870 feed issues

axialmillipede

axialmillipede

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So I’m having some issues with a used 870 express that I just bought. I bought it off my cousin, who bought it new last year. I decided to call this gun Bob Marley because it just keeps jammin. I took it out the other day, and sometimes it just wouldn’t feed shells from the magazine. I took it apart and cleaned it, lubed it up, same issue. When I took a closer look with the trigger group pulled out and just the slide bars in, SOMETIMES the primary shell latch is not depressing far enough to release the shell, and sometimes, the secondary latch jams it. Has anyone heard of this? Any ideas how to fix it? I watched a couple youtube videos about bending the shell latch, but that was much harder than it looked, and I couldn’t really get it to move to where it needed to go, and my needle nose pliers were not strong enough to bend it. The problem is that it will work just fine for 50 rounds, then it starts jamming and continues to do so, then like magic, the problem goes away. I would really like to be able to fix this one on my own, but I just don’t want to screw it up. I thought maybe it just needs to break in a little, so i fed a bunch of shells through it, still same thing. It works just fine for 100 rounds, then screws up, and wont clear up, then mysteriously clears up. I have tried a longer spring, same issue. And I know many people will say you need to pump it like you mean it, and trust me, I don’t mess around when I pump a scattergun. You can pump it as hard as you can, and the shell still won’t feed when its jammin. Any feedback on this would be appreciated.
 
It almost sounds like the shell stop or slide arm might be out of spec. When it starts acting up is the slide arm riding over the left shell catch (right side when the shell lifter is facing you) or is it riding on top of it?
 
Apart from short stroking it, I would guess it is the slide arm or shell latch as well. I'd pull the barrel and carrier and trigger off and run the slide with some shells in the tube while looking at the slide arms and shell latches.

Edit: Reread OP and you've basically done that already (sorry, long day so far haha). Sounds like the slide arm is out of whack.
 
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Could there be some foreign material under the shell stops that is from time to time stopping them from moving? Blast away with compressed air to try and dislodge any crap that could be under the shell stops. Just my .02.
 
So I cleaned it really well last night and I'm positive that it's not anything under the shell latch. I made sure it was spotless. If the slide arms aren't to spec, how would I tell or how do I fix it? I was thinking of putting the slide and forearm from my old 870 in, and maybe see if that's the issue.
 
Just remember to mark the parts beforehand.

Mix and match from a good doner is a good troubleshooting technique. Just remember that if you're dealing with bolts and barrels there are possible headspace issues if you actually want to fire it. If you are dry testing on the bench, have at it :)
 
I have a new 870 super msg
First 3.5" shell bound her solid, had to tap butt on ground and
Pull slide open, called Remington and they said to polish the chamber
And clean all packing oil in mechanism, found chamber had
Burs from poor machining, used a 12'gauge nylon brush
Wrapped in 0000 steel wool in cleaning rod in my cordless
Drill on high, use no oil , let wool do its job, work the drill
Back and forth for 2 or 3
Mins, take out and inspect , also the extractors are junk
Get Remington to send you one out of a wingmaster
Or marine magnum, better quality, smoother fit
And stainless steel versus cast steel in the express
I'd be happy to fix your gun for u, fixed mine in less than an
Hr, also with an 870 DON'T BE SHY ON THE PUMP!!!!
they are workhorses of the Remington line, run the gun
Hard, won't have an issue , one other thing, bulk ammo
Having steel heads on them when fired expand greater than brass
Ones. When brass is fired it expands and contracts
Steel expands and will catch any burs in chamber
The burs are usually in the forcing cone, when shell opens
Upon firing, plastic sticks to the burs and causes a jam
 
Remington stopped using the machined extractors for quite some time now. All 870 models since at least 2007 have left the factory with the same MIM extractor. The only exception is the Police versions and that may well have changed by now too. Also no Remington extractor, to the best of my knowledge, was ever made from stainless steel.

Either way in the OPs case, he isn't having extraction issues but rather the shells aren't feeding from the mag tube 100% of the time. Sounds like the primary shell stop is out of spec. If the primary shell stop is riding behind the slide arm as it should be, it should be sitting slightly deeper that the receiver surface at the entrance to the mag tube. If it isn't, then it requires the light touch of a dremel to be rectified or if it looks like too much material will have to be removed the whole shell stop will need to be removed and bent or replaced.
 
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