Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
As you may know, the Net is full of stuff about 870 Expresses not being very good shotguns, according to a small but extremely vocal minority.
I've publicly wondered where these are. I've handled and shot maybe 35 or 40 Expresses in the last couple years belonging to other folks without one single glitch.
One finally turned up yesterday, like an albatross in my flight path. It belonged to a new shooter who got an 870 because his cop friend has one.
I had shot a couple of rounds of wobble on Range 4 at PGC and was taking a break when this guy showed up on my radar. I noticed he was having trouble on the line,so I stepped up to help.
He had fired ONE round from his brand new Express,and the case was stuck in the chamber. I took the weapon and attempted to bust the hull loose by the bash method.
No luck. Lending the owner my Beretta to finish his round, I removed the barrel on the Express and used a rod to bang out the Top Gun hull. While the owner shot his round, I broke the 870 down and observed that the preservative was everywhere inside rather than oil.
After the round, I had the trappper throw a couple for test firing. The Express shot OK, and ejected old Nitro hulls perfectly.
But neither a Gun Club Reload nor a Fed "Pink" did. Had to use the rod again.
Giving the Express back, I advised the owner to RTFM, and the 4/0 steel wool trick. And to get some brass based ammo.
Discussion may now begin....
I've publicly wondered where these are. I've handled and shot maybe 35 or 40 Expresses in the last couple years belonging to other folks without one single glitch.
One finally turned up yesterday, like an albatross in my flight path. It belonged to a new shooter who got an 870 because his cop friend has one.
I had shot a couple of rounds of wobble on Range 4 at PGC and was taking a break when this guy showed up on my radar. I noticed he was having trouble on the line,so I stepped up to help.
He had fired ONE round from his brand new Express,and the case was stuck in the chamber. I took the weapon and attempted to bust the hull loose by the bash method.
No luck. Lending the owner my Beretta to finish his round, I removed the barrel on the Express and used a rod to bang out the Top Gun hull. While the owner shot his round, I broke the 870 down and observed that the preservative was everywhere inside rather than oil.
After the round, I had the trappper throw a couple for test firing. The Express shot OK, and ejected old Nitro hulls perfectly.
But neither a Gun Club Reload nor a Fed "Pink" did. Had to use the rod again.
Giving the Express back, I advised the owner to RTFM, and the 4/0 steel wool trick. And to get some brass based ammo.
Discussion may now begin....