Henry Rifle Forums

I spent some range time yesterday shooting my Russian .45LC top break revolver. Ran into a minor ejection problem...not sure what is causing it. FIrst outing where this has happened, and I have now shot 180 rounds total out of this gun.

Although a top break design, the star ejector is similar to most revolvers with a side-drop cylinder. Here is a reminder photo:
This happened three times out of the 50 casings I unloaded yesterday. The extractor came out of the extractor groove and allowed the rim of one of the casings to fall underneath the star assembly. Other than that, the other spent casings ejected correctly. Again, not sure why this happened. Maybe the position of the gun when I activate the top break function, maybe the ejector alignment is out-of-whack, maybe the spent case is "sticking" in the cylinder and somehow causing the star to "jump" over the rim, maybe it won't reoccur....other "maybe" scenarios? There is barely room to remove the casing from underneath the star. At least there is a touch of flexibility in the ejector rod which let me angle the casing sideways and get it freed. How interesting and how much fun that was to do!

At the least, if this happens when next time shooting my .45LC, I will mark which cylinder is guilty --- if only one cylinder versus a problem with the ejector star or ejector rod. Any thots to help me look for/understand this glitch are appreciated.

PT7

PT
Is it happening with the same brand of brass?

Yeah, Al. I'm only shooting the Choice Ammunition now, either 200gr or 250gr ammo. Brass head stamp shows it's Starline.

BigAl52 wrote:PT
Is it happening with the same brand of brass?

exactly what I was wondering .... I know that with our Redhawk the same ejection problem has happened .... I've pretty much narrowed the problem to some old casings that I've had for decades

I see well I think I would do like you were planning and see if its the same chamber all the time. I know some of those casings you sent me were several different brands of brass. Does choice always use starline? Im also betting choice isnt using new casings for there ammo

Jim, I know for sure the Choice brass is not the age of your decades-old brass. Still, if is not new and has been reloaded a number of times, that might be a factor. Thanks.

JEBar wrote: exactly what I was wondering .... I know that with our Redhawk the same ejection problem has happened .... I've pretty much narrowed the problem to some old casings that I've had for decades

Al, I plan to contact Choice Ammo early this next week to see what they use for their brass. Will keep you and other Folk posted. Thanks.

BigAl52 wrote:PT
Is it happening with the same brand of brass?

Al & Jim,

Just got off the phone with Choice Ammo. It was the turn of the President of the company to answer the phones this morning, so I talked to main man!

Oops, I goofed when I said they used Starline Brass. In my spent .45LC brass tub, I must have grabbed one of the other manufacturer's casings. I learned that Choice Ammo only uses new, never-shot brass from a company in Manitowoc, WI called Jagemann Brass, under the Jagemann Sporting Group.
Haven't done a look-see at that company or its brass production yet, but plan to check it out as I work to find out why I've bumped into the trapped brass issue. The Choice Ammo President asked me to keep him informed, and he would work with me, if there were any brass casing issues that he might address.

So next is to have some more fun shooting my Russian .45LC and see if the prob continues, and figure it out.
Appreciate the comments from you both.

PT7

PT7 wrote:

JEBar wrote: exactly what I was wondering .... I know that with our Redhawk the same ejection problem has happened .... I've pretty much narrowed the problem to some old casings that I've had for decades

Al, I plan to contact Choice Ammo early this next week to see what they use for their brass. Will keep you and other Folk posted. Thanks.

BigAl52 wrote:PT
Is it happening with the same brand of brass?

PT7 wrote:Jim, I know for sure the Choice brass is not the age of your decades-old brass. Still, if is not new and has been reloaded a number of times, that might be a factor. Thanks

10-4 .... lets just say that the cost per use of our older brass is very, very small ..

If it happens again measure the rim of the case with a caliper and compare it to the others that eject normally.
Keep a short section of 1/4" dowel handy as a 'ramrod' to push the case out of the cylinder .

Can do with the caliper. Already have the "ramrod" in my range bag, whenever needed....thanks.

Mistered wrote:If it happens again measure the rim of the case with a caliper and compare it to the others that eject normally.
Keep a short section of 1/4" dowel handy as a 'ramrod' to push the case out of the cylinder .

Are you noticing any sticky case issues with this ammo? If so, that and a combination of smallish rim dimensions could cause the problem. Regardless, I doubt it's a gun issue. Just to be sure, though, try a different brand of ammo.

With those 50 rounds I shot last Friday, I don't recall "sticky case issues." Actually, I mainly recall my surprise at the 3 trapped casings. Chatting through this thread, I realized that I didn't do a good job of gathering "why-is-this-happening" info. I mainly focused on how to get them out from under the ejector star. When I shoot the Russian again, I'll be more prepared as to what to look for, if the "traps" repeat.

Not unexpected, when I spoke with the Choice Ammo president this morning, he guaranteed that over the years, and after selling thousands and thousands of these .45LC rounds with Jagemann Brass, my problem has "never happened before." But your point is well taken; it could be the ammo rather than the revolver. That's part of the challenge at the moment --- where does the problem start, gun or bullets? I do have 30 rounds left of Aguila .45 Colt 200 gr. LFN Cowboy Action ammo. Will take some of them for my next range time. Thanks.

North Country Gal wrote:Are you noticing any sticky case issues with this ammo? If so, that and a combination of smallish rim dimensions could cause the problem. Regardless, I doubt it's a gun issue. Just to be sure, though, try a different brand of ammo.