Who knew the '87 was so much fun???

[TomBullweed]

I posted up a topic several weeks ago about my 'new' original 1887 and potential loads.  I just wanted it to play with when my standard guns got boring.  You guys warned me, but I blew it off about the gun being too fun  to use periodically.  I was wrong!!

My question is: when does your empty hull actually leave the bolt face?  My '87 (that sounds good) hangs onto the empty hull until the bolt is brought back about a third of its normal trip.  This blocks dropping in the next two shells.  I ended up full-cycling the empty off the bolt and returning the gun to an open position in order to load. 

[Pettifogger]

What you are saying doesn't make any sense.  No 87 is going to eject empties with the bolt only 1/3 open.  Period, can't happen.  Also what the heck is the last sentence supposed to be saying?  You end up full cycling the empty off the bolt?  The gun has to be fully cycled for anything to work right.  When the bolt is all the way back and the empty is ejected that is when you load it.  Don't know what you mean by you have to return the gun to the open position in order to load.  Can't be loaded except when it is open.  When the lever is all the way forward and the bolt all the way back, that is when you load.

[Dick Dastardly]

On my old original 87 10ga I push one in the mag and drop one on the lifter and close the lever and shoot, lever again and shoot again and leave the lever down to load two more if needed on the script.

Yes, my 10ga is an 87, not an 01.  The serial number says so.  Must be a very early edition.  No matter, they both look and shoot the same.

So TomBullweed, simply open that lever all the way, put one in the magazine and one on the lifter and close the lever.  Shoot twice and repeat as needed.  It's pretty simple and relatively quick.  I'm not, but the gun is. . . .

DD-DLoS

[TomBullweed]

Sorry for the confusion.  I was worn out from cleaning the BP and was not as descriptive as necessary.

The second empty hull is hanging on the firing pin that protrudes into the dimpled primer.  The firing pin retracts when the bolt goes forward for a second time and the hull drops free at about 1/3 of the cycle to close.  I can then re-open the lever to load two more.

[Pettifogger]

OK, you are having an ejection problem.  When there is more than one round in the gun the next round coming up in the carrier very effectively kicks the fired hull out.  When you get to the final round what ejects the hull is the little lever that is between the two carrier halves at the bottom of the carrier.  If you ever take the gun apart and look through the carrier pivot pin holes (the two big screws on either side of the receiver at the rear of the carrier) you will notice that they are not lined up.  Since they are not lined up as the carrier rises the unequal hole spacing causes the left half of the carrier to tilt inward.  There is also a cam on that left carrier side that causes the ejector to flip upwards.  It is a fairly weak ejector and you have to work the lever solidly to get positive ejection (assuming everything else is working property and there are no worn parts).  If you limp wrist the lever or don't go fully to the rear it will not eject.  If you do get a round that's stuck on the bolt face the fastest way to clear it is to simply knock it off with your hand.