870 ammo picky? Need help/advice

KyleSchenk

KyleSchenk

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I just bought an 870 supermag, my first shottie:D Always been a rifle/pistol kinda guy. Anyways are they usually picky on ammo? I went out to shoot some trap this afternoon and it did not want to unlock/eject. I had to put the butt against my leg and reaf on the pump handle with both hands to get it to eject. The gun cycles fine with unfired shells though. I was using Winchester 2'' 3/4'' Universals. I was so p*ssed I just left the range without even breaking out the rifles. So it got me thinking maby the chamber ream is a little rough? It feels smooth but I can see some light helical lines from the reamer.

After dinner tonight I decided to try some different ammo just cause I could. It cycled Federal's of the exact same load just fine(the field and game ones). So my question now is, does the Winchester stuff have thinner steel in the heads than the Federal's do and its expanding more? Or should I look further at the gun itself? I would'nt figure that an 870 would be picky with ammo.

Sorry for all the questions. Like I said, shotguns are a new thing to me.
 
Winchester Universals are about the worst form of life in the shotshell world. But your 870 "shotgun" should still cycle them. Notice I didn't say shottie. :)
 
I find that Winchester Universals are cheap for a reason. There cheap quality. That being said, they feed through my shotguns ok (Franchi semi and Mossburg 500). I do sometimes have ejection problems with the Franchi with the Winchester, but it runs about 1 shell per 100.

Win/64;

What wrong with "Shottie"? "It's real steel":stirthepot2::stirthepot2::p
 
There seems to be a common problem with cheap shells and the 870, I think most have solved the problem by having the chamber polished. Seems Remington can't do the job right the first time. And for the record my Fabarm SHOTTIE :p cycles the Universals with out a hiccup. :shotgun: :shotgun:
 
I've got about 500 rounds through my 870 super mag, it still occasionally does hang up when you use the cheapies, but it happens a lot less once you break it in a bit. For me, it happens with ANY shell that has the small rims, and all the big rim shells cycle flawlessly.
 
My 930 Mossberg cycles about everything. Even the Winchesters. Is your barrel tight to the action? Take off your magazine cap and remove your barrel for a close inspection. Could be a burr or manufacturing crude keeping things from working right...ST...
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Barrel was on there tight. Everything is clean.There was something that did get my attention though. Where the locking block locks up to the barrel and on the face of the chamber, the metal is starting to peen over. You can really see it on the back/reciever end of the barrel. This is after 50rds throught the gun.:( Should I be worried about this? Should I be thinking about packing the whole thing up and sending it back?
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I don't think 50 rounds should cause that kind of peening already. Something isn't right. I run an 870 wingmaster magnum for 20 years and after about 8000 rounds of hunting and clays it looked like your pics. I would take it back or at least get a gunsmiths opinion. They must be cheaping out on the new Remingtons. The old ones would cycle anything,even mud and dirt in the goose pits. If you have a good dealer he should accomodate you...ST...
 
I had the same problem with my 870 3" express jamming up with the cheap aluminum head winchester shells (cycled others fine). My uncle and I just polished the chamber with using 000 steel wool, metal polish, chamber brush/rod and a drill. This process took like 5 min.The chamber is like glass, and now it will function flawlessly with whatever I feed it.
 
SaddleTramp said:
I don't think 50 rounds should cause that kind of peening already. Something isn't right. I run an 870 wingmaster magnum for 20 years and after about 8000 rounds of hunting and clays it looked like your pics. I would take it back or at least get a gunsmiths opinion. They must be cheaping out on the new Remingtons. The old ones would cycle anything,even mud and dirt in the goose pits. If you have a good dealer he should accomodate you...ST...
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Thanks for your input.
Kinda what I figured. I bought it from one of the site sponsors(Epp's) Ive spoken with them about the jamming and they said they would polish the chamber no problem. I just noticed the peening tonight when I took it appart. I was going to polish it myself but after noticing this Im thinking no. I'll have to give em a call tomorrow.
 
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