doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com "Trapping" hulls from ejector guns

I have mentioned many times, when I have read posters exclaim that they hate ejectors because they hate littering the field and woods, or they detest searching the ground for ejected hulls, that neither of those options is necessary. All one has to do is trap the hulls with the palm of the hand, and do with them as you please.

Some of my friends and I shot a round of sporting this afternoon, then went back to a couple of the stations to work on a few presentations that we weren't happy with. After that, I asked a friend to video me shooting a few crossers to show how I trap the hulls ejected from my MX 8. I apologize in advance for the rotation of the camera in "mid-stream". He didn't realize that it would rotate the scene 90 degrees, but maybe you can see what I wanted to show.

In practice, I catch the rear end of the top lever with the meaty part of the base of my thumb, actually part of my palm, and use it to rotate the lever to the right, which puts my fingers in perfect position to trap the hulls in my hand and toss them in the trash can, to my left on this station.

It may look a bit contrived on this video, but it's because I was aware of the video in progress which made me think about what I was doing more than normal. I have been doing this for so much of my life it has become second nature, and requires no thought at all. I can do this on every ejector gun I own, from 12 through .410, S x S or O/U.

https://youtu.be/AI5oLrrzy2U

SRH

I tried it with my lone ejector gun, a new-to-me Browning Sidelock BSS, and need both hands to get the old girl open. Seems like the sweet spot to get the gun open and cocked and the ejectors not activated is a small enough area that it would take some practice for me to pull it off. The corners on the bottom of the gun are kinda sharp and pokey, too, still getting used to that.
Now, Darne ejectors, I�ve got them down.
I must emphasize, I really like the Browning, and my score at �rub my chin low gun skeet� is as high as it has ever been. I swore off side locks after a horrific experience with a pre-Royal Holland with a single trigger, about 25 years ago, but, this one seems to be like a low maintenance girlfriend you just can�t get enough of.
I bet you�d be a natural at CAS, Stan.

Best,
Ted

Me too, Stan. Been doing that for years. What's CAS, Ted.
JR

Never had a problem catching the hulls from either my Fox-Sterlingworth Ejector Skeet & Upland Game Gun or any of my Browning Superposeds. The Fox with its tall Savage-era top-lever is the easiest, pushing it with the base of my right thumb with my hand over the breech like a catcher's mit.

I haven't even paid any attention to it or shot it in nearly thirty years, but I still have a 101 that I would trap the hulls in a similar way without giving it a thought. It was easy to take the ejectors out, so I gave it a try with just extractors. I cupped my hand over the breech in the same way, and it just seemed a fraction slower and different than with the ejectors. Admittedly, I've rarely needed the speed to take full advantage of ejectors. A noticeable side bonus was the gun cocked smoother and easier without the ejectors in.

It's just an example for myself that I made a particular comparison on that feature. The ejectors are still out of that thing, sitting around somewhere. Because of my comfort range, if the price corresponds appropriately, I don't look past non ejector guns. Thanks Stan for doing the little video, it makes me think of the little things I pick up when I get to watch myself shoot.

CAS= Cowboy Action Shooting. Pretty fair amount of dexterity required, if you are going to win anything.

For better or worse (depending on where you are looking) the Holland pattern gun I got from Geo is a long way from well broken in, still a bit stiff, actually. I could probably develop the knack, but, it will take more than the 100 rounds I have through it, as of today.

Did I mention I really like the gun?

Best,
Ted

When I break the first pair of birds strongly I tend to shoot the remaining pairs fast. I know what the lead picture looks like and I want to do it again as quickly as I can. Ejectors facilitate that.

Now, when I miss a bird on the first pair I will slow down a bit, replay the lead picture in my mind, and decide how best to correct the mistake.

It's just me, but I love ejectors. My Beretta 20 ga. SPII Sporting, that I bought new before the first dove trip to Cordoba, was pretty much broken in by the end of the first day's shooting. It has had somewhere between 15 and 20K rounds through it with no ejector, or any other, problem. When on a dove field I don't trap the hulls but let them fall around my stand. At the end of the shooting I police the area and pick them up. Doves sometimes come in "flurries', and one wants to make hay while the sun shines, as it were.

SRH

I hunt covey birds and a shotgun that ejects and reloads quickly is a huge advantage. I have killed towering pairs and triples on chukar with my old Fox 16. I expect that my Atkin 'Spring Opener' will be even better because it is so much easier to reload quickly.

While I follow Stan in trapping the spent shells in my ejector guns, what impresses me is the guys who eject and then catch the shells in mid air with their right hand.

As for picking up shells from the ground, the $35 MoJo stick magnet is the greatest!...Geo

I am not a CAS shooter, but if I recall right their rules do not allow ejector doubles.

Being able to trap the ejected shells in your hand is wholely dependent on the way the gun is held when opening. It is no issue for myself, but I know some who have a hard time with it.

I have seen several of the trap shootets who catch the ejected shells in mid air with ease, and so fast that it boggles the mind to watch it. Has anyone seen someone catch the shells ejected from a SxS? I feel like the geometry of a O/U makes it easier since the shells are shot out in a more upright direction vs. the direction of over the shoulder as a SxS would.

Catching them in mid-air is showing off. I've seen young hot-shots who do it with a flair, and it's always self-aggrandizement. I've shot with the best..... Digweed, McGuire, Matarese, Keinbaum, DeMichael, Miles, Kruger, Vine, Mein (father and son).............none of them are show-offs. Some of them are actually dull and boring to watch. It's just that they rarely miss.

Most S x S shooters are not show-offs, and do not catch shells in mid-air. I trap them from my S x Ss, just like my O/Us, but never do the mid-air stuff. It's no faster than trapping them, anyway.

SRH

I use to reload all my shells and got in a habit of trapping hulls to keep them off the ground. It's a hard habit to break even though I haven't reloaded many shells, with the exception of 3/4oz 12ga , in years.

Trapping hulls has become so ingrained that I even do it on a dove field and when quail hunting. Even in Argentina I caught most of my hulls and would throw them into the trash bag. Bird boys seem to appreciate this.

it definitely cost me some birds, but slows me down and I feel slowing down helps my shooting.

And .............slowing down saves money on extra shells in Argentina, which can be a good thing at the "end of the day".

SRH

Nothing to do with catching empties from an ejector gun But;
I once saw Bill Jordan on the old TV show "You Asked For It".
He stood upright, placed his right elbow against his rib cage with his forearm stretched forward horizontal, palm down. He placed a ping pong ball between two of his fingers. He was wearing a S&W .38 revolver in a regulation police rig for the time, Sam Browne as I recall. Anyway it carried the gun at waist level, not down low on the thigh. ..

He stated he would drop his hand from under the PP ball without flipping it up, draw & fire all 6 rounds before the ball hit the floor. He whipped that .38 out of the leather like lightning, BUT, then thumb cocked the hammer, took aim & fired. Followed with the other 5 in like manner. I'm sitting there thinking just who is he fooling, that ball has long since hit the floor. After firing round #6, he pivoted his right hip forward, reached across with his left hand, picked the ball out of the holster & dropped it to the Floor.
That took a lot of practice. As he was drawing the revolver he had to pivot his hip forward enough for the ball to hit in the holster. It all happened so fast you just couldn't see it, at least not on TV.

Might like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbjiZKPNmJ4

SRH

Thanx Stan for this posting. It reminds me of a sporting clay joke, one of the few things that will get a millionaire to walk into weeds and bend over is a double A hull.

I have read "No second Place Winner" by Jordan, good reading. I thought I had a copy of it but can't locate it. A former co-worker who was a big fan of Jordan may have loaned me his. I do have a copy of "Bullseyes Don't Shoot Back" which is essentially a re-write of Rex Applegate's Kill or be Killed. This book is on point shooting & is an extremely good read with a lot of good info which makes a lot of sense.

You're welcome, NE

SRH

Many years ago I watched two Skeet shooters put on a show. The first shooter would shoot a pair of shells, open his gun and let them fly over his shoulder and the second shooter would catch them in the air and put them into his shell bag. They did it for four rounds and I never saw them fail once. If I�d been one that squad it would have driven me nuts. Other annoying thing is they both ran hundreds. On the good side neither lasted long in the shooting. I backed into that one. Even a blind hog finds a acorn once in a while.

I have a friend in S Carolina who can run a round of skeet from start to finish, 25 straight, in 60 seconds, from the hip, by a stopwatch. I've seen it in person. I've seen him run a 25 straight while riding a bicycle around the skeet field, shooting from the hip with one hand.

For those of you who haven't, here he is .............John Michael Morris, who works for Rick Hemingway at Backwoods Quail Club. He puts the big name exhibition shooters to shame, and doesn't even shoot competitively. And yes, I've seen some of the big name exhibition shooters in person, and they miss a LOT!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X871c0DYY4w

SRH