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870 Question: How do you change the 'J-lock' safety to a normal one?
- Thread starter mathman
- Start date
I did mine, go on line to Tank's Rifle shop and buy their complete kit for the safety change. The conversion part will have a new spring and a ball bearing to replace the solid piece with the J safety. You will need to take apart the whole gun, but it's not to bad ( if I did it, anyone can).
Take your time, and watch your parts that come off. You will want a bowl or something to keep it all together.
Also, you can download pdf file prints of the trigger mechanism from Remington.
good luck, mine worked perfect.
Take your time, and watch your parts that come off. You will want a bowl or something to keep it all together.
Also, you can download pdf file prints of the trigger mechanism from Remington.
good luck, mine worked perfect.
Dfariswheel
New member
As above, you'll need an old style safety button AND the old style safety spring and detent ball.
Installation is very easy.
Just push out the two pins that retain the trigger plate and remove the unit. You don't even need to remove the barrel for this.
Push out the small silver pin just above and to the rear of the safety, and remove the spring and plunger, and safety.
Install the new safety, drop the tiny ball into the hole, insert the new spring, and put the pin back in place.
You can buy the old style parts from Gun Parts Corp, and probably Brownell's as well as other sources.
MAKE SURE you get the OLD style parts for the Wingmaster/Police, NOT the Express.
Installation is very easy.
Just push out the two pins that retain the trigger plate and remove the unit. You don't even need to remove the barrel for this.
Push out the small silver pin just above and to the rear of the safety, and remove the spring and plunger, and safety.
Install the new safety, drop the tiny ball into the hole, insert the new spring, and put the pin back in place.
You can buy the old style parts from Gun Parts Corp, and probably Brownell's as well as other sources.
MAKE SURE you get the OLD style parts for the Wingmaster/Police, NOT the Express.
Couple more tips...
Do so with care if you want to keep that old spring for any reason. It can pop out and roll/bounce into the darndest spots.
The hardest part is getting the spring down far enough to slide the pin back over it. The "key" for the crappy J-lock safeties makes a pretty good tool for depressing the spring. That's about all they're good for.
Another good source is http://www.midwayusa.com/ Cheapest I've found.
Push out the small silver pin just above and to the rear of the safety, and remove the spring and plunger, and safety.
Do so with care if you want to keep that old spring for any reason. It can pop out and roll/bounce into the darndest spots.
Install the new safety, drop the tiny ball into the hole, insert the new spring, and put the pin back in place.
The hardest part is getting the spring down far enough to slide the pin back over it. The "key" for the crappy J-lock safeties makes a pretty good tool for depressing the spring. That's about all they're good for.
You can buy the old style parts from Gun Parts Corp, and probably Brownell's as well as other sources.
Another good source is http://www.midwayusa.com/ Cheapest I've found.
Last edited:
mathman, it actually will work, but the old-style safeties were really designed to work with the detent ball. And because the ball is a lot 'shorter' than the plunger, you do need a slightly longer spring.
Not knowing any better, I changed out just the safeties on several 870s. They seemed to function just fine IMO. I hunted with one of the 870s for a couple of turkey seasons and never noticed any problems with the safety. However, when I found out I should have replaced the spring/plunger with longer spring/detent ball, I went ahead, bought the extra parts, and made the swaps.
So, long answer short, it's best if you replace all three parts. You're only talking about six or seven more dollars, so why not put in the parts that were designed to go with the old-style safety?
Not knowing any better, I changed out just the safeties on several 870s. They seemed to function just fine IMO. I hunted with one of the 870s for a couple of turkey seasons and never noticed any problems with the safety. However, when I found out I should have replaced the spring/plunger with longer spring/detent ball, I went ahead, bought the extra parts, and made the swaps.
So, long answer short, it's best if you replace all three parts. You're only talking about six or seven more dollars, so why not put in the parts that were designed to go with the old-style safety?