3" barrel swap

jeff270

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I have a lefty 870 that is chambered for 2.75" shells,
will I have any feeding issues if I install a barrel chambered for 3" .
 
not if you put on a left handed barrel. Most of the lefty barrels I have seen are attached to left handed guns. If you find a left barrel it may not handle 3 inch ammo without alteration of your 2 3/4 action.
 
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I have a lefty 870 that is chambered for 2.75" shells,
will I have any feeding issues if I install a barrel chambered for 3" .


Depends on if your receiver is designed for 3" shells.

Assuming you are using a proper left hand barrel:

If you put a 3" barrel on your 2 3/4" receiver and only use 2 3/4" shells you will not have a problem. If you try to use 3" you will have ejection problems.

If you put a 3" barrel on your 3" receiver you will be fine with both 3" and 2 3/4" shells.

The 3" or Magnum receivers have a "M" as the last digit of the serial #. If yours does not it is 2 3/4" only. You may find a gunsmith who will convert it to 3" for you. Honestly I have no idea what is involved in the conversion.
 
you'll need to change your extractor. I believe the action lenghts are the same, but the extractors are slightly different dimensions. do a search, this has been covered before. try gunsmithing, or the shotgun forums.
 
you'll need to change your extractor. I believe the action lenghts are the same, but the extractors are slightly different dimensions. do a search, this has been covered before. try gunsmithing, or the shotgun forums.

The ejector is the part that has to be changed to ensure that 3" shells don't hang up on the ejection port. It is riveted into the receiver, so the new rivets will show unless the receiver is refinished. If you can live with that, it shouldn't be too expensive to have a gunsmith install a new ejector.
 
The only difference between your model and the M type is the ejector mentioned by tjhaile. There is no value advantage to leaving it stock.
 
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