[OregonJohnny]

I bought my Remington 870 Marine Magnum brand new less than a year ago. It has less than 100 rounds through it. The first time I disassembled it and cleaned it, everything was fine. I've cleaned it twice since then and last night I noticed a very rough patch inside the barrel, just forward of where the shape of the barrel goes from fat to skinny. The first time I saw this, I thought it was just lead build up. But when I started to pull a brush through it loaded with swabs and Hoppes #9, little silver flakes started coming out with the brush. It looks like this little section inside the barrel is flaking off and you can see it is clearly pitted and it gets worse each time you pull the brush through. The rest of the bore is smooth and spot free aside from this 2-inch section. Help! Why is the finish melting?

I called Remington, and they said there were no recalls at this time. I just have to take it to a smith and hope the warranty covers it. But have I done something wrong? I've shot all different loads through it (almost all of it has been Remington brand ammo) from rifled slugs to 00 Buck to bird shot, but no steel. My previous 870 (a regular Express 12 guage) had more than 10,000 rounds go through it without a hitch. Is this just the nickel finish going through a normal slough-off? Why would this little section be the only section inside the barrel that has a nickel finish? It looks as if this is the spot where the fired shot initially contacts the inside of the bore once it leaves the shell. Too much pressure on this one section? Or did I just get a lemon? Anyone?

[Dave McCracken]

I doubt the bore is plated. Sounds like a little leading is occuring. Scrub it out and watch the area.

[OregonJohnny]

Oh believe me, I've scrubbed it out. And the more I scrub, the worse it gets and the more shiny little nickel flakes come out. Which tells me it is definitely the finish. I'm worried that using a wire brush has prematurely worn this high-friction section and has ruined the finish. But the rest of the bore is as shiny as a new penny. Just this 2-inch section that wraps all the way around the inside of the bore. I don't remember reading in the owner's manual "don't use a wire brush to clean the bore of this shotgun". So if this is what happened, I'm hoping Remington will replace it and it won't happen again. I love 870s and I expected this Marine to be a little more durable. Especially since it's only been fired 50 or 60 times and cleaned after every shoot. Has anyone experienced this with an 870 or any other "marine coat" shotgun? Please tell me I wasn't a total moron by scrubbing the barrel with a wire brush and Hoppes #9...

[dfariswheel]

Scrubbing the bore with bore solvent and brush should not harm the coating.
If firing slugs and shot in a bore won't harm it, using a bore brush and solvent SURE wouldn't harm it.

If it really is the plating flaking off, the plating job was defective.
Contact Remington about sending the barrel back.

[OregonJohnny]

Well, I am not a moron for using a wire brush and solvent on the bore, but I might be a moron for not having done this thoroughly when I pulled it out of the box for the first time. Last night I spent an entire hour with Gun Scrubber solvent, Hoppes #9, and about 300 strokes through the bore with a brush. Finally this rough section started to break up and eventually, my bore looked brand new. Whew! I figure what happened was that there was some sort of grease or coating from the factory on this section and without cleaning it off, the first 20 or 30 rounds of cheap ammo just built a solid layer of crud here. In the 2 or 3 times I cleaned it, I never brushed hard or long enough to break this stuff up and got nervous when I started seeing little silver (or nickel) flakes coming out. (Which are either polished little lead deposits, or nickel flakes blasted through the receiver, I don't know).

But now it's clean and shiny. Thank you, Remington, for always making a superb product, and I'm sorry I ever doubted the quality of this pretty little 870 Marine. It's back to being "cruiser ready" with 6 rounds of Remington 00 Buck in my safe.