870 and snap caps

F

fotta

Inactive
Hi Everyone.

I recently purchased a new 12 gauge 870 Express BBL VT and swapped the barrel to a (new) 12/20 ICRS. I picked up some "Traditions" brand (plastic) 12 gauge snap caps at Bass Pro to get a feel for the gun before taking it out and shooting it. I have noticed that the snap caps are about 1/4" shorter than 2 3/4" shells and will not allow the shotgun's trigger to "click" when it is pulled with a snap cap loaded. i.e. the trigger will not cause it to dry fire. The shotgun *will* dry fire without a shell. Can someone explain this? Is the snap cap too short? This manufacturer only makes one 12 gauge size as far as I can tell. Any thoughts?
 
rack

make sure you are racking the slide hard enough. A few times on my 870, i havnt racked the slide hard enough and it wont pull the hammer back.
 
That is a truly weird problem . . .

Every shotgun I've ever seen will drop the hammer as long as the action is in battery. The fact that your gun will dry fire tells me that the snap cap might be hanging up on the barrel extension and preventing full lockup.

Try taking the barrel off and dropping the snap cap in. Then drop in a real shell and see if they go in the same.

Since shotguns headspace on the rim, a short shell shoudn't make a difference.
 
Thanks guys,

I did as suggested above and compared the fit of the shells with the snap caps. The snap caps are a much tighter fit. Strangely, they work well enough with the original 28" barrel but not with the new 20" one. In any case, after a thorough cleaning of the new barrel, I have found that if I rack the mechanism more briskly than I was used to doing, they *will* usually work (~80% of the time) with the shorter barrel as well. I imagine that after some time they will 'break-in' but next time I think I'll try to find higher quality snap caps.

Thanks for the responses.
 
Yes, they're the only ones I've ever had good luck with...my only wish would be having them anodized orange or red.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top