870 drops shells out of ejection part when cycling

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dak0ta

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I was out in the duckblind and twice, when cycling the 870 with an overhead bird with the shotgun pointed almost 90 degrees to the sky, when pulling the pump to the rear after the first shot, the shell released from the mag tube came out and fell out of the ejection port onto the ground and I closed the action on an empty chamber. I know the shell lifter has a raised portion to prevent the shell from falling out once the slide is moving forward and pops the lifter up, but this was the first time for me. Anybody else have this experience cycling the 870 action other than parallel to the ground?
 
Yes. I had a VERY short 870 in the military modified for defeating door locks. I was trying to get into a door during an exercise, and the gun kept going "click". I was certain I had remembered to load it, but couldn't figure out what the problem was. We ended up getting through the door by other means. When we did the after action review, we saw several live breaching rounds on the floor of the shoot house, with no primer dents. The instructors switched out my shotgun for one that worked, and presumably had the original one repaired by the armorers. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what the issue was or what steps were taken to correct it, but to answer your question, I have experienced it.
 
Sounds like a shell stop problem to me.

I only know Ithacas, and only on a basic level, but I had that problem on my Ithaca Model 37 DSPS. I replaced the shell stop and the problem went away.
 
Check your shell stops, there is one staked on each side inside of the receiver.

If one is missing or loose it can let the shell pop out when the lifter is up during cycling.

Stay safe.
 
I should clarify that the shell isn't falling out of the bottom, but actually falling out of the ejection port on the side of the receiver when the gun is being swung overhead at a duck flying over. I'm not short shucking the pump and shells are not inappropriately being released due to faulty shell stops. The angle of the shotgun being swung high overhead from left to right allows for the 2nd shell released from the magazine tube to fall out of the ejection port before the shell lifter can bring it up and be captured by the bolt and extractor on the forward action of the pump. My theory is that when the gun is held vertically on the overhead shot, the shell is released from the magazine tube as normal, but with the extra force of gravity, and in combination with the momentum of a fast rightward swing, the shell falls out of the ejection port. I hope that makes more sense. Maybe I can try to record in a video what happened. The gun itself function normally.

CSM134.jason_.02_dsc02804-768x512.jpg
Basically shooting a bird in this position and swinging L to R.
 
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I have never experienced this problem or had it as a complaint from a customer. I think it is your technique. If you pull the bolt back and do not move it forward the shell from the magazine is just laying in the receiver and can easily be shaken out. I just tried it with mine and if the gun is slightly tilted to the right and I cycled it slow then the shell did fall out the ejection port. I guess I am usually in a much bigger hurry to get the gun ready for another shot in that situation in the field.
 
Ok, I figure that's probably it then. Pump faster basically (which I do), but the shell literally flopped out on the rearward stroke before I could even go forward. But yes, pump faster.
 
At that angle, you either have to pump really fast, (which you should be doing no matter the angle) or bring the the gun down off your shoulder and down to a 60 degree angle or less and pump it .

Bet the guy in that photo didn't have that problem.

That and stop skybusting. :p

Yes. I had a VERY short 870 in the military modified for defeating door locks. I was trying to get into a door during an exercise, and the gun kept going "click". I was certain I had remembered to load it, but couldn't figure out what the problem was. We ended up getting through the door by other means. When we did the after action review, we saw several live breaching rounds on the floor of the shoot house, with no primer dents. The instructors switched out my shotgun for one that worked, and presumably had the original one repaired by the armorers. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what the issue was or what steps were taken to correct it, but to answer your question, I have experienced it.

Yours had nothing to do with what he experienced. Yours had a broken firing pin. The return spring traps the broken front half and will cause what you experienced.
 
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On this topic, would this occur with a Mossberg 500 or WInchester Model 12? I do like my Ithaca 37 and I don't think it can have this problem given the lack of side ejecting port.
 
It's possible it could happen with any side-ejecting shotgun. It can't happen with the 37 or any other bottom-ejector because the 'forks' hold the round in the shotgun until it is about halfway into the chamber, at which point the bolt keeps it from happening. It's less likely, but still possible for it to happen, with the Mossberg-type action, because the carrier has more positive pressure on the shell than with a plate-style carrier like the Remington 870 or the Win. Model 12.
 
Yes I do like the fork carrier set up of the Ithaca/BPS, it also doubles as the ejector which is very strong. Good to know! Perhaps John Moses Browning had this in mind.
 
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