Rem 870 barrel ball detent repair ?

ben777lemay

ben777lemay

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So I bought a nice Rem 870 from a friend a couple years ago and I was cleaning it and noticed the barrel ball detent doesn’t protude and doesn’t move.

I have another barrel with the working ball detent.

Is there a gunsmith here in Canada who is familiar with the Rem 870 that can either repair my ball detent or maybe add another one ?
 

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If you can find a tapered punch that is the proper diameter to fit the hole. You may be able to open it up enough to get the detent out. Or at least get it moving with a bit of lube. You will feel if it bottoms out and stop if it does so you don’t bash the spring. I have done a few my self and have the staking punch to re set it. It was cheap.

The pics of yours look like the detent was spiked in pretty good…I have a feeling the way it was staked has it siting that way. you may be able to displace some of that back out…or like said above a wave washer will work.
 
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Repper said:
If you can find a tapered punch that is the proper diameter to fit the hole. You may be able to open it up enough to get the detent out. Or at least get it moving with a bit of lube. You will feel if it bottoms out and stop if it does so you don’t bash the spring. I have done a few my self and have the staking punch to re set it. It was cheap.

The pics of yours look like the detent was spiked in pretty good…I have a feeling the way it was staked has it siting that way. you may be able to displace some of that back out…or like said above a wave washer will work.
Click to expand...
The ball doesn’t move at all.
I tried to let it soak for days thinking maybe there is a little rust but it won’t move.

I saw the process to add the detent ball with the staking punch… Maybe I will try it with a tapered punch but I don’t have the staking punch. The area looks like it had a rough time.

Tbh, I’m not too found of the wave washer even if it works well. I like the mechanical function of the ball detent.
 
Reach out to Simon I think he’s figured out the barrel manufacturing process. The detent has been discontinued but the spring is still available. Did not even bother with GravelIMG_4671.png
 
So I talked with Casey at TacOrd and he told me that he will try to fix it… and if he can’t, it will cost around $70 including parts and labor. I think its very reasonable !

Thanks guys for the help.
I will post a pic of how it turned out when its done.
 
It’s not a difficult job. You. Red a long drill bit - I just brazed a bit onto a piece of drill rod drill so the bit would socket into the end, for strength. You drill the hole, drop in the spring and detect, and a flat punch a little larger than the detect hole is used to peen over the edge of the hole.

Honestly it’s a 10 minute job and the parts can be made if you can’t find them. There is nothing social about the spring and the detent is a 2 minute job on the lathe.
 
I'd be tempted to try a penetrating oil and then apply a vibratory tool like a palm sander with a rag on the bottom instead of sandpaper.
Even an old electric tooth brush might be enough to help loosen the rust.
Might have to prod it a bit with a suitable sized punch and see if you can get it to move inwards a bit... it's unlikely that it's siezed in the bottomed out position.

Ideally an ultrasonic bath but that have to be pretty big to fit your barrel.
 
ben777lemay said:
That’s a good question….
I don’t see any parts cost on the invoice, just labor so I assume they were able to free up the existing detent pin.
Click to expand...
I'm not surprised, I had one years ago that was "stuck" and I was able to free it up with penetrating oil and a small punch to gently tap it in with..... :)
 
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