Extraction and ejection: what goes in must come out, or should

Guns Magazine, August, 2008 by Glen Zediker

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As said last time, an extractor is supposed to pull a spent case out of the chamber and the ejector is supposed to set it up to get tossed out the ejection port. Extractors got attention last time, so now it's ejectors.

The ejector is a little metal cylinder under which is a captured spring. It resides on the left side of the bolt face and pushes forward against the case head to tilt the case toward the right (shooter perspective) so the rearward-traveling, and rotating, bolt can let it whiz on out the receiver port. The ejector itself doesn't send the case out, that's from the rim pivoting on the extractor hook.

If there's too much pressure in the spring then the case gets pushed too far toward the right too soon. Too little pressure and the case doesn't get headed enough in that direction soon enough. This last usually causes the case to bounce off the interior of the upper receiver and stay inside it. However, too much push too soon can cause the same thing, plus often banging the case off the rear of the ejection port.

Spotting Trouble

The telltale sign of an ejection problem, beyond the obvious trapped cases, is erratic brass flight, and nilly-willy touchdown. When it s working right, there should be a small pile of undamaged brass about 3-o'clock (shooter's perspective) and no more than 3' away from where you're shooting. Dings, dents, and creases on spent cases come from contact with the rifle on the way out. A wildly spinning case usually results from the empty banging hard off the rear edge of the ejection port, and such a condition usually is remedied only, or at least in a large part, by slowing carrier velocity.

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Since it is "timing" in fact, different loads will eject differently. Shooting the same load all the time makes it possible to tune ejection, but understand the pattern can change if the load changes.

Keep in mind running normal loads through normal rifles (let's say normal is defined by things that come out of factory-sealed cartridge boxes) extraction and ejection problems aren't normally encountered. It's when things change in the rifles and loads that they can. Carbines, for instance, commonly enough have ejection problems. They also tend to have excessive rearward carrier velocities.

As said, carrier velocity is a factor. The more slowly the carrier moves to the rear the better chance the ejector has to do its job, and the extractor, too. Lower carrier velocity also has an influence on where the rifles puts its empties, and the slower the works work the usually nearer the shooter the empties land, and in a smaller group.

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The ejector cylinder part itself shows height variations, and these variations influence the effective amount of spring tension against it, as also does the spring itself. I don't know if there is any point to shopping for ejectors because I couldn't find a definitive dimension to say I found a "correct" part, so it's the spring that lacks. A sacked or incorrect spring needs to be replaced, and an aftermarket part is the wise choice.

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Monkey Business

Given some idea of what to do and the patience to experiment with changes, it's possible to change where a rifle deposits its empty cases. Usually, clipping coils from an ejector spring will make a difference. As said, and considering function first, a rifle should deposit empties at about 3-o'clock about 3' away. That won't bother anyone, especially you. Getting there comes with careful ejector spring tuning. For what it's worth, I run relatively little ejector tension in most of my rifles. I always cut coils. On a new rifle I usually start at .8" total length. That's for a competition rifle. For a carbine I start at full height.

Those steeped in bolt-action accuracy ideas have heard that ejector pressure has a negative effect on rifle accuracy because the part bears against one edge of the cartridge case, thereby relocating it in the chamber. That's true. It mostly has an effect on the maintained quality of the spent cartridge cases as they are reused. The side load can encourage more warpage in the case head and body. It doesn't actually have an identifiable influence on group sizes coming from the pressure itself. We also can't run a rifle if it won't eject, but reducing spring pressure usually is the direction to take to improve performance of the part. That's not exactly a win-win, but it is a big dose of better is better.

I use chrome silicon ejector springs in all my rifles. These are normally extra-powerful, which is sometimes a help, but even when it's not a help this spring material has a radically longer lifespan than conventional music wire. Right. I get extra-power springs and then cut them, but there are reasons. Breakage is common in both it and the extractor springs under arduous use, like full-auto fire. Heat contributes here, and chrome silicon isn't affected. Mostly, chrome silicon springs don't change in function over the life of a rifle, and once the springs are performing as wanted, they will continue to perform in the same.