Remington 870 occasionally refuses to accept full capacity

[Smith]

Here's my strange story:

I had disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled my 870 express (it has a mag tube extension that makes the total capacity 7+1). After assembly, I attempted to load it and found that it would only accept 5 rounds in the tube instead of the usual 7. I took the extension off, pulled out the spring and follower, and made sure everything looked fine. I reassembled it again and the problem persisted. After two or three more reassemblies ( <- if that's even a word), it would finally accept all 7 rounds again.

Can anybody explain why this happened? This has happened again since then and I cannot think of anything that would cause this.


Thanks,

Smith

 

[chevyforlife21]

there are dimples in the mag tube that make the shells get caught up at the very end of the factory tube. it is because you took a standard express and put an extension on it you need to grind/file those off it says so right on most extension packages. the ones remington ships from the factory have those dimples ground of already.

 

[hub]

Check out this thread, another member had the same problem just a few months ago. I think they summed it up pretty well and it would probably fix your problem too.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=470149&highlight=870+mag+tube

 

[FullEffect1911]

I was the OP in that linked thread. It has to do with the indented radial ring that the barrel band screw goes into. This either catches the spring or the follower. Load and unload it enough and the follower will sometimes no longer follow until it frees itself with user help.

My solution was to dump the extension and go with 4+1 capacity. I haven't had a problem since. The shotgun swings easier now too, as it is less forward heavy.

Mossberg has it all over Remington in the extended tube arena.

 

[Snakum]

If the extension came on it stock, there is no dimple to remove. On both my 870s I had to take a little more material off the very end of the extension tube and make a more gradual chamfer, polish up that lip and chamfered area a tad, and then assemble it properly. The "sixth round cock-up" - which I was getting every ten to fifteen loads at least - hasn't appeared since.

(No thanks to Remington, who STILL hasn't answered my emails from two weeks ago. )

 

[DBR]

Another thing that can cause this is getting a coil of the mag spring pinched between the end of the mag tube and the extension when you tighten the retaining ring.

One way to prevent this is to rotate the extension tube slowly as you tighten the ring.

 

[rcmodel]

Here ya go!

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=481913

rc

 

[Snakum]

I finally got an email from Remington support after two weeks. It wasn't much more helpful than no response at all, and they called me "Derek" (not my name). They said to "call parts and order a new spring". They just pull things out of their butts. Customer Service is becoming a complete joke with most companies, unfortunately.

I put about 50 00 buck and 30 slug rounds through my two 870s this weekend and never got a single 'no sixth load' event. So I consider it officially fixed. No thanks to Remington.

 

[Smith]

Sorry for the really late response. I entirely forgot about this thread until I was cleaning my 870 a few hours ago

I'll check out all of your suggestions tomorrow morning. I'm sure the answer is in one of them.

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Snakum]

I've put about 50 more rounds each thru my 870s now and the Sixth Round Cockup has not reappeared. It was definitely catching on the mag lip. Easy fix.