I have a Remington Model 887 that has not given me much trouble until recently. I used to love the gun but now I am frustrated. As I was shooting some clays, I pull the trigger. The gun fired but the action was locked up tight. I was forced to take off the barrel and the pull with enormous force to move the slide and eject the spent shell. I went on shooting that day thinking how strange that the gun suddenly turned "unreliable". When it came time to clean the shotgun, the trigger assembly pins were very, VERY, hard to remove and re-install. I read online that others were also having similar problems, but have not heard about the pins being hard to move. Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the Remington Owners Forum Thenewguy38997 !!

I myself would take it to a competent gunsmith for a good function check and cleaning...

I had my 887 lock up tight after firing my first shot(happened once), I slammed it against the floor on the recoil pad end and it was functional again, also had light primer strikes, etc with the gun. Sent it in and Remington replaced the bolt and the barrel. I haven't shot it much since I got it back since duck season was over and I have several other shotguns I prefer over this one. I bought it because it was cheap and folks online either loved it or hated it, so I got one to see for myself. Browning Maxus is my 'go to' gun for the blind.

If your concerned that it wont be covered under warranty, give Remington a call anyways. Two other guys I know that have a 887 bought them new in 2009 (bought mine in 2012 I think) and sent them in the same time I did and Remington fixed it for free.

Failure to fire due to light strikes happen if you pull back on the action while you fire, if you push it forward it wont happen.

This is because the bolt rests too far back on the action arms. Some grinding and welding to move the bolt forward will fix it, or get it replaced.

Shells getting stuck on the chamber happen because the chamber is too tight. Polishing it a bit will fix this.

Remington 887


Hi all,

I am a new member and I live in the UK,
I recently received my section 2 shotgun licence, and went off to my friendly gun shop to satisfy my dream of having a pump action shotgun, I had done my research and decided that I wanted a Remington 870 express, However this proved more difficult than expected, It is currently almost impossible to obtain a new 870 express in the UK, However I did manage to get a 887 Nitromag,
Looked at it, picked it up, thrilled at the iconic sound of the action and fell in love with it,
Paid the man and went off to try out my new toy,
The first 20 round, no problem and then the pump action started to get harder to work and eventually cartridges started getting jammed, went home a bit disappointed,
Not being someone who gives up easily, I Read up on the internet i.e. YouTube and shooting forums and found that this was not an uncommon problem?
So I, Disassembled the gun and immediately realised that although the design is simple, Remington’s method of mass production and quality control appears not to be very high,
So here’s what you need to do,

1. Disassemble the gun, making a note of how to reassemble.
2. Using medium grade wet n dry paper smooth down the two action bars, removing the paint until
Well-polished.
3. Do the same to the two action bar receiver slider mounts.
4. Give the action bars and sliders a good clean ensuring any dirt or grit is removed.
5. Carefully clean and lubricate the bolt assembly.
6. Lubricate well, all moving parts, using a good quality gun oil and reassemble the gun.

The action will be much easier to operate and no more jamming.
I have since tested the gun with many different cartridges i.e. size load weight and it has not missed a beat, but like any other mechanical mechanism it requires cleaning and lubrication.
For the money, this gun is a fantastic piece of kit, it shoots straight and looks the business,
would highly recommend.

This should sort your problem.

Thanks for the info...!!

Sounds like the same problem afflicting some of the 870 Super Mags. I had similar issues with mine. So I used a dremel for a lil sanding and polishing on the leading edge of the chamber, the opposite edge from where the extractor grabs the spent casing. Oiled up the sanded area and haven't had any issues since.

This is a manufacturing issue/defect that usually disappears with the use of high brass hulls/casings. Low brass/alum casings expand too much and the single extractor can't remove the spent hull. Thus jamming the emeffer and making the user extremely frustrated. My guess is if the Remington sg's used a dual extractor system like the Mossberg...problem would likely disappear. Then you get even force pulling the spent hull straight back out of the chamber.

My 2 cents....