I have a William Evans BLE, how can I tell if it has Southgate ejectors? I thought these were found only on SLE guns.
Mike,
Southgate ejectors can be found on any shotgun from the modest to the superb.
It is dangerous to generalise on anything in English guns but as a rule of thumb:
Southgate ejectors pivot on a pin that runs through the forend iron knuckle (Spanish ones use a pivot further forward). On an Evans this is often indicated by 2 tiny slotted pin heads on each side of the forend knuckle which cover the end of the hole in which the pivot slides. On other guns you may just see the plain heads of the pivot pin.
The most common alternative ejector system is the Deeley box which is pinned to the underside of the forend iron a little further forward. You will usually see the plain end of the securing pin about 2 - 2 1/2" back from the knuckle and the ejector kickers will be about 1" from the knuckle.
English Southgate ejector kickers will be more like 1/2" from the knuckle.
There are a few other systems like the Ross, Perkes, Holland et al which confuse the issue a little but 9 times out of 10 you will be looking at a Deeley or a Southgate.
On a point of interest, even though the 'over centre' ejector system is commonly called a 'Southgate', Thomas Southgate was only one of several gunmakers who patented the mechanism and not the first either! The original idea is usually credited to Thomas Perkes in his patent of 1874, 15 years before Southgate patented his!
