Breaking In New Pumpguns....

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Dave McC

Staff In Memoriam
Got asked this off line, so on the premise that if one asks, 20 might need to know, here goes.

The original query was about 870s, of course, but the info applies to all of the Big Four,indeed any quality pump shotgun.

OK, you just got home with your new purchase, taken it out of the box and admired it. Do you go shooting immediately? Well, not quite yet....

Following the directions in the owner's manual, remove the bbl and further disassemble as far as you can. Note the heavy lube on everything. There's probably some metal grindings in there, and if left, will accellerate wear a bit. The lube will trap grunge, and things will gum up faster than they should. SO, using paper towels, rags, etc, wipe out as much as you can.Do all of the inside of the receiver. There's still a coat of lube on the parts, but it should be minimal.

I also recommend carefuly taking off the stock and lightly lubing the rear of the receiver and any metalwork there. Use a little wax or other sealant on the open grain of the stock while it's apart to stop water migrating.

Once reassembled, now you take it out and shoot it. I suggest light loads until you are accustomed to the kick and feel of the weapon.

And do yourself a favor if the bbl's equipped with tube chokes.Make sure the tube is screwed in tight. A gap at the base of the tube will bulge your bbl and ruin your day PDQ.When shooting, keep checking tightness.

After 100 rounds or so, take apart again and deep clean. Once clean, note the wear marks on the action bars and other parts.Using Emery cloth, a crockstick,fine Arkansas machinist's stone or Jeweler's rouge on a felt wheel, polish the marks
until they're glassy smooth. Use the crockstick or stone to lightly radius the sharp edges of the action bars and remove any "flash" left from the stamping.

Next, relube with CLP, SLIP 2000 or similar, reassemble and pump it a few times. Note it's much smoother. Now go have fun and shoot it some more.

Unless you shoot it in the rain or under wet conditions,a deep clean like this is only needed about once yearly for light use shotguns and every 1K rounds for those shot more often.

Any questions, sing out. Hope I've made this clear to everyone...
 
There is a great site for learning about cleaning, rat cheer.

Mine the Archives, there's plenty of input. I just did a search and found 23 threads, including a couple I started.

Or,post a query. Folks that are cognizant about shotguns will tell you everything you need to know. A good bunch of folks here...
 
Dave is what I would call a gentleman, making subtle moves initially.

Myself, I pulled my 590 Vang completely apart... started with a flat file, transitioned to cloth, and ended with ceramic stones. The inerds are white now.

Can you say "butter"?
 
Mo, for what Hans and the gang charge, it should have been "Butter". Slicking up is not rocket science, nor hard work.

32, sorry I missed your second query. One cannot get rid of rust, it's as permanent as a bad rep.

VERY light oxidation can sometimes be diminished by very light rubbing with oil soaked 4/0 steel wool.

PM is the best thing for rust. Don't let it start...
 
Personally I like to shoot them bone dry, intentionally increasing wear, for the first few thousand rounds when I have a new pump gun. I also cycle them extensively without ammo, for practice and to wear them in. The only oil I put in a pump gun is for rust protection, not for lubricating although it does lubricate some.
 
You're very welcome, Z, I'm just passing on the Karma(G).

H, that'll work too. Here in Moist Md, it's better to overlube a bit.
 
Warning

When cleaning inside the receiver where the trigger group was removed from my 870 Express, I cut myself on a razor-sharp surface. So be careful and wear disposable vinyl gloves when sticking your finger in things.
 
swede is right, and thanks for the warning. I have cut myself on the edges of the carrier slots on an 870, 1100, and 11-87. The edge is VERY sharp. I stopped wiping out remingtons for that reason, a can of brake cleaner hoses them out plenty clean for me.
 
Never had that prob with an 870, but a good smith tells me it's endemic on 1100s with a lot of shells through them.

A cut with receiver grunge entering qualifies as very septic, so go with care.
 
My first shotgun

Well, I've dove it. After reading enough of Dave McC's posts and tutorials to realize I was missing out on a whole lotta fun, I went out this afternoon and got a Parkerized Police Magnum 870 (20" IC, bead sight), brought it home, and performed step one (strip 'n clean) of the above regimen. I can't wait to get to the range and start learning how to work it. Never shot a shotgun, but I've never shot another gun I didn't like, so I figure it can't go too wrong. Now, gotta get a 28" remchoke barrel to show up at the traphouse ready to go, too.

Thanks for the advice and for spurring an interest, Dave.

Chris W
 
You're very welcome, Chris. And thank you, feedback like this is good for warm fuzzies.

A coupla things...

First, mine the Archives for stuff on proper mounting techniques, form and fit. This will pay dividends.

Second, get the lightest loads you can for starters. The cheapo generic loads in something like an oz, 2 3/4 dram equivalent are what you want. Buy ammo, use up, repeat....

As for your purchase, it's not ideal for trap, and at the start you need things busting for the instant gratification that motivates most tyros. However, it's a good choice for skeet or 5 stand.

Do not keep score at first, just FOCUS on busting that clay. After a while, you can score just to measure progress.

Also try the stuff on the thread about HD preparedness for some more practical skills.

Please keep in touch here, I'm interested in how hard it is for someone to get into shotgunning and use the Net as a learning resource from Square One....
 
Well, I oughta be about the perfect specifmen of a Net-generated shooter, given my total lack of real world experience. I probably will blow the experimental protocol at some point, however. The guy who runs the indoor range I shoot at shoots police competitions with shotgun and apparently does well, so I'll probably sign up for a session with him to get some basic technique; but you can bet I'll be reading the archives in the meantime, and may well pop up with questions on matters I can't resove there.

Right away, you've answered one question, about what constitutes a 'light load' with which to begin. I've got no illusions about being a he-man shooter out of the gate, but I know you can work up to whatever's necessary. To wit: at the beginning, I was a bit shocked by .357s in a full size L-frame revolver; now I can find a certain (perhaps twisted) pleasure in them from a 12 oz. Scandium snub. The trick is just patience and proficiency, and I know it'll take a little time with a shotgun as with anything.

I'll do some reading on these 'form and fit' matters; and I'm glad to hear, actually, that skeet and five-stand will fit the gun--I only thought trap might be more appropriate because it's the only clay sport I've actually seen anyone use a pump-gun on. I'd love to start with skeet and move on to the variety of sporting clays, in good time.

If one can read, and has the patience to apply what they read, there's little, I think, they couldn't learn here. I'm a lifelong reader, and like to learn through the printed word, so perhaps this medium fits me better than some; but it's a mine of tremendous potential for anyone who want to know. Thanks again--

Chris

P.S.--the final straw, Dave, was when you used "yclept" in a post about Frankenstein. Pump-guns AND Chaucer, I thought? Resistance is clearly futile!;)
 
VERY light oxidation can sometimes be diminished by very light rubbing with oil soaked 4/0 steel wool.
Click to expand...

From what my fellow TFL'ers told me awhile back, steel wool is a bad choice because it'll leave microscopic particles of steel in the pores of your gun which will rust over time.

Send to Brownells for some Stainless Steel Wool 4/0, drench in lube and proceed lightly...HTH.
 
Thanks, Chris. As for the instruction, feel free. Just remember that not all good shooters are good teachers too. Still, hands on practice under close supervision and with a good shooter will be helpful, IMO.

Pumps do not get used all that much at games other than trap except for hard core pumpgunners like me. And, surprisingly enough,we do very well sometimes. On another BB, someone mentioned that the current Ohio SC champ shoots an 870. It's a bit harder to excell when pitted against good shooters using autos and doubles, but far from impossible.

The big advantage to using a pump at games is WHEN THAT PUMP OR SIMILAR is used for other shotgun stuff like HD and hunting. Even a duffer like me at 5 stand does well in the field, sometimes amazingly well. Even did a true triple on a quail covey rise.Lots of auto shooters with quail experience can tell you how difficult that is with a self shucker.

Finally,and off topic, there's probably still a video kicking around a certain MD Prison showing a cell extraction that I supervised. I caught a little heck when the tape was reviewed, the camera showed me starting the extraction by muttering, "Once more into the breach, dear friends"...

One of the blessings I've enjoyed has been having a good education pounded into my thick, peasant skull.

Ed, haven't had a prob, but thanks for the tip...
 
Chris, Dave has given you some really good advise, go with it IMO.

I started out with an 1100, but very soon after went to an 870. Lots of guys at the ranges told me what a handicap it was, hard to use on doubles ETC. Well, I have an extremely thick skull and I really do not like being told I can't do something. I went after shooting hard and heavy, and thankfully had a good job for funding and an understanding wife. I can tell you from personal experience that waxing the guy with a $15K perazzi or a $8K krieghoff with a $199 wally world 870 covered with skateboard tape so your gloves don't slip is tremendously satisfying, and twice as good because he criticized your choice early on. I bought some more shotguns, and kept shooting, but not till the 870 had its due respect. I have had somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 shotguns since the 870 came home, but nearly all of them moved on while the 870 stayed.

BTW, I can still pick up that 870 and shoot a 96-100 with it on the skeet field. I can still shoot an 85-92 on the local sporting clays courses with it too. Once you learn to shoot the equipment is largely secondary.
 
Light Rust

Instead of Steel Wool or even Stainless Wool I have found that light oil on a pair of panty hose works quite well. Wives wear them a few times and then they are snagged and end up in the garbage. Soooo... I just keep an old pair for any unwanted oxidation that might arise.

-JHG- :)
 
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