Remington 870 won't pump after firing

CharBroiled

CharBroiled

Active member
Every so often, my 870 won't pump after firing. Am I shooting a shell which is expanding just enough to jam things?

Anyone else have this happen?
 
I would say so if it only happens after a fired shell. I have 4 870's, 2 wingmasters and 2 expresses and have not experienced this. Are the problem shells factory or reloads?
 
I had a similar problem with a newer 870 Express, some years ago. I polished the breech, which was very rough and seemed to be "grabbing" the shells when they expanded (even a little bit) after firing. If I remember correctly, all I used was a brass brush mounted to a power drill, and a lot of Hoppes or some other solvent. It was messy, but it changed the dull finish of the breech to relatively shiny, and the problem went away. Try that first and see if it helps.

I've been told that plastic has "salts" that can cause corrosion in the breech, even though your barrel may have been regularly swabbed. But if I remember correctly, the 870 had a very dull looking breech from the get-go.
 
I had this problem about 15 years ago with my 20 gauge 870. AA reloads were hanging up in the chamber and I would have to slam the butt on the ground while holding the forend. Part of the problem was I was using shells that had been reloaded several times and I think they were expanding a little more than normal. With factory loads or reloads with once or twice fired shells I haven't had any issues.
 
A common problem with 870's made in the last 10 years or so. Poorly finished guns no longer built by craftsmen and instead built by house wives and kids just out of high school.

My son became so frustrated with his 870, he went and bought another brand of pump gun. It stands in the corner now. At first it was stuck shell's, where you had to slam the butt of the gun to the ground to eject the empty. To where the extractor just pulls over the rim of the shell now and you need something to shove down the barrel to knock the casing loose and out of the chamber/gun. Do a google search on problems with 870 ejecting, stuck shell in chamber, Etc..1000's of links. A real shame, profit over quality has become the norm.
 
Rough chamber and machining marks. I fixed my Remington 870 Super Magnum with a chamber brush, steel wool and gun oil. Had machine marks where rim of case and used emery cloth to polish.
 
I always had the cheap low base shells that had cheap metal instead of brass. Had problems with Winchester Pro Pack, Estates and federal. After chamber was cleaned up then I could shoot all of them with no issues.
 
Had this issue with my A5 - shell sticking in the chamber and not cycling.

I did the brush - solvent routine with a drill. Have not had a problem since...
 
Failure To Eject

This issue developed several years ago when Remington was taken over, I forget by who, and the QC declined. Check on You Tube for this issue. There's several great videos on how to fix it yourself. I just bought a new 870 and since I knew about the failure to eject issue I You Tubed it and made the minor fix in about 5 minutes. Fired a full box of trap loads first time out and no issues whatsoever. It pumped, cycled, ejected, and fired perfectly.
 
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