Remington 870 jams

S

SEHunter

New member
I have a 15 year old 870 that I bought the mossberg made 18-1/2” cylinder bore replacement barrel for about the same time I bought the gun. Just about every 5th or 6th round, the spent shell jams in the barrel and I have to hit the butt stock on the ground so I can extract the shell.

Question is if it’s a possibility I need to have a smith ream out the barrel where the brass lays. With the barrel removed, a non fired shell easily falls in and out of the barrel but a spent shell is snug, some too snug to remove without prying our with a screwdriver. To a degree I’m sure it’s normal for the brass to stretch, my question is how much. The OD of a new shell at the brass is about .803" and spent shells range from .812” to .815” with a dial caliper. The barrel is about .806". I don’t recall the factory 28” barrel doing this. Shells are Winchester universal 2-3/4” x 1-1/8 oz.
 
Turns out a quick google search shows this is something a lot of people have experienced and many have had success smoothing and buffing out the part of the barrel chamber where it meets the shell brass. I believe it’s a combination of poor machining and cheap shells. Either way I’ll probably attempt to use a dremmel tool with a buffing wheel to polish it up a little.
 
"...attempt to use a dremmel(SIC) tool..." Do not use any kind of rotary tool. Far too easy to make the chamber oval.
"...about every 5th or 6th round..." That indicates it's more likely the ammo and not the barrel. Change ammo before you do anything.
Any rough spots in the chamber should be visible.
 
I’ll probably actually call my local Smith first to ask his opinion. I honestly don’t mind paying a few bucks for him to mic the chamber and hone some if needed.

I say cheap shells are possibly the problem in part because I read on another shooting forum that Winchester universal shells have been notorious for that in tighter chambers. If the brass is thinner than a high end shell, it’s reasonably believable that it could stretch more than it should when fired. I may switch back to bulk Remington or federal shells.
 
If the brass is thinner than a high end shell, it’s reasonably believable that it could stretch more than it should when fired.
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Actually, the brass, a very soft, ductile metal, contributes no strength to the shotshell casing and is only necessary on a shotshell to provide a metal rim for extraction. There have been shot shells that were (I do not know if they still make them), all plastic, no brass at all. Note that at one time, shotshells were made of paper. If the extractor is not ripping through the brass rim on that 870, it is not "cheap" shot shells are not the likely cause of the malfunction.
In short, a malfunction as described by the orginal poster has a specific cause, and cannot be logically dismissed as being caused by "cheap ammo"...which is more of a platitude rather than a specific fault.
Nevertheless, if you care to take apart some of those "cheap" shells and measure the thickness of the brass compared to more expensive shells, and a Brinell hardness test would also be nice, if you find any significant difference, I will be very happy to concede that I have been wrong about "cheap" shells.
 
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Explain if you will, how "cheap shells" could make a difference with extraction. Ask'en for a friend.
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Cheap shells have steel bases which expand but do not necessarily retract the way brass does. If there are slight imperfections, such as tiny burrs or similar, the base sticks, making extraction difficult.
 
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