobbles.
Mike

Mike, I was having trouble understanding the BLE or BLNE stuff. If it was originally made as a BLE, that should still show on the receiver and forend iron, and most probably , barrels. Of course I thought you would well understand proof, but the question did come up in my mind. Not all boxlocks had firing pins integral with the hammers, but I just don't know about yours.

Another view, the shells may be a culprit or rough chambers may be a culprit , too. Rough chambers make for tougher extraction.

It is odd that your extractors are not split if your gun might have originally been a BLE. The box , I assume ahead of the breech and barrel flats on the underside of the barrels, sounds like the Harrison patent ejector. An unusual ejector, but decent design. Can you take photos of the mechanism ?

Even on a Winchester Model 21 I have had "opening problems" with some shells, and when switching to another brand, no problem at all. That was long ago, and I cannot remember the brands. Hope your shoot with different shells tomorrow solves the problem.

Finally, in temp's that cold , my 30 years in Alaska tells me that not everything works like it was 30degrees above zero. It might be harder to even open your car door.