870 Missing Ejector Spring

U

UtahGrouse

New member
I bought a used Remington 870 Express 20 ga that ejects spent shells very weakly, if at all. In trying to figure out what was wrong I noticed that it does not have an ejector spring where one should be according to the parts diagram.

It does not appear that it ever did, the ejector is firmly riveted to the receiver, and there are no broken ends of a spring and no room under the rivets where one could of been.

Did Remington ever make 870's with out the ejector spring? Is there any way to install an ejector spring with out drilling out the rivet?
 
My factory parts list shows an ejector spring on 20 gauge guns.

The problem with drilling out the rivet isn't so much how difficult it is to re-rivet the new spring onto the ejector. It's that you have to re-blue the receiver when you're done to blend the head of the replacement rivet.

Brownells stocks a rivet cutter that sometimes allows you to take off just enough of the rivet to re-peen the rivet over a new spring, thus preventing a re-blue on a new rivet.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=368/Product/REMINGTON-870-EJECTOR-SPRING-RIVET-CUTTER
 
870 Express 20 ga and Wingmaster 20 ga do not have ejector springs. The ejector is a solid piece with no spring. Older 20 ga 870's on the 12 ga frame did have an ejector that looked like a spring. I verified by checking my guns.

Correct operation of the 870 requires working the pump with speed and force both ways.
 
To replace the ejector on an 870 requires a special staking tool and carefully dressing the staked protion on the outside of the reciever and refinishing. They rarely fail unless poorly staked.
 
Thanks for checking, if it is not supposed to have a spring I wonder if there is a problem with the extractor. Visually it looks fine but I suppose the extractor spring could be weak, not holding the shell well when it hits the extractor?

When I rack it moderately hard the shell just dribbles out, or the shell will often just fall down on top of the fresh shell in the elevator. Racking it with excessive speed/force does not help and judging from other 870's I have used, really should not be necessary.
 
I on occasion saw an 870 that failed to eject properly.

In most cases it was either a damaged extractor or a fouled/rusty extractor spring and plunger.
Once in a while it was a broken ejector.

I'd recommend disassembling the extractor, spring and plunger from the bolt.
Use a small brush or a pipe cleaner and solvent to clean out the hole in the bolt, check the plunger and spring for fouling or rust, and the spring for loss of tension. New springs and plungers are cheap.

Check the extractor for wear, chips, or breaks.
Lube every thing and reassemble. Test for free movement of the extractor.

Visually inspect the ejector in the receiver to see if it's broken or chipped.

Last, inspect the chamber and give it a good scrub with a chamber brush and solvent. Often a fouled chamber causes poor extraction and ejection.
 
I talked to Remington today and ordered up a new extractor, spring and plunger. Hopefully that fixes it up. The ejector appears to be in good shape with a nice square step where the shells contact it and the chamber is squeaky clean.
 
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