Disabling Citori ejectors
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I did that on my Citori, after a chat with a really nice fellow at Browning. Mine is a later model (I'm guessing, since you said early and mine is from the late 90s).
There are a couple of different ways, depending on the end result that you want.
If you only want the spent shells to sit up a little when you open the action (at the same height that an unfired shell would) then you can take off the buttstock and remove the two ejector trip rods. These run from the action through the hinge area to the ejector sears in the forearm and you can see the front of them in the hinge.
If you want the shells to sit up when you open the action (in the position that the ejectors sit after throwing out a spent shell) you need to remove the ejector sears, which is what I did. In this case you need to tap out the larger cross pin that holds the ejector hammers in the forearm (do this from right to left as you would hold the gun, because that pin has a splined end for the left side). Then you have to tap out the two small pins that the ejector sears pivot on and remove those sears, as well as their small springs. Reinstall the small pins to fill the holes. Then put the hammers, their springs and the larger cross pin back in.
The only disadvantage to this second method is that you are always putting the forearm on against the pressure of the ejector springs. Consequently, you'll need to develop a technique for pushing the forearm against the receiver (to compress the springs) as you swing it up against the barrels and lock it in place. The big advantage for me is that now my empties sit right up for an easy grab into the shell bag.
One big positive with either method, according to the fellow at Browning, is that you almost never have to worry about a broken ejector. Apparently that's one of the weaker links in the Citori and the repetitive snap of the ejector springs eventually breaks them.
Hope this helps.
There are a couple of different ways, depending on the end result that you want.
If you only want the spent shells to sit up a little when you open the action (at the same height that an unfired shell would) then you can take off the buttstock and remove the two ejector trip rods. These run from the action through the hinge area to the ejector sears in the forearm and you can see the front of them in the hinge.
If you want the shells to sit up when you open the action (in the position that the ejectors sit after throwing out a spent shell) you need to remove the ejector sears, which is what I did. In this case you need to tap out the larger cross pin that holds the ejector hammers in the forearm (do this from right to left as you would hold the gun, because that pin has a splined end for the left side). Then you have to tap out the two small pins that the ejector sears pivot on and remove those sears, as well as their small springs. Reinstall the small pins to fill the holes. Then put the hammers, their springs and the larger cross pin back in.
The only disadvantage to this second method is that you are always putting the forearm on against the pressure of the ejector springs. Consequently, you'll need to develop a technique for pushing the forearm against the receiver (to compress the springs) as you swing it up against the barrels and lock it in place. The big advantage for me is that now my empties sit right up for an easy grab into the shell bag.
One big positive with either method, according to the fellow at Browning, is that you almost never have to worry about a broken ejector. Apparently that's one of the weaker links in the Citori and the repetitive snap of the ejector springs eventually breaks them.
Hope this helps.
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Folks that I know who have removed their ejector sears have also installed some very weak ejector springs to make closing the gun a bit easier.
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343 Posts
mike,
Do you know of any source for those weak ejector springs? I tried Wolff springs and all they had were "extra strong" ones, which caused a real belly laugh when I mentioned it to the fellow at Browning. His comment was something like 'as if the ejectors didn't break fast enough already'.
I didn't want to simply grind down the originals in case I ever decided to put the gun back to standard configuration.
When you begin modifying the design of a gun, you have entered what they call gunsmithing, which is part art and part science. Don't expect someone to be waiting for your call with a package of parts to perform that modification.
This general topic is of interest to many shotgun owners who have become tired of having their hulls launched when they open the gun. While each manufacturer does it a little differently, o/u ejectors all work pretty much the same way. There is an ejector hammer and an ejector sear which is tripped during opening. The ejector hammer (and ejector hammer spring) smack your ejector tangs and launch the hull.
You can completely disable the ejector system by just pulling the ejector hammer and ejector hammer spring out of the gun. Or you can put in weak springs which will just pop the hull back similar to a real extractor system. Usually, an ejector system is not easily converted to a true extractor system, but the results of using weak ejector springs accomplish the same thing. Once your heavy duty ejector spring(s) are out of the gun and you can actually see the mechanical arrangement you are modifying, then you can measure the dimensions of your springs and go hunting about at the local gun show for something a bit lighter. That might take some time, or you might get lucky and find something during the first hour or two. You may find the right diameter spring, with weaker wire, but it will need to be shortened. That is where the artistic ability kicks in. YOU are now the designer of your new ejector system. In one particular case, I found that cutting down 1911 firing pin springs worked just fine in a Franchi o/u. Some experimenting is usually needed. Also, Wolff sells a big "general assortment" of misc. springs that come in handy for just this type of thing..
In general, it is not necessary to order special parts from the factory or file on metal parts to get this system to work properly. Just some patience and a good set of screwdrivers.
-Lazarus
This general topic is of interest to many shotgun owners who have become tired of having their hulls launched when they open the gun. While each manufacturer does it a little differently, o/u ejectors all work pretty much the same way. There is an ejector hammer and an ejector sear which is tripped during opening. The ejector hammer (and ejector hammer spring) smack your ejector tangs and launch the hull.
You can completely disable the ejector system by just pulling the ejector hammer and ejector hammer spring out of the gun. Or you can put in weak springs which will just pop the hull back similar to a real extractor system. Usually, an ejector system is not easily converted to a true extractor system, but the results of using weak ejector springs accomplish the same thing. Once your heavy duty ejector spring(s) are out of the gun and you can actually see the mechanical arrangement you are modifying, then you can measure the dimensions of your springs and go hunting about at the local gun show for something a bit lighter. That might take some time, or you might get lucky and find something during the first hour or two. You may find the right diameter spring, with weaker wire, but it will need to be shortened. That is where the artistic ability kicks in. YOU are now the designer of your new ejector system. In one particular case, I found that cutting down 1911 firing pin springs worked just fine in a Franchi o/u. Some experimenting is usually needed. Also, Wolff sells a big "general assortment" of misc. springs that come in handy for just this type of thing..
In general, it is not necessary to order special parts from the factory or file on metal parts to get this system to work properly. Just some patience and a good set of screwdrivers.
-Lazarus
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