Remington 870 Double Feeding

[Good Guy]

I’ve got a 1967 vintage Remington 870TB (2 ¾ chamber) that I’ve had since new. Since I’m the original owner I know no one has “home gunsmithed” it previously and hacked anything up. What it does is when loaded with one in the chamber and two in the mag tube, upon cycling the action the one in the chamber ejects fine but BOTH shells from the mag tube are released. This jams the gun, usually necessitating the disassembly of the barrel from the receiver to clear the two shells. This happens whether the gun is shucked after firing or if you just eject the shell unfired. If you load one in the chamber and only one in the mag tube, everything works fine. This was not a problem that appeared gradually, but rather one day it worked fine, then the next it didn’t.

I’m going to look things over tomorrow. I have another 870 to shoot so I have never bothered to check things out on the problem 870 before now. I’d prefer not to return it to the factory or involve a gunsmith since this one was a Christmas gift to me and purchased pre-68 GCA. Any ideas on this one? Is their a website with an exploded diagram of the 870 for proper parts ID and nomenclature out there? Any help or hints is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[zot]

I think its that metal bar that holds the shells in tube is
either lost alot of the metal or it doesn't have the springyness to stop the shells,I had a Marlin that did it
right after I'd pull the trigger, I'd have to take barrel off to get the empty and live rounds out. that Marlin had a
out side hammer,old gun,smith welded metal and stopped the
problem, I don't know how that would effect spring in the
bar.

 

[George Stringer]

Good Guy, Zot's probably nailed it. I'd suspect the right shell latch is either bent or broken. But there could be some accumulated crud in it's recess keeping it from functioning properly. George

 

[johnwill]

There was a problem with "vintage" 870's double feeding, I was alerted to the problem by Mac Scott of SM&A a few years back. As I recall, there was a pretty simple fix, but I forget exactly what part was changed. I only remember that I checked my gun while we were talking, and mine didn't need the mod. I suspect that someone should remember what the exact problem was...