SJ Hardware No Jam Follower Jamming and Getting Stuck
- Thread starter Steijaka
- Start date
Maybe. Solution pre dates the ‘net as well. I was out in the garage earlier going through all my shotgun bits and dug out an old follower from the original Scattergun Tech from Nashville (80s?) as well as the slightly different yet same basic tailed follower design that they’ve been using for over 20yrs. Theirs are cheap plastic compared to the solid delrin that S&J use.
I think I’ll be using their type 3 cup style or maybe the stainless Vang Comp follower on my next shotguns that could use some refreshing.
It does move freely without the spring. Once installed it also com
https://flic.kr/p/2kmGXLq
My "main" shotgun, like I have a lot, is running on original follower&spring and I never had any issues related to a faulty OEM follower. We’re talking about an 870 bought in 2007 and shot generously since then with between 1000 and 2000 rounds of all sorts per year. Lots of birdshot, a load of 00 buck and slugs. 13 years and running fine on OEM stuff and been running&gunning with it.
Don’t fix something that isn’t broken just because people buy into the hype of things like "no jam followers"
I once swapped a functionnal extractor on my 870 because the internet told me I’d likely die if I didn’t install the machined police extractor instead of my wet cardboard MIM extractor. Reference my "main shotgun", guess what ? Still has the OEM "garbage" and it never left a hull in the chamber or in the loading area (that would be the ejector’s fault at that point)
So again, don’t fix what isn’t broken. Money is better spent on ammo.
LOL. Kind of like the anti tilt followers in AR mags. CAF has never upgraded and uses the same “tilting” follower that are used in 20rd mags. Meanwhile the US Army is two gens ahead in follower “technology”. Never had an issue with them myself.
I made mine from ertalyte, a bit harder and more slippery compared to delrin, but I may as well have used delrin really as there's not a lot of force on the thing. Ertalyte's main advantages besides slightly lower friction are increased heat resistance and deformation resistance under very high pressure - neither of which is very likely to come into play in a magazine tube. I turned it such that there's enough tail fitting without rattle inside the spring to keep it aligned even at full spring extension, when the tube is empty. The spring end seats about 4mm into the head of the follower, turning freely on the spring. The hardest part was getting the stop flange just right so it doesn't jam in the end of the tube and doesn't just fall through. So this is my second try. The first one was about 0.003" too small on the OD. Shown here alongside the follower which came with my 870 Express Tactical:
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
The follower isn’t your problem I’m guessing, I’ve never had an issue with S&J followers in any gun I have put them in and I hunt with them all year so they don’t just sit in a safe collecting dust. This is the first I’ve heard of some on here have an issue with one to be honest so I’m going to say look deeper at the problem, it’s a mag tube a spring and the follower. You inspected and cleaned the tube, cleaned the follower. So time to look at the spring, I’ve always put a new spring in when I replace the ghetto rig factory follower.
