Any issues, concerns or problems you may have with your Remington 870 pump action; this is a thread for troubleshooting.

Left shell latch not depressing far enough to allow it to come to the carrier. Answers please!! Thanks - Jack

just wondering is anyone can answer this for me. I have a friend who just bought himself a Norinco 12 gauge and hes been told that its pretty much an 870 express just with a different name. He was cleaning the gun and discovered pieces of plastic wadding inside and then discovered they were catching on a broken choke tube. after carefully removing the choke tube he wants to know if he can fit a reminton choke tube in it. no one at the gun shops in my area have been able to answer this question or are willing to allow him to try a choke without buying one. any answeres?

JKett, try to check in behind that shell latch, i had an instance where i slipping and fell into some mud one time and my gun was pretty saturated. i took it home and cleaned it thoroughly and had a similar problem, it was like a grain of sand that found its way behind the shell latch. i used a sewing needle and a cleaning brush to remove it, gun hasnt failed since

jkett105 wrote:Left shell latch not depressing far enough to allow it to come to the carrier. Answers please!! Thanks - Jack

When the mag tube gets braised on sometimes brass oozes out some, I have fixed 100s of these, you might have a tiny bit of brass behind the shell latch

Welcome to the Remington Owners Forum Repairman !!

Also welcome to the Moderators Guild....

Welcome to the Remington Owners Forum jkett105 !!

Welcome to the Remington Owners Forum canadian_j !!

Guys I'm sorry that this is my first involvement in the forum but yes I need some help with something:

Had Rem 870 Express Magnum for about 17 years. It has been a safe queen for most of its life but I I have put probably a few hundred shells through it over its life and always kept it clean.

Quick story for how I discovered my problem: Coyote stole one of my chickens, I chased it down to the corner or my property, attempted to engage the coyote with chicken in its mouth, pulled trigger and....nothing...chicken kicked its way out of coyotes mouth and came back towards me and yes its still laying eggs today! Coyote got away though....

Ok so the trigger issue:

Immediately went inside, unloaded and attempted to trouble shoot--

1) Sometimes trigger worked, most times it didn't, just pulled and got nothing, no clicks, no hesitation it was like the trigger assembly wasn't there
2) Safety still seems to work as I cannot depress trigger with safety engaged
3) Removed barrel--heres where it gets interesting trigger engaged every time with barrel off
4) Attached barrel, trigger still engages
5) Tightened barrel nut---Trigger will NOT engage
6) Loosened barrel nut--engages when it is really loose, but nut just gets looser so I cant keep it that way.
7) No choke tubes ever used, or extension. 16' barrel

I think this is an easy fix I just am missing something any help is appreciated--

your bar lock on tpa is a little oversized

New guy here, first post. I have had my 870 since 1971, and it has always served me well. It had not been checked for a while, so I stripped it down for any needed cleaning. When I removed the trigger assembly, I heard a little rattle. I looked into the receiver, and my left shell latch had come loose and was just lying there. The other side is fine, and it appears to be held in place by a crimp. The loose part crimp had let go.
The pin will hold it in place when I reinstall the trigger assembly, I hope.

Should I take this to a gunsmith, or send it back to Remington? Or put it back together and forget about it?

I have no idea how long this has been like this.

Dohrmc wrote:New guy here, first post. I have had my 870 since 1971, and it has always served me well. It had not been checked for a while, so I stripped it down for any needed cleaning. When I removed the trigger assembly, I heard a little rattle. I looked into the receiver, and my left shell latch had come loose and was just lying there. The other side is fine, and it appears to be held in place by a crimp. The loose part crimp had let go.
The pin will hold it in place when I reinstall the trigger assembly, I hope.

Should I take this to a gunsmith, or send it back to Remington? Or put it back together and forget about it?

I have no idea how long this has been like this.

It will need to be re-staked or held firmly in place for proper 100% reliability.
I have had great results using super glue to hold them in the past, but i only consider this a temporary fix.
The best thing is to have it re-staked or purchase the staking tool from Brownells and do it your self.
First you must get things really clean and make certain that you can tap it back into its correct resting place in spite of the failed crimps. the trigger plate pin inserted in the holes can be used as a location and locator reference to position things as you work.
A few small to medium spring clamps or cloths pins will help hold things in place until the glue dries or you get it staked back in place.
If you stake it, do so in the same locations as the original and do NOT go crazy with more the a few hits!
Best of luck brother and be safe.

Took the 870 out to Joe Ott Guns in Douglasville, GA this morning. Bryan Ott did a fast and neat repair for me while I waited. My gun is as good as new. The price was very fair.
I will be giving him some more business after the first of the year. Good guy.

Excellent news!
Great Service to boot!

Hey guys i have an 870 20 gauge that has always been flawless. however i bought an 870 12 gauge and it has a few hundred rounds threw it. every now and then after a shot the for end will get stuck or jammed and i cannot eject the spent shell. any ideas on why this keeps happening.... thanks?

barnettamb wrote:Hey guys i have an 870 20 gauge that has always been flawless. however i bought an 870 12 gauge and it has a few hundred rounds threw it. every now and then after a shot the for end will get stuck or jammed and i cannot eject the spent shell. any ideas on why this keeps happening.... thanks?

Most Express barrels can be cured of the "sticking" problem by simply not using cheap Winchester shells. The Express is known to be produced with rough chambers lately as does several other manufacturers guns. My advice if you have to smack the butt of a gun on the ground to eject the shell, the first thing is stop doing that immediately
The next thing to do is polish or have the chamber polished.

To polish with steel wool, I use a 12 gauge tornado brush and wind the steel wool around it, then whatever brand or type of oil that's handy. The oil is for polishing, not for lubrication. Run it in and out using a cordless drill until the outside of the barrel is hot!!
You can also use the last part of a 2 or 3 piece shotgun cleaning rod and screw a 12 GA. brush into it, then wrap some steel wool around the brush until it's just a little over sized than the chamber and chuck it in your drill, add some oil to the steel wool and run it in and out of the chamber like described above. If you don't want to use a shotgun cleaning rod & brush, a wooden dowel with a about a 1/2 inch slit cut in it and some steel wool added to it with some oil will also work.

Get a drum brake wheel cylinder hone and HONE the chamber. Honing a chamber is better, but you can hurt things with a hone that you can't possibly hurt with steel wool on a tornado brush.
You should be able to find a brake cylinder hone at any Advance, Autozone, NAPA, or any automotive parts store. They aren't but a few bucks. Chuck the hone in your drill. Use some oil on the hone when you use it. Check the chamber for fit every little bit with a fired shell hull.
Make sure while the hone is spinning that you do NOT let the stones come more than a tiny bit out the back end, otherwise - TRAIN WRECK. After honing, you do not need to do ANYTHING ELSE but keep it clean and oiled.

So I just bought a remington 870 tactical at Walmart. Seemed alright at the store...didn't fiddle with it a whole bunch. But when I got it home I noticed that action cycled hard...not smooth at all. The only shotgun I have to compare it too is a pardner pump I've had for a couple of months. I noticed on the pardner the barrel fits flush into the machined recess in the reciever, but on the express it sticks up out of the recess sum. The recess is a little different on the pardner. Anyways the express cycles pretty hard. Especially when trying to retract it. The pardner is smooth as silk and has only had 25 rounds through it.... pretty dissappointed. Any ideas are much appreciated.

Well, figured out what the problem was when I tried to load the magazine. Near impossible to load and would not feed a single round. the right shell latch was riding on top of the right action bar instead of going under it and pressing against the reciever. I took a look at the "ramps" cut into the action bar and the angle was misshapen. So, I lightly hit it with a file. after some monkeying around I cycled 40 rounds though it and it fed and ejected every round. quite a bit smoother.
I've read other posts about 870s sometimes not feeding...wonder if this is what occasionally happens. I noticed the "ramps" on the action bars of my 870 are long and pointy, whereas the ramps on the pardner pump (chinese 870 clone) are a lot steeper . anyways I'm going to eye ball some other 870s in local shops and see what they look like.

appreciate any input.

Hello, I have an 12g 870 Express vent rib that sometimes refuses to feed because the shell is stuck in the magazine tube. Action will cycle but won't move anything. Pictures do not show exactly but the action bar on the left of the picture is bent a bit (not permanently) downward (in relation to a right side up firearm) and inward. It locks the shell and will not move and cannot be pushed in.

I'm able to take it apart and reassemble it so that it will function again. But I don't know why it does this. I'm pretty deliberate about not short stroking.

Pics below. Thank you.

Does any one know if Remington has corrected any issues with the 870 express tactical models. Specifically the magpul editions. Do they know polish the chambers? Have they started using solid extractors? Was there any recalls pertaining to any of these issues? I have just purchased a Magpul 870 and have been reading all the issues. I'm a little concerned!

Welcome to the Remington Owners Forum smarttrem !!

I have a small issue with my 870. It's the early 80's version Wingmaster 12 gauge with a 2 3/4 inch chamber. It had the older style solid carrier. I swapped out the older one for a slotted carrier, the bolt, and the slide since this is going to be a defense gun. The bolt has a steel extractor. I noticed that when I cycle rounds, one will get hung up on the carrier. The carrier will lift the shell but it comes short of chambering the round. The round stops before the barrel meets the receiver so its not hanging up there. Also it seems sometimes as if the carrier is not coming up as much as it should and the bolt passes over the shell on the carrier. The shells extract just fine when shot or with dummy or live rounds. So far it does the same thing with Federal 2 3/4 inch 00 buckshot, Winchester 2 3/4 inch 00 buckshot, and a variety of dummy rounds. I did not replace any of the springs like the dog follower. Could that be it? The gun was thoroughly cleaned before hand so it shouldn't be dirty.

I believe you already figured this out, David, but for the sake of other readers, this type of problem is likely to be caused by a worn-out carrier dog follower spring.

Hello, my 1978 Remington wing master was not firing so I replaced the pin and spring. Now i've noticed even with the spring fully depressed the pin is not protruding out at all. Any ideas. Thanks

First of all, the 870's firing pin is an inertial type. It won't protrude past the breechface if you're just pushing the other end flush with the back of the bolt. You need to get a pointed object like a pen or punch, and press the firing pin all the way forward before it'll protrude.

Secondly, the locking block inside the bolt blocks the movement of the firing pin when it's down in the unlocked position. This is to prevent the gun from firing out-of-battery. Place the breech bolt assembly on top of the slide assembly, and move the slide assembly forward relative to the bolt so that the front of the locking block tilts up and sticks out above the top of the bolt body. Then, you should be able to push on the back of the firing pin with a pen or something, and get the business end to protrude from the breechface.