New to 870... improvements?

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DanTheMan89

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I recently won a remington 870 express super mag in a church raffle. I am having a couple of issues with it. Before I list them, allow me to note that this is my first remington but 4th total shotgun. the other 3 have been mossbergs (2 500's and a 590).

The first thing I noticed is that the action is not quite as smooth as my mossbergs' but I am assuming it will smooth out with use so that's not really a problem. One thing that bugs the hell out of me is the way the carrier/lifter scratches my thumb as I load shells. Haven't experienced this from my mossbergs as that particular part is tucked out of the way while loading. Upon inspection I found the edges of the carrier to be rather rough and sharp and I am wondering if a fix could be as simple as filing these edges a bit. Have any of you done this? Would it cause feeding problems?

the second thing that bothers me is that when using the cheap 100 pack target loads from wally world about 1 in 10 hulls stick so tightly that I have to whack the butt of the gun on something to get it to eject. now, I realize this is an ammo problem but I like using this cheap stuff for practice and have never had a single hull stick in any of my other guns. So is this a problem that will go away after I shoot the newness out of the gun? If not, should I get the chamber polished or will the gun simply not tolerate crap ammo?

Thanks for any help you're able to give me!

I also apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors as I am writing this from my phone and it is difficult to type on or proof read from.
 
The 870 is a very solid and reliable gun, but sometimes they are a little "rough" around the edges right out of the box. They will smooth out over time, but do not hesitate to use heavy steel wool or a fine file on any rough spots or burrs.

The first thing that I do with a new 870 is to replace a couple of parts:
Change the MIM extractor for the forged version: http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=10745/psize=96/Product/EXTRACTOR

Replace the carrier dog follower spring with the heavier version (which is actually the same one used in the 1100/11-87): http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=10763/psize=96/Product/CARRIER-LATCH-SPRING

Upgrade the magazine spring: http://www.gunsprings.com/Rifles & ... 11-48, SPT-48, SPT-58/cID2/mID108/dID216#606

and, while you're at it, might as well replace the follower as well: http://sjhardware.com/store/modules...d=347&osCsid=041685b09b9b63ddb38b792c6718c849
 
I've never had to replace the parts mentioned above,but then I'm only 65 and the most rounds I've put through any one 870 is less than 30K.

Can't hurt,though.

First, a little 4/0 steel wool wrapped around a dowel or cleaning rod, chucked up in a drill and run through the chamber for about a minute will do wonders for smoothing things up.

Second, skipping the steel based valu pack ammo will almost certainly fix the remainder.

As for the thumb thing, practice will solve that one also. A software fix, not hardware.

Finally, a few thousand rounds through that 870 will add the wear marks needed for best operation....
 
The best way to find out about the express/wingmaster is to go to a gun store that sell each model. Then not only look them over but cycle the action, that will tell you the differences between the two models.
 
Flex your thumb when loading the magazine, and use your thumb knuckle to hold the lifter up out of the way. If you just stick your thumb up in the receiver "thumbs up" style, it's easier for it to get pinched.

Any new Remington comes with brown thick sticky preservative gunk in/on it that needs to be removed before use, especially in the barrel and chamber (RTFM...). If a good barrel cleaning doesn't fix the sticky extraction problem, then chamber polishing as indicated above is in order.

Congrats on winning the raffle!
 
I've never had to replace the parts mentioned above
Click to expand...

I have never had to either, but those are basically the only parts that differentiate the Express from the Police, so for an expenditure of about $40 I do it.
 
You're mistaken. The Remingtons are the best shotgun and never need to be slammed on the ground to open. You'll see. Keep reading.
 
The only thing I've really had an issue with after sorting out the initial quality control problems is to replace the magazine followers... I've had two break and quickly make the gun into a single shot or in the worse case piece of the follower got into the trigger mechanism and jammed it up...
 
I brought a new 870 two years ago.
The first duck shooting season I did with it, I too had some rounds stick in the chamber and had to hit the butt on the ground.
But now I don't have any trouble with it at all.
The action is also very smooth after a few hundred shots.

I've never had any trouble with having my thumb caught by the shell lifter, maybe you load your gun different than I do? I don't know.

I used a mates Beretta Extrema 1, that was terrible to load, if you didn't do it quite right you would actually trap your thumb in the gun and it was quite sore, then once you got your thumb out the gun was kinda jammed it was really really annoying.

But anyway, your first problem I had but it sorted itself out.
And the second one if never come across.

Hope that helps.
 
Dan, no, sadly, not defective. In my experience and opinion it is very, very, common for the modern Remington 870's to do this. They aren't what they once were, if they were ever "all that." In fact, I EXPECT 870's to lock up. It is so prevalent that at my most frequented range, new 870 owners are asked to wait to shoot with children and novices that may come in because the failures are so common and disruptive to everyone else.

But you'll hear alot of excuses and denials.
 
I have owned several 870's and can't recall ever having one lock-up on me. Typically, only times I have seen 870's lock-up is when "novices" don't rack the action forcibly or when a brand new gun is not cleaned properly before first use.
 
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