Sticky extraction on "Companion" folding shotgun.

[Ugly Sauce]

I searched for answers on this, but have not found much. So quick question on sticky extraction.

Breaking open the action, after firing, the extractor pulls the shell out as normal, but it is still a bear to pull the fired shell all the way out of the shotgun. This is with 2&3/4" slug loads, and 3" slug loads. As I use it as a slug gun, I can't really tell you how it extracts with shot loads. Sorry.

Anyhow, I've polished the chamber with first coarse, and then fine steel wool. (oiled of course) I did this by wrapping a dowel with the steel wool, and running it with a power drill. I worked it over good.

It seemed to help a little bit. I could get them out by hand but with difficulty. Previously, the "Sluggers" pretty much needed to be ejected with a rod.

Any suggestions? Do you think I need to get a 12 gauge "swab", (or a couple) work it over with some steel wool some more, and then go to a polishing compound? Or just try my round ball loads with 110 grains of black? I suspect the much lower pressure of the black powder load should extract okay.

This is one of my exploring/trekking/woods-bumming guns, I would hate to not be able to reload because of a stuck shell should I have to shoot grizz twice, but I sure like the power of the 3" Sluggers, or some Brenekke "Black Magic" loads, if I could get them. (out of stock!) 110 grains of 3fg under a .690" round ball ain't no slouch, but I don't think it has the hoss-power of a 3" Slugger.

Okay, thanks in advance for any advice or ideas on sticky extraction.

 

[Armored farmer]

Steel rimmed ammo can give those break barrels the drizzled. My h&r slug gun has had troubles ejecting too.

Rubbing compound (like for removal of sun faded paint on an automobile) on a cloth draped over a bronze 16ga brush. Then chuck that bad boy up in your drill and polish the chamber till its like a mirror.
I haven't had a hull hang up for a long time. Yes, its disastrous when hunting.
Use the remaining on your car.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Okay guys, sorry, hold the phone. I just went out back and fired a black powder load (which had about the same insane recoil as a slugger) and it too stuck. ?? I said, what? Playing around, it's not sticking in the chamber, the rim of the shell is kind of locking into the extractor. A fresh shell does no do that, so the base is expanding enough, even with black, to lock the rim up in the extractor groove.

I'm going to leave this up, in case someone has the same problem. It sure fooled me. The solution, I'm guessing, is to turn the rims down a bit on shells for this gun. I think it will only take a itty bitty bit to do that. I kind of hate to start taking any meat off the extractor it's self. However, any thoughts?

The good news is that the ball load printed right where I wanted it at 25 yards, the sluggers shoot low.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Steel rimmed ammo can give those break barrels the drizzled. My h&r slug gun has had troubles ejecting too.

Rubbing compound (like for removal of sun faded paint on an automobile) on a cloth draped over a bronze 16ga brush. Then chuck that bad boy up in your drill and polish the chamber till its like a mirror.
I haven't had a hull hang up for a long time. Yes, its disastrous when hunting.
Use the remaining on your car.

Ooops sorry I wasn't able to post my "retraction" before you responded. Have never tried steel base shotgun shells. I bet they could be problematic in some guns.

 

[Armored farmer]

You're reloading obviously.
Are you using high brass hulls or cheap target hulls?

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I'm not sure what they are. Not as low brass as a low-brass shot load, but not high brass like Remington or WW high brass. And they were cheap. ! Got them from Midway. But, the high brass Remingtons stick about the same.

Now I'm not sure where the brass is sticking. I worked the extractor groove in the extractor over and removed any burrs, which it did have so it's not sticking in it anymore, but I can still feel some stick when I re-insert the empty shell in the chamber.

 

[Armored farmer]

I have also knocked a primer out, stuck a 3inch stove bolt through the primer hole, put a nut on the outside,, and coated a hull with rubbing compound, then chucked it up in the drill.

Do the hulls ever hang up unfired,? Or only after firing?

Make a sharpie pen mark at 12 o'clock on the shell and fire another one.
Closely examine the hull for bulges or other clues as to wth?

 

[Ugly Sauce]

They slip in and out normally unfired.

Now I'm not really sure what's going on with this gun. I've de-burred the extractor real well, and that helped. But I don't think that's is/was the problem. I think it did make it worse. The chamber is in nice shape, but I think I will polish it some more, perhaps just within an inch of it's life. I kind of see a slight design flaw, that the extractor does not lift the shell very far out of the chamber. .160" is as far as she goes. I don't think that's the problem really, but it's can't help.

Funny you should mention the sharpie thing. After the shell is fired, I can re-insert it, and it will feel about the same as far as the resistance to pull it out, or "re-stick it".

If I turn the shell to different points on the clock, or compass, in some positions it will indeed be harder, or easier to pull out. So perhaps the chamber is a bit irregular or out of round. Even so, that shouldn't (?) interfere with the shell pulling straight, out, or straight back. ?

So here's some food for thought. I took a fired shell (a slugger I shot yesterday) and found where it went back in the easiest. So easy it's like a fresh shell. Then I put a sharpie mark at 12'o'clock. If I turn it to three-o'clock, it is the most difficult to insert or remove. At six, hard but not as bad as three, and at 9 o'clock better but still sticky. Tomorrow I'll pop off another shell, and mark it before it comes out of the chamber.

Just playing with the mic, fired shells are out of round, unfired are not. From unfired to fired, the Sluggers go from .802" to .820". The unfired black powder loads go from .801" unfired to only .808" fired. But, depending on where I measure, those seem to change. I don't think my measuring is very precise.