Remington 870
- Thread starter adbramsay
- Start date
I've owned 6 870s and still have 5 of them. Total round count from them and including various agency weapons is at least 50K and maybe twice that.
Sorry, didn't think keeping track was important.
Total parts replaced, two firing pin springs.
I wish all the mechanical things in my life worked like 870s....
Sorry, didn't think keeping track was important.
Total parts replaced, two firing pin springs.
I wish all the mechanical things in my life worked like 870s....
oneounceload
Moderator
ANY mechanical object can have issues, but the simpler the design and construction, the less likely you are to have issues (KISS philosophy). The 870 fits that description very nicely
I have a Mossberg 500 as does my son. Also I have a Remington 870 as does my son-in-law. No problem ever with either of my 12 gauge pumps. But the Remington is much smoother to operate. It operates very well. I like the design and operation of the Mossberg safety much better than that of the Remington. The original plastic safety broke on my son's Mossberg shotgun and he made a replacement from a piece of PVC. Mossberg supposedly offers a metal safety as a replacement part.
Scattergun Bob
New member
adbramsay
The answer is fairly simple "the operator of the tool, dirty chambers and dirty actions."
There are very few parts on this pattern of scattergun that fail, on vary rare occasions extractors, firing pins, firing pin springs.
Good Luck & Be Safe
The answer is fairly simple "the operator of the tool, dirty chambers and dirty actions."
There are very few parts on this pattern of scattergun that fail, on vary rare occasions extractors, firing pins, firing pin springs.
Good Luck & Be Safe
Superdave70_02
New member
Yup and if you have the magnum it is easy to "half jack" it and leave the empty in the chamber. Otherwise I don't see any real issues you should have other than stopping when you get your limit.
adbramsay,
Read That Fine Manual which came along with your 870, and get comfortable field stripping it and reassembling it. It's a little bit of a learning curve but shouldn't be too bad, if you have a family member or friend who's already well versed in the process, having them on hand the first time out might help.
First thing to do is make sure all the excess packing preservative is removed from the gun, if it was brand new. The stuff is like cosmoline in some ways but I've found WD-40 will help get it off. Be especially sure you clean out the chamber and bore to get rid of this stuff. It'll look brown on a clean cloth, but it isn't rust. What it WILL do is act like glue when it gets hot, and it can help make fired shells stick in the chamber.
As far as broken parts on an 870, that happens very seldom. Depends on how much ol' Murphy likes you, I guess
. A lot of 870 armorers use just a cigar box for a parts box, because they seldom need much in the way of parts. The only really troublesome thing on an 870 to damage is the magazine tube. Replacing it is a factory repair center job, so you want to be really good to your magazine tube. Putting on magazine extensions without barrel clamps is not being good to your magazine tube, those threads on the end are pressed into relatively thin sheet metal and a long extension acts as a lever to exert force on those threads if it is not braced by a barrel clamp. Dents can happen to magazine tubes sometimes too, but many gunsmiths have a dent remover for 870 magazines ( http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=25276/ttver=2/Product/MAGAZINE_TUBE_DENT_RAISER ). And I haven't seen an 870 magazine damaged between receiver and forearm so far that the gun wasn't being used as a pugil stick or something.
Bought a 5-shot 870 Express and you want to put a magazine extension on it in spite of the magazine tube dimples? I'd forget about it, but that's just me. I've seen Express magazine tubes beaten out of round by people trying to iron out the dents with a socket or the like. Drilling them out is usually the cleanest way to get rid of them, but then you remove the ability to go back to a 4-shot magazine without kludging up some way to keep the magazine cap tight. All in all, just not worth it IMHO, but YMMV.
IMHO the easiest way to be prepared for mechanical problems with an 870 is to have on hand a complete spare trigger plate assembly, a complete spare bolt assembly of the correct type for your gun, and a pair of shell latches and the proper staking tool for them. Ejectors on 12 gauge 870s (the spring type) occasionally break but not often, as long as the owner is careful in cleaning the receiver. Replacing an ejector means drilling out a pair of small rivets, removing the rivet heads from the side of the receiver, replacing the spring and re-riveting it in place. Not something the usual owner is going to want to undertake, and the repair will look pretty Frankenstein-like if the receiver isn't refinished properly. With a single 870, I doubt I'd worry about any of that, unless I was going off to the ends of the earth and the 870 was the only gun along. Even so, everything described in the above paragraph would weigh less than a box of 25 shotgun shells, and not really take up much more space than a box of shells either. http://www.remingtoncountrystore.co...ber=3&catalogid=1&categoryid=3566&topcat=1038 will give you factory pricing but sometimes parts turn up cheaper, if you look around.
One other thing I'd keep on hand is a couple of spare magazine springs of the appropriate length. I use replacement springs from Wolff - http://www.gunsprings.com/Rifles & ...878, 11-48, SPT-48, SPT-58/cID2/mID108/dID216 . Store them in appropriate lengths of PVC pipe with pressed-on caps to keep them in good shape until/if needed.
Probably more than you wanted to know, but...
hth,
lpl
Read That Fine Manual which came along with your 870, and get comfortable field stripping it and reassembling it. It's a little bit of a learning curve but shouldn't be too bad, if you have a family member or friend who's already well versed in the process, having them on hand the first time out might help.
First thing to do is make sure all the excess packing preservative is removed from the gun, if it was brand new. The stuff is like cosmoline in some ways but I've found WD-40 will help get it off. Be especially sure you clean out the chamber and bore to get rid of this stuff. It'll look brown on a clean cloth, but it isn't rust. What it WILL do is act like glue when it gets hot, and it can help make fired shells stick in the chamber.
As far as broken parts on an 870, that happens very seldom. Depends on how much ol' Murphy likes you, I guess
. A lot of 870 armorers use just a cigar box for a parts box, because they seldom need much in the way of parts. The only really troublesome thing on an 870 to damage is the magazine tube. Replacing it is a factory repair center job, so you want to be really good to your magazine tube. Putting on magazine extensions without barrel clamps is not being good to your magazine tube, those threads on the end are pressed into relatively thin sheet metal and a long extension acts as a lever to exert force on those threads if it is not braced by a barrel clamp. Dents can happen to magazine tubes sometimes too, but many gunsmiths have a dent remover for 870 magazines ( http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=25276/ttver=2/Product/MAGAZINE_TUBE_DENT_RAISER ). And I haven't seen an 870 magazine damaged between receiver and forearm so far that the gun wasn't being used as a pugil stick or something.Bought a 5-shot 870 Express and you want to put a magazine extension on it in spite of the magazine tube dimples? I'd forget about it, but that's just me. I've seen Express magazine tubes beaten out of round by people trying to iron out the dents with a socket or the like. Drilling them out is usually the cleanest way to get rid of them, but then you remove the ability to go back to a 4-shot magazine without kludging up some way to keep the magazine cap tight. All in all, just not worth it IMHO, but YMMV.
IMHO the easiest way to be prepared for mechanical problems with an 870 is to have on hand a complete spare trigger plate assembly, a complete spare bolt assembly of the correct type for your gun, and a pair of shell latches and the proper staking tool for them. Ejectors on 12 gauge 870s (the spring type) occasionally break but not often, as long as the owner is careful in cleaning the receiver. Replacing an ejector means drilling out a pair of small rivets, removing the rivet heads from the side of the receiver, replacing the spring and re-riveting it in place. Not something the usual owner is going to want to undertake, and the repair will look pretty Frankenstein-like if the receiver isn't refinished properly. With a single 870, I doubt I'd worry about any of that, unless I was going off to the ends of the earth and the 870 was the only gun along. Even so, everything described in the above paragraph would weigh less than a box of 25 shotgun shells, and not really take up much more space than a box of shells either. http://www.remingtoncountrystore.co...ber=3&catalogid=1&categoryid=3566&topcat=1038 will give you factory pricing but sometimes parts turn up cheaper, if you look around.
One other thing I'd keep on hand is a couple of spare magazine springs of the appropriate length. I use replacement springs from Wolff - http://www.gunsprings.com/Rifles & ...878, 11-48, SPT-48, SPT-58/cID2/mID108/dID216 . Store them in appropriate lengths of PVC pipe with pressed-on caps to keep them in good shape until/if needed.
Probably more than you wanted to know, but...
hth,
lpl
WOW thanks for everything I really appreciate it. Actually I am an apprentice gunsmith, I have not been doing this long and as hunting season is about to start I was looking for any heads up when items do come across my table. Usually my teacher tells me to go in the back and figure out what is wrong which usually takes me about 15 mins, but I usually get it. I just was looking for where to start. I have a pretty good knowledge of how one an 870 works, hell my apprentice made me sit down for a week and just strip is and put it back together to get a hang of it. I know this may be tedious but I love it, I have much to learn and I will, it will just take time. That horrible brown stuff is awful, in fact I end up cleaning it off of most people's guns before I give it to them because they ususally end up bringing it back with all that stuff inside their gun and it looks like gum. I use wd40 as well, I love that stuff, however I have come to understand its limitations as it is a water displacement product and NOT a lubricant, you will still need oil in key areas. Like I said I got more to learn.
I've had problems with the feeding on my 870 tac desert recon sometimes when i have the mag tube extension on. sometimes the last two rounds wont load, I'll have to unload the mag then load it back up and it will usually work again. it doesnt happen often but it sucks when it does. Only once did I have a jam where the shell didnt feed when i pushed the forend forward, the shell got suck on the edge of the barrel. I do have the flextab system as well. Any advice on either would be appreciated.
.300 Weatherby Mag
New member
I had a Wingmaster produced in 1962, that I bought used... I probably put 10,000 rounds through it without a single hiccup.. I sold it to my younger brother he's put probably 4,000 rounds through it.. How many rounds the previous owner or owners put through it, I don't know... It needed a new cartridge stop a couple of years ago.. So that's almost 50 years of service without a hiccup...
I only wish my 2006 and 2011 vintage Wingmasters worked as well as the 1962 model has... They are both functioning now, but both had serious teething problems...
I only wish my 2006 and 2011 vintage Wingmasters worked as well as the 1962 model has... They are both functioning now, but both had serious teething problems...
A good friend gave me his old bird gun, an 870 Express Magnum. It was in rough shape.... Lots of internal surface rust, rusty springs and shell holder gates, and it was so full of crud I could barely cycle it. Seems it was dropped several times in a duck pond and spent some time buried in muck. After stripping it down completely and using a dental pick set, Dremel brush, and Flitz I removed most of the surface rust and hard packed dirt. The only part I replaced was the magazine tube spring and follower, and now it's as slick as goose p00p and stone cold reliable. It's also now my favorite bird gun!! 
American Eagle
New member
Those 870s are indestructible. I bought mine used, and I have never been less than 100% satisfied with it's performance and reliability. But then again, I am not surprised since the Remington 870 was designed many decades ago, when companies were still interested in making products of immense quality, and took pride in the things they built.
i have had my express magnum for about 10 years. I have hunted almost every type of waterfowl and upland game bird with mine, and used it to gt rid of a nusicance woodchuck or two. Would I like to have a $1000 shotgun sure who wouldn't. Do I want to pay $1000 for something when I can get something just as reliable and usable for a fraction of that, No. I have never had any problems with mine and I love it.
You guys will find this amusing but I want to let you guys know just how good you have it in the States. The cheapest shotgun that we sell is the Maverick 88, and it is $695. We have to pay roughly 100% duty on the gun when we bring them in. We also have to pay $250 when we want to apply to export guns. It is pretty steep down here, for example the Remington 870 express is $960 bucks!!!