Remington 870 Express Problem

4

40CalGuy

New member
I took my new toy out to shoot at some clay pigeons (those bastards) today for the first time, and I experienced something that I had not counted on. The Winchester AA's (2.75",6shot, 1350fps SUPERS) would get jammed after firing, inside the chamber. I figure that this might be due to the chamber being tight, as it was the first range trip on this gun. Also, since the rounds are steel at the base, and steel having no memory, was probably expanding after being fired, and getting jammed up. It was an embarassing bitch of a situation for a first time shotgun owner, on his first trip. Everyone else was using nice over unders and semi's, and I looked like a tool. The guys at the range were nice enough to swap me a box of theirs for a box of mine, which I was more than happy to do, and those worked well (they were reloads), and I had no problems extracting them. Use a lighter load shell? Buff the inside of the chamber with some steel wool to widen it a little? Anyone got other suggestions? The gun was cheap, but I know 3 people with this exact gun, and they all tell me how much they love to shoot theirs. What gives? :(
 
Sounds like burrs in the chamber...I have an 870 that did the same thing and after firing several hundred rounds, the problem is gone. You can also polish the chamber (or have someone do it for you).
 
You should probably just avoid those shells.

A friend of mine's 20ga. 870 did that same thing when he reloaded winchester supersports.
 
Bummer...

I bought 500 Freakin rounds! ive used 50. ****ty...does Wally World allow an exchange on unopened cases of ammo? I got one 250 round case not opened...maybe I can exchange it?
 
hmmm maybe something is wrong with the ammo. send it my way and ill test every round for you :D my 870 eats AAs without anytrouble at all, so i would suspect that the above suggestion that you have burrs in the chamber sounds right to me. have you not had issues with other ammo? tried any high brass stuff? GL, i love my 870.
 
Other ammo

I was able to get some of the guys at the range to trade me their reload boxes for my troubled ammo. They didn't have any problems with it, and mine ate their ammo with no issues. I think I'll be using the steel woll on the chamber tonight. Other suggestions welcome.
 
Whoa-hoa, there- don't go grinding on that chamber in such a great big ol' hurry. If there were no chamber issues before and you go inflicting concentric scratches with coarse steel wool at the mouth of the chamber, you may HAVE some real chamber issues when you get done.

First of all, what grade steel wool do you have? It better be 0000, if you are going to use it for anything beside stripping furniture. Otherwise it is apt to be scratch city. If you want to polish the chamber mouth, something a lot more gentle and less abrasive is in order- some metal polishing compound like Simichrome on a soft cloth for example.

Have you given the gun a thorough cleaning yet? Remington coats new guns with a preservative that can be very sticky- gotta get it out of the works or it can gum things up. A new bore brush and some good solvent is a first step key to getting the chamber scrubbed out, and if you can find a new 10 ga. brush or a specific chamber brush so much the better. But brush and solvent FIRST.

Lots of times this particular problem IS ammo specific. Solution: don't use that ammo. Sorry to hear you bought a stack of it, lesson learned should be to try new ammo first in a new gun, to see if the gun likes it- before you buy a bunch of it. I doubt any store will allow you to return ammo, I could be wrong there. If they won't take it back, maybe you can shoot it in something else if you have another gun of the same gauge, or perhaps you can trade it off/sell it to friends.

Examine the heads of some fired hulls- any scratches in them, running from the rim of the shell toward the end of the base? Take off the barrel, and feel around the breech edge of the chamber, pulling your fingertip from the inside toward the outside. Feel any burrs or roughness anywhere around the perimeter of the chamber? If so then gently removing them with a fine Swiss file is in order- key word being GENTLY. I am not talking about grabbing a Chinese milling machine (a bastard file) and whaling away- nothing that does more harm than good, please.

Chances are good that a good cleaning and an ammo change will fix your problem. Chances are that if it DOESN'T, some professional attention is in order.

Good luck with it, stay safe-

lpl/nc
 
Lee Lapin Speaks the truth - best to re-read his posts.

Most often seen problem with shotguns - in related to the chamber. Period.

1) Plastic hulls, unlike the paper hulls with wax coating we used to use, will leave a gritty, dirty, sticky chamber if not inpected and maintained as needed.

2) We have shared Thousands of times to clean a new gun and lube properly.

Then get a "sampling" of ammo for intended tasks and pattern / group the gun. One is also finding out what ammo works best for THEIR Gun and intended task. 200 rds for a HD load. Well clay shooters do the same thing - ONE missed bird can cost you a LOT of money.

Some of these new offerings make me sick. The old AA compression formed hulls I bet I have shot a half a million rounds of - is no more. Other mfgs have gone to less quality metal, not the brass of yesteryear.

Q. You know what you have when you get in fired up hurry and ruin the chamber, open up ports too much, shorten bbl too much, or mess with the muzzle?

A. Cheater Bar that used to fit , be legal and worked on a shotgun.

There is a wealth of information on TFL, its sister sites like THR. We have Experienced shotgunners ( other firearm platforms too), Be it LEO, Military, Clay games, Training, Gunsmiths...we have a search function as well.

I pay attention when Lee, Dave Mc, Erik, Denny, Corriea, HSMITH, kudu, Trapper, PJR, dfarriswheel(you gotta Colt revolver? - see Mr. D as well) and a whole host of other folks.

We all suggest Gun Fit, Correct Basic Fundamentals, training/ lessons.
This applies to the gun care, ammo, and shooting aspects.

I am a older returning student, I put off 'puters and the 'Net - currently taking CIS/IT. Younger classmate just a fussing and carrying on about his computer. Software this, Software that.

OSI model is nothing more than how us old folks were raised. Level 1, the Physical Layer is the most often reason something don't work.

I plugged in his computer and it worked.
 
I was talking about my 870 problem

You go and do something like bring up the damn OSI model? Good lord man, I work 14-16 hours a day on computers, networking, clusters, raid arrays, SANs, NASs, DNS, it's freaking alphabet soup over here! I go shooting on the weekend to clear my head, and you go and try and bring me back to work a day early? Sonuvabitch! (Not you...the werk).

Ok, now that I'm done ranting, thanks all for the suggestions. You may all be happy to know that I'm not as entirely foolish as you may have assumed (or hoped...possibly), and I HAVE NOT hit the chamber with steel wool. I've been to damn busy to even clean the damn thing. Someone locally that I had talked to also suggested a good thorough cleaning, and some sort of moly-lube for the steel casings on the shells, on like every 3rd or 4th shell that i load, till i get rid of this ammo. I don't know what i was thinking getting super hot game loads for skeet/trap. Ah well, live and learn. Stoopid thing is, this isn't the first gun, just the first shotgun. I wasn't paying attention, and all of the considerations that I mad made for my pistols went right out the window...duh.

Damned OSI model. I GOT YOUR PHYSICAL LAYER, RIGHT HERE!
 
My apologies.

One never knows the experience level of one asking a question, or those reading a reply intended for someone else.

It will never happen again, I assure you.
 
I had the exact same problem last week with my brand new 870. The only difference is I was using the cheap red/gray Winchester 100 rd. ammo pack (a less expensive load than AA Winchester) from Wal Mart. I could cycle unfired rounds fine, but once they fired I think they expanded and stuck in the chamber. I showed the gunsmith/range operator how hard it was to extract spent rounds, and he used a dremel tool to smooth the burrs in the chamber a little. He did a good job, but it still sticks Winchester shells once in a while. If you look at the end of the brass on the AA Winchester shells or the ones I was using there is a little ridged ring right where the brass stops and the plastic begins (the side of the brass away opposite the primer). Use your fingernail on the brass to feel for what I'm talking about; it may help to compare it to a shell without this ridge such as a Remington STS (which ejects flawlessly for me). I think this ridgey thing is what makes it stick in my gun, and possibly yours. Rather than have work done on the gun unnecessarily, I would experiment with other brands that don't have this ridge on them. If I use shells that do not have this ring they eject just fine, even cheap ones. Hope this makes sense and good luck.
 
I shoot about 3-4 hundred rounds of the cheap winchester bulk packs each year during dove season out of my 870 with never a problem. My 870 is older though (1991).
 
Oh, wow, now you've gone and done it...you said you traded the factory ammo for a bunch of other guys reloads:eek: ! I would never shoot anything that I didn't personally reload, just for safety sake. If I get a double charge or it blows up my gun, dont want to point fingers (if I have any left) at anyone other than myself.:D
 
Winchester AAs have a steel base? Not saying they don't, but which sort is that? The only ones I've ever seen and shot are brass and I reload em till the crimps start to split!:)

Probably already been posted here somewhere but a guy at the club showed me a neat trick for stuck shells. Got a little brass rod about 1/2" dia and 4" long with nice rounded ends. If a shell sticks, open the breach and drop it down the barrel. Pops it right out.
 
I have an 870 Wing Master Mag. with 28" barrel that I bought in the early '90's. I shot store bought 3” steel duck loads and had one stick once in while, very sporadic. This went on for maybe two boxes then cleared up. Reading this post and what Mathman said at the beginning makes sense. I remember heavy deposits at the transition between the chamber and barrel. I though at the time it was the wadding or bad loads, but now I think it was poor finish work in the machining because I have not experienced a shell seize in the chamber since then. I basically broke the gun in.

Knowing what I know I would have taken my gun back to the dealer and have it fix it at there expense.
 
In Ought-One I bought a new L/H 870 Express. I experienced the same thing with brass-coated steel-base hulls, but the solid brass bases ejected fine.
The veterans at the range concluded that the steel-base would swell too much and jam. I had to push the forend forward and rack back with authority to eject them.
Eventually the problem went away after hundreds more shells fired, but when it happened it was annoying and embarrassing, whether on the trap range or in the field trying to score a follow-up shot.
 
I've had problems with rounds sticking from time to time with low "brass" cheapo shells, like winchester heavy game loads. Never had a single problem with any "high brass" shells.
 
I just test fired my Mosberg 500, 12ga, with the pistol grip. I was shooting 00 buck "low velocity", and found that it's a little tough on the hand as far as recoil goes. Question, is there another cartridge that I can use for home defense that will have less recoil? Keep in mind that shots will probably not exceed 20 to 25 feet indoors.
 
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