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870 ejection problem

5K views 19 replies 13 participants last post by  Ned S 
#1 ·
Need help on 870 ejection and chamber polishing.

My friends 870 Express is having ejection problems. After firing, the hull often (not every time) seems to be stuck in the chamber not allowing the bolt to be pulled back and ejecting the hull. He says he has cleaned the chamber with a bore brush but it starts doing it again after just a few shells (5). He has let others shoot it and some seem to have more problems than others. He thinks it's the shells (Rem. Sportsman steel loads) because others have also had some problems with those shells and their 870s.

I'm guessing it is a combination of things including: cheap guns, cheap shells (steel heads and dirty burning), rough chamber walls and possible operator error???

I told him I had heard/read about people polishing the chambers on Express 870s w/ what I thought was a break cylinder hone and that had cured the problem. I've done a search on the topic but I can't find where anyone described the process.

Anyone got a cure for this problem?
 
#2 ·
my 870 express (2006 model) has given me no grief at all, though i have put it through hell so far. i dont understand where these people get their ideas that remington sucks and whatnot.
anyway, the sportsman steel shells work fine for me. they're cheap, so its about all i shoot. ive never had a problem with them. however, when i started reloading shells, i found that after 3 or 4 reloads per shell, they start to stick just like you describe. the best i can figure is that the brass is expanding after its weakened by several shots, and they just stick. when i switch to factory loads or buy some new hulls, nothing sticks anymore. i have heard of polishing the bores though. seems like it would work, that is, if switching shells doesnt.
 
#3 ·
This sounds more like an extraction problem. We shoot nothing but 870's for work and let me tell you they are some good work horse's.

We had the same problem for a while, I would clean the chamber and polish it. This would work for a while but only for about 50-80 shells. I started looking really hard at how every thing worked and found that the extractor was worn to the point that it would not engage the rim of the shell.

I polished the bores again replaced the extractor spring and extractor. All of the guns run just like new now.

Tell your buddy to look at the extractor if it is rounded were it looks like it should be square get it replaced. Hopefully that will help.

By the way I don't own a pump but if I did it would an 870. They have been the most popular and working guns for so many years.

Ryan
 
#4 ·
Polishing it might work but you probably need to soak the chamber with something like Hoppes of BC Shotgun bore cleaner for a couple of hours. then take your 12ga bore brush on a short rod in your crodless drill. Spinning is at a medium speed with it WET with bore cleaned run it in and out of the chamber for a couple of min and see what you get out of there.

Also check the slot in the barrel that the extractor sits into when the bolt is closed and locked up. Make sure that there is no crud built up in that slot which will hold the extractor out a bit. but all this will cause is the bolt to open without grabing the case sometimes. I think you said that the case is actually getting STUCK rather that the extractor just not pulling it out.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the repies. I'm not knocking 870s I have two of them and I have used them for years with very few problems. I have also posted many pattern numbers on this site where I have shot many Sportsman loads through my gun without problems.

Yes, neither the bolt nor shell will move back. You either have to bang the butt on the ground while pulling on the forarm, or (better) put a rod down the barrel and tap down to loosen the whole deal and eject the shell.

He shoots his 870s alot (target and hunting) but recently bought some new Sportsman shells so he though it was the new ones causing the problem. I'm sure there are small tolerance differences between batches.

I haven't been with him recently when this happened but I plan on being around when he tries more of them this fall.

Thanks again, more ideas are welcome.
 
#6 ·
You could just have a local gunsmith polish the chamber. If you are handy make a split drill arbor that loosely fits your chamber and use wet/dry 600 grit black oxide paper wet in a drill at med. low speed. Go slow don't let it get too hot. Clean the chamber often and re blue inside the chamber when done.
 
#7 ·
BADDUCK said:
and re blue inside the chamber when done.
:huh:

I have never seen the inside of a chamber Blued. Not a good Idea to be trying to blue an area that is not intended to be blued. Pull your shotgun barrels and look down them. you will see that they have no blueing on the inside at all from end to end. this applies to rifles also
 
#8 ·
waterfowlhunter said:
BADDUCK said:
and re blue inside the chamber when done.
:huh:

I have never seen the inside of a chamber Blued. Not a good Idea to be trying to blue an area that is not intended to be blued. Pull your shotgun barrels and look down them. you will see that they have no blueing on the inside at all from end to end. this applies to rifles also
I don't know what you've seen and don't care. After he polishes out the chamber it will help to prevent rust. He doesn't have to, but I always do, and recommend it.
 
#9 ·
Funny, I just got done talking to a fellow hunter about this same problem. He felt it was remington shells. Maybe there is a bad batch out there???? Remington 870s are great guns! Probably the best selling shot gun out there. I've never heard of all this chamber polishing crap before. And any chamber I've seen is shiny and bright not blued. What a polock! Can't believe the good folks at Remington don't have an answer for youall. Call them they have an excellent customer service department.
 
#10 ·
I BLAME THE SHELLS!

I've had the same problem with my 870 and my buddy has seen it with his. (The hulls not ejecting). It doesnt happen to me enough to be a big problem but is irritating when you really need that 2nd & 3rd shot. My solution is shoot kent FS or somthin else.

I have a feeling this issue has to do with poorly made shells. The rim is off or the shell is fitting to snug in the chamber.

The 870 is and will always be an excellent/reliable gun! I blame the shells!
 
#11 ·
I agree with the bad shells comments...

try shooting a box of kents as mentioned earlier. I have shot PMC estate and kent and have had no problems. I did however have a few probs early on (mid 90's 870) with rem shells. I had many more issues with winchesters poor excuse for a round. I dont know why but they never pattern decent and never quite seem smooth in or out of the chamber.

just my experience though.

otter
 
#12 ·
After 30 years I had a similiar problem with the old wingmaster because there is a tesion spring (looks like the clip in a pen) on left hand side of the reciever that is riveted on and if it is bent the wrong way or broken it will not give it the side tension for the bolt hence the extractor will not line up and get a grip on the brass.
Installation is required to put in the the $20 part by a gunsmith.
 
#14 ·
Darrell King said:
Funny, I just got done talking to a fellow hunter about this same problem. He felt it was remington shells. Maybe there is a bad batch out there???? Remington 870s are great guns! Probably the best selling shot gun out there. I've never heard of all this chamber polishing crap before. And any chamber I've seen is shiny and bright not blued. What a polock! Can't believe the good folks at Remington don't have an answer for youall. Call them they have an excellent customer service department.
If you don't know about chamber polishing then you don't know squat about guns. It is a standard procedure followed by gunsmiths world wide on all types of firearms. Do a little research before you pop off.

Just for grins I entered shotgun chamber polishing in Google and got 245,000 hits.
 
#17 ·
Had the same problem with my 870. It isn't that the ejector isn't grabing the rim of the shell it was more that the brass seemed to have expanded after you'd fired and wouldn't release from the chamber. Only happened with one brand that i had bought (can't remember what it was). No problems with any of the other stuff i was using. it was like the brass was too thin.
 
#19 ·
Okay I will say you're not loosing your mind and its not the shells. It is the gun. If you do a search on 870 Jamming on google you will find tons of them doing it. I own 2 and have fixed others that did it also. Get a 1/2 dowel and wrap it with coarse steel wool. Place it in the chamber and spin it with some oil in the chamber for 5 minutes continuely moving and oiling. Then repeat with the finest steel wool you can find with the drill for another 5 minutes. Next clean out all of the oil and dry the chamber. Now place a rag on the dowel and wrap it with a rag. Then place polishing compound on rag and run in chamber for 5 minutes, adding polish when needed. Finally clean out all polish and run a dry cloth in the chamber real quick. Then lightly oil and it will shine like a mirror.

If you clean the gun and do a quick polish job every 5-10 hunts the gun will never do it again. I have shot about 6 cases of shells through mine since I did it and its great. Both of mine were doing it about 2-3 times per box of shells. Good luck and PM me if you have any questions.
 
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