Remington 870 Failure.


Lowjiber

New member
Last week, I bought a new, tactical Remington 870 for added protection around the house. Took it to the range the following day and am certainly glad I did. After firing the third round, the bolt locked up...leaving the spent shell in the chamber.

I have considerable shotgunning experience, but have never seen symptoms like these. The extractor is "tilted" about ten degrees...viewed from the outside of the frozen bolt. I thought the (low brass) Winchester shell had perhaps overly expanded in the chamber, but close examination of the bold carrier (looking from the bottom) revealed that it wouldn't move even the slightest bit when pressure was applied to the slide.

I did a slight bit of research on the web and discovered that a few new 870's have burrs in the chamber that cause the expanded brass to lock up.

I was unable to remove the spent cartridge using only the slide. I considered using a cleaning rod as a ram while pulling the slide. However, since the gun is brand new I chose to return it to Remington.
 

Yeah, good move returning it so as to let remington see it. From what I've read you musta got the "one in three million"...
 
Good idea to return the shotgun to Remington. They will most likely send you a new one as a replacement. I would hope that the cpompany would check better on their quality control and do a better job in the makeing of the weapons that people depend on for safety and protection of family and the owner.
Bill
 
Have never had a problem with 870 but I have and shoot an older version, Remington will most likely make it good to preserve their reputation.
 
I just bought the 887 nitro mag tactical....shot 40 slug rounds thru her the other day w/no issues. The barrel was only warm to the touch after rapid fire of 7 consecutive rounds.
 
I had a similar issue with my 870, but not the part about the extractor. I bought it used. When I used cheaper #7 or #6 steel (Winchester or Federal) the spent shell would seize up in the chamber.

When this happened, I removed the barrel and pried out with spent shell with a small screwdriver. I would not try to ram it out with a cleaning rod or anything else. Also, working with the barrel OFF the gun can prevent all manner of mishaps.

It appears that the bolt face, slamming into the rear of the barrel, caused the rear edge of the barrel to mushroom and grip the outer edge of the round. I took a knife and emery cloth to remove some of the mushrooming and smoothed it out. I have not had the issue since.

Keep in mind that this is the outer rim and not inside the chamber. I wouldn't touch the inside of the barrel or chamber with anything other than cleaning products.

Also, before and after, slugs have never been an issue, nor has any of the more expensive ammunition like the Blackcloud #2, RWS copper matrix. Even the Fiocchi 00 buck worked without a hitch.

I hope it comes back to you in proper working order. My 870 is the only gun I have purchased and I enjoy shooting it. I've hunted turkey, deer and rabbit with it.
 
This what makes this forum solid..sharing info like this. I've had several 870 over the years and carried one with me for years when I was LE. Never had a bit of a problem with any of them. Just like all things, nuances can occur and there are exceptions to others experiences. I agree that sending the gun as is back to Remington was the right move. They can learn from the experience and hopefully it does not happen to anyone else.
 
Maybe I should have bought $375 worth of lottery tickets instead.:laugh:

I take it by the price you mentioned the gun is an "Express" Model. There is considerable difference between the "Express", "Police", and "Wingmaster" models.

The Express is Remington's "budget" gun, made to compete with the cheaper to make Winchester and Mossberg guns.

The Wingmaster is Remington "Cadillac" top-of-the-line sporting gun.

The Police is a Wingmaster with a dull finish and is a much more carefully inspected and built gun.

How Remington lowered the Express price was to reduce hand labor to a bare minimum, and to eliminate much of the polishing and de-burring the better quality Wingmaster and Police guns get.

The Express is basically the same milled steel receiver and heavy-duty internals gun the better 870's are, just in a rougher, less well finished form with plastic and MIM parts.

The Express Model has:
A plastic trigger group.
The dimples in the mag tube and the new style plastic magazine retention system, EXCEPT on the extended magazine version, which does NOT have the dimples.
A rougher finish inside and outside, with machine marks and some burrs left.
A rougher, bead blasted blue job.
A less polished bore.
A two piece barrel. (not 100% sure about this)
Hardwood or synthetic stock, with a sporting-length fore end and pressed-in checkering.
The Defense version has 18", Cylinder bore barrel, with a bead sight.
Some Metal Injection Molded (MIM) parts, like the extractor.
Has the locking safety button.

The Wingmaster has:
An aluminum trigger group.
The old style magazine retention system.
A much smoother finish inside and out, no machine marks or burrs.
The Wingmaster gun receives a higher level of inspection and finishing.
A fine, commercial polished blue finish.
A polished bore.
A one piece barrel.
A chrome plated bolt.
Walnut stocks with the famous "Bowling Pin" finish in gloss or satin and better checkering.
Wide choices in barrel lengths and choke options.
No use of MIM parts, the extractor is milled.
The Wingmaster is the full top-of-the-line commercial Remington pump gun, and is priced accordingly.

The 870 Police has:
An aluminum trigger group.
The old style magazine retention system.
A much smoother finish inside and out, no machine marks or burrs.
The Police gun receives a higher level of inspection and finishing.
A military-grade parkerized finish.
A polished bore.
A one piece barrel.
Walnut or synthetic stock, with a short police-length fore end.
The Remington “R3” super recoil pad that reduced felt recoil by 30%.
Choices in different stocks, including Speedfeed, and others.
18" to 20" improved cylinder barrel, with a wide choice in sights, including rifle, ghost ring, and luminous.
Police options like magazine extenders, forearms with built-in lights, and sling swivels.
Heavy-duty magazine spring.
Heavy-duty trigger-sear spring.
Sling swivel mounts.
No use of MIM parts, the extractor is milled.

The Express is a "bottom of the line" budget gun, the Wingmaster is a "top of the line" sporting gun, the Police is the top-of-the-line in defense guns.
The 870's are generally considered to be the finest quality pump gun made. It is important to know this before purchasing an 870 model. The quality of these guns vary greatly, while appearing to look identical. Bill T.
 
I own a 870 tac. and had a bolt prob.but it was locked in theback of the receiver on the first day owned . put a little lube in there to no avail ,back to the store and it went back to the factor had it back (same gun) in 2 wks.. Back to the range and beat the heck out off it and could not get that gun to fail. OH and I Love it ,and put the mossburg in bed storage !
 
I take it by the price you mentioned the gun is an "Express" Model. There is considerable difference between the "Express", "Police", and "Wingmaster" models.

The Express is Remington's "budget" gun, made to compete with the cheaper to make Winchester and Mossberg guns.

..

The 870's are generally considered to be the finest quality pump gun made. It is important to know this before purchasing an 870 model. The quality of these guns vary greatly, while appearing to look identical. Bill T.

Very through description of the differences. Thank you.
 
Excellent comparison of models, and the Express is bottom of the line; but a Remington should not jam when it's right out of the box, regardless of price.
 
Got the gun back from Remington. Total time gone was about three weeks.

I haven't had the chance to fire it, but here's what the tech wrote on the repair order: "Appears to be excess swelling under head of spent cases. Bench check, polish chamber, and final ream chamber face. Extractor okay. Test fire okay."
 
Got the gun back from Remington. Total time gone was about three weeks.

I haven't had the chance to fire it, but here's what the tech wrote on the repair order: "Appears to be excess swelling under head of spent cases. Bench check, polish chamber, and final ream chamber face. Extractor okay. Test fire okay."

Nice to hear action was taken, but we'd expect that from Remington. So, Lowjiber, could ya give us a "range report" after ya burn some powder with it?
 
Nice to hear action was taken, but we'd expect that from Remington. So, Lowjiber, could ya give us a "range report" after ya burn some powder with it?
Of course I'll report. I'll likely slide out on Monday and run a box or two through to ensure it's okay. Will advise.
 
I currently own a 26" 870 as well as a Mossy 500 tactical. Never had a problem with either one but I must say that the best shotgun I've ever owned was a Browning BPS that (unfortunately) I sold about 2 yrs ago. The BPS is a little more expensive and has fewer options in terms of self-defense oriented models, but comparing it to the Rem/Mossy is like comparing a Lexus to a Honda or Kia. You could tell just by holding it and working the action that the BPS had "quality" written all over it. Solid and ultra-smooth.

Glad to hear that Rem took care of the issue in a relatively timely fashion. Can't wait to hear the follow-up range report.
 
Took it out to the range yesterday morning. Ran two boxes of the same shells (Winchester 2 3/4") that I was using when she locked up...no problems. I then ran half a box of 3" 00's through, just as fast as I could pump 'em...again, no issues.

Looks like all it needed was a bit of polishing.
 

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