Once The Dimple Is Drilled Out of the 870...

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daisey53

New member
Once the dimple is drilled out of the 870 magazine to add a shell extension can one later take the extension off and use the original cap or are you committed to using the extension forever with the dimple gone?
 
Well, my older Remington 1100 didn't HAVE a dimple and I have flip-flopped between extension and none as the sitation calls for. Kind of a chore cramming the spring back in, but that is about it.
 
If you just take a file to thoughs dimples from the inside, you can shave them down enough that the rounds will slide past and you dont have holes in the outside of your gun. It took me a wile with a little hand file but it worked great. And yes you can still go back to the old spring and cap
 
The magazine cap will no longer stay tight,you might use teflon tape on the threads or the rubber O rings Brownells sells or you can buy a bbl. with a detent ball or have a detent ball installed and buy a cap made for the detent retaining system.
 
If you check the archives, there's a method of removing the dimple using a socket-wrench socket in the mag tube.
 
There is a socket method. There is also a dimple swage tool sold by XS sights. I think Brownells offers one too. I will caution that for the not so mechanically inclined this is the most risky way to remove the dimples. One misdirected whack and you can knock your mag tube out of round and it's not a user replacable part on an 870.

Drilling doesn't leave visible holes as they are covered by the barrel ring. No worries there. A dremel makes grinding them out very easy, but wadded paper towels or rags should be inserted into the bottom of the mag tube to keep the metal shavings out of the action.

On regular magazine caps.........Remington offers two methods to secure the standard mag cap. The old way is a ball detent in the barrel ring that interfaces with the mag cap and with a metal spring retainer underneath. The new way is the plastic ratchet which is held in place by the dimples and retains the spring while at the same time retaining the mag cap. Without the dimples the plastic ratchet doesn't work well.

Your options are to convert it to the ball detent by buying a new barrel or having your present one converted, assuming you have one without a ball detent already. Then buy a magazine cap that interfaces with the ball detent instead of the ratchet. If your barrel has a detent then all you need is the proper mag cap and a metal spring retainer.

Short of that you've got makeshift solutions of plumbers tape or O-rings or the like. They work too.
 
is it simple to conver the newer 'express' style barrel to have the detent ball? It should be a spring and ball, maybe a pin to hold it together, if the opening is even there?
 
The 870 I'm talking about does have the newer system where the "teeth inside the outer metal cap ratchet up against the teeth on the plastic cap at the end of the spring. Once the dimples are drilled out the plastic cap and spring will no longer be held in place by the dimples so the outer metal cap would have to hold everything together if I were to revert back without the extension. Since the outer metal cap would no longer ratchet on the inner plastic cap, and would just spin it round and round, I can see how the unit may unthread itself over time and shoot the inner plastic cap and spring right out into the air. I assume this would have to be checked for tightness on a regular basis if I were to temp. go back to the original set up. I'm only adding a shorter 3 shell extension and will probably just keep it that way. We shall see! :) Thanks for the information.
 
is it simple to conver the newer 'express' style barrel to have the detent ball? It should be a spring and ball, maybe a pin to hold it together, if the opening is even there?
Click to expand...

It's a detent and spring. The hole needs to be drilled (and drilled nice and clean and straight). Insert spring and detent then peen the rim of the drilled hole to hold detent in place. No pin.
 
Once the dimples are out, you can do some of the methods above such as having a plunger installed on the barrel, or you can simply buy an old style magazine spring retention "cup-washer" to hold the spring in the tube.

To prevent the magazine cap from vibrating loose, Brownell's sell a tension washer that fits between the cap and the barrel ring to keep it in place, or you can buy a large "0" ring.
 
Geoff,

That's all well and good to retain the spring, however on a standard 28" express barrel there's nothing to retain the magazine cap. No ball detent in the barrel ring.
 
Another method not yet mentioned for retaining the mag cap is to purchase a front sling loop plate from GG&G, Daniel Defense, or Scattergun Tech/Wilson Combat. The plate has a built in ball detent and will retain the old style mag cap meant to interface with such.
 
So just tighten the cap down, it will stay on! The ball detent is nice but not necessary.

I have one of the sling plates, I found that it reduced the number of threads to the point that the mag extension came loose. Not enough thread purchase to ensure a tight fit. YMMV.
 
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