New 870 doesn't eject shells consistently.

[Lebowski]

In December I bought an 870 brand new but never got around to shooting it until just today. Was shooting some Estate 12ga 8shot birdshot out of it today and had about 5 shells that failed to eject properly. I had to use my knife to pull them from the tube and manually eject them before chambering a new shell.

Any ideas on how I can fix this?

 

[Bigtanker]

Are you running the slide hard enough? Being brand new, it might need a break in. I've never owned a brand new shotgun so I guess I'm just stating the obvious.

 

[bradmedic04]

I let a new shooter use a new 870 and he had the same problem. Once we got him racking the slide harder it was all good.

 

[magus]

I ran the snot outta mine with snapcaps when I got it. I blame the Magpul "Art of..." series.

 

[Bennettjh]

I think Kirk's 870 shoots by itself.

 

[chezuki]

I can almost guarantee this is an ammo issue. My 870 had the same problems with any of the aluminum cased crap. Try running some decent brass or brass plated shells through and see if it runs better.


I was eventually able to reduce the issue (but not quite eliminate) by polishing the hell out of the chamber.

 

[mike trible]

Polish the chamber with a little steel wool on a brush, Then crank it like you STOLE it.

 

[chezuki]

A chamber swab with some green polishing compound chucked up in a drill or Dremel works great.

 

[SSGSAD]

I cannot help, I know nothing about 870, BUT my OLD beat-up Maverick, works just fine .....

 

[lonehoosier]

I can almost guarantee this is an ammo issue. My 870 had the same problems with any of the aluminum cased crap. Try running some decent brass or brass plated shells through and see if it runs better.


I was eventually able to reduce the issue (but not quite eliminate) by polishing the hell out of the chamber.

^^^^^^^^^^^^ T H I S ^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Kernal1984]

My friend and his brother both got an 870 from their dad for Christmas and neither of theirs will eject any aluminum shells.

And with high brass they still have a problem every now and then.

Maybe try remington customer service......

 

[snowwalker]

There have been problems with quality control with the 870 since being taken over by Freedom Arms. The high end stuff seems to still be good, but the low end arms, like the 870, have suffered. Some brand new have rust in them, not ejecting shells correctly, and so on. If I was to buy a 870 today I would want an older one. Times are changing. Sorry I was no help.

 

[seedubs1]

From what you're saying, you've got an extraction problem, not an ejection problem, correct?????

It's true that QC has gone downhill with the express models since Freedom Group bought out Remington. There's some pretty well known issues that seem common on the 870 now that weren't issues "pre-Freedom Group". Almost all of the issues are pretty easily fixable if you've got any sense of mechanical know-how.

Any ridges in the chamber or right outside the chamber around where the lip of the shell sits? drag your fingernail around in there and see if you can feel anything.

For the express models, it's pretty common these days to find a ridge opposite where the extractor is. It's a single sided extractor, so if you've got a ridge on the opposite side, it'll kink the shell in there and won't extract. Opposite side of the extractor, the lip of the shell has to be able to slide easily and freely, otherwise, it won't extract. If there is a ridge, there's tons of youtube videos on how to polish it out.

As was stated up thread, it's also pretty common to have machining marks, imperfect surface finish, etc... in the chamber as well. If that's where your shells are hanging up, you can polish it with some steel wool wrapped around a dowel rod and chucked in a drill with some polishing compound.

Also, check your extractor. The express models come with MIM extractors. You can upgrade to a machined extractor pretty cheap.

 

[calcot7]

Call Remington CS and tell them your problem and that you have already dealt with the above mentioned fixes. Tell them you want a new non-mim extractor and they will probably send you one for free. At least they did for me and the guy that told me about Remington's policy. It's an easy replacement and there are you tube videos that show the procedure. You may also discover that the ejector spring does not have the correct bend in it from the factory. This fix is a little more difficult but can be done. Good luck!