It was clear that the extractor rods had bent over time or mishandling. Moving forward, I turned my attention to the extractors, operating these with the tip of a turn screw I found that individually each extractor moved freely, but together they were binding. Testing of these components in the slot first without the spring and then with the spring, then inspecting for flatness on the two bearing surfaces, revealed nothing. A bur or bend here could make the ejector kickers tight in this slot and result in the poor ejecting phenomena. The two kickers run side by side up and down a slot in the for end iron where the ejector mechanism its self is at its closest. The ejector mechanism for each barrel is completely separate, so the only thing to do is look at where the two mechanisms come in close contact of each other. One the face of it the problem simply doesn’t make sense, two perfectly functioning ejectors which refuse to function together. It was almost unbelievable, as individually the shells were ejecting a good five feet. However, when both barrels were fired, and required to eject simultaneously, we had sluggish ejection, with empty cases barely toppling over the breach face. The gun presented was ejecting perfectly on each barrel. A key part of this process is visually inspecting for damage and wear. A proper service will strip a gun down to its individual components clean, polish and reassemble with the right lubrication in the right places. As with all mechanical systems, maintenance is key, spraying oil all over everything quite often does more harm than good. If you managed to follow the explanation, inthe caption, well done! If you didn’t follow, then that’s precisely why the system falls out of favour there are a lot of moving parts, and quite a lot to go wrong. Let’s take a look at some of the problems that troubled my clients a few weeks ago, and go through a few basic checks all guns were returned to their former Baker ejecting glory. It is only neglect and wear and, dare I say, poor workmanship which results in malfunction. With that said let’s assume all guns fitted with the system left the factory ejecting positively and well-timed. The Baker ejector does have limitations, the mechanism is a little more complex than the Southgate system and the coil springs don’t eject as positively as V Springs. The Baker ejector system is one of the more common ejector systems on vintage guns examples of the system can be found from high priced side locks to mid-range box locks. Learning my trade I was once told by someone with nearly a lifetime’s experience when discussing Baker ejectors “they never worked that well anyway”, I bit my lip and said little because frankly I just don’t buy it. However, don’t judge them too harshly it is pretty rare for a gun in perfect working order to find its way to the workshop.Ī little maintenance over the years would have prevented most of the issues encountered but such has been said by almost every gunsmith and trader who ever wrote an article and there is still no queue for servicing at the end of the season, alas.
You never know what will come through the workshop door, and in the space of a few weeks I have seen three faulty Baker ejector systems.