Self-Ejector Mechanism
Although a great many shooters do not use the self-ejector, this handy device will many times prove of great value in the field, for when the birds are coming fast and the shooter happens to score a miss, the self-ejector throws out the empty shell and enables him to shove in a fresh load to bring down the following bird. The nonejecting arm is plenty good and quick enough for trap use, for when shooting “clays,” plenty of time is given each man to reload between shots, but for upland-bird and for duck shooting, the automatic ejector is a desirable addition to the double-barreled gun.
Repeating and Automatic Shotguns
While a good double-barreled gun in the hands of the average shot will very likely bag as many birds as the shooter is entitled to—and it may be depended on to do this when fitted with a good automatic ejector—many shooters prefer the repeating gun. The hand-operated, sliding fore arm, trombone-action, or pump gun is so well-known that no recommendation is needed. It will suffice to mention that it will do everything that a double-barreled gun can perform, and considering that every pump gun is self-ejecting, and its cost less than an equal grade of double gun equipped with an ejecting device, it is not difficult to understand its popularity. So far as accuracy is concerned, the repeater will shoot rather more steadily than the double-barreled gun in the hands of the average man, and after two shots have been fired, there remain four more in the magazine. Rapid firing is not always an advantage, of course, but when after ducks, the third shot is often wanted in the interval that is required to load the double-barreled gun.
The Shells are Started About One-Quarter Inch in the Regular Way Before the Ejector Kicks Them Out
The automatic, or self-loading, shotgun is the logical development of the repeater, and while its mechanism is necessarily more complicated, it has some merits peculiarly its own. The devotee of the double barrel is inclined to believe that the repeater and the automatic shotgun do not balance so well as his favorite weapon, and the man who swears by the pump gun is inclined to think that the automatic arm is balanced like a club and prone to get out of order. Both factions can put up plenty of argument to support their opinions, but to the unprejudiced gunner, both the repeater and the self-loader will prove very fine guns after the shooter has become familiar in handling them. The double-barrel is a mighty fine gun, so is the repeater and again the automatic; so let the gunner pick out the type he likes best.
The Automatic Ejector Mechanism Enables the Gunner to Shove in a Fresh Load for the Following Bird
