870 Express ?s - barrel life, cleaning, "dimples..."

[Green Lantern]

***Hmm - my cousin's husband (far more experience with shottys than I have) was telling me a while back not to "overdo" shooting buckshot and slugs out of my new 870, for fear of wearing the barrel. Then again, if this is so, then what exactly IS "overdoing" it?

***For cleaning, about how often should I take it down for a "detail" clean - remove the trigger group and all that?

***Being that I must admit I'm not quite "handyman" material...if I DO decide to take out the 'dimples' to install a mag tube extension, think it would be wise to let a gunsmith be the one to do it?

Thanks!

 

[Packman]

It's a smoothbore barrel...what's going to wear out? there's no rifling to mess up. that said, I'm not a gunsmith, he could be right.

As far as cleaning, I take the barrel and the bolt assembly out of mine and spray it down and wipe it clean every time I shoot, but I'm just like that. probably not neccesary EVERY time.

And, I have no idea about the dimples. Others will be along shortly to tell you what to do there.

 

[jack the toad]

I've heard of drilling the dimples, grinding them down, etc. I made a tool that swedges them back into place. I then take a dremel and smooth them a bit, followed by a dab of cold blue. This works really well and there are no holes in the mag tube.
As to barrel wear, I wouldn't worry the least about lead shot. Steel shot can be a little different but I wouldn't worry about that either.
I try to do a routine cleaning of the barrel after each shooting session and a detailed clean as needed.

 

[nosliw]

-don't worry about shooting buckshot. that's like saying "don't drive your brand new car too much or you'll wear out the engine" WELL WHAT DID YOU BUY IT FOR?

-remove the barrel, slide and breach bolt. clamp the gun in a vise (padded) and get yourself a drill bit (3/16 if i recall, but the instructions for the magext with tell you) once you drill that little dimple out you need a dremel with a stone grinding bit. start by putting your finger inside the mag tube, feel for a bump, grind a little bit, feel again, ect...

it's really easy. i was worried about it too. honestly the hardest part about doing the whole mag extension mod was getting the new huge spring in there.

PS, make sure to take all the necessary precautions to keep metal shavings out of where they shouldn't be when you're doing the grinding and drilling.

 

[Pete409]

Green Lantern,

Don't worry about wearing out the barrel. It's not going to happen regardless of what commercial loads you shoot in it or how much.

As for "detail" cleaning, I would suggest removing the bolt and trigger assembly for cleaning about once every 1,000 to 1,500 rounds. Of course, if you submerge your gun under water or cover it in a pile of dirt/sand, then I would suggest a detail cleaning ASAP.

As for removing the dimples, others have explained that.

 

[Dave McCracken]

I haven't worn out an 870 barrel yet, but then I've only been shooting them since the 50s.

I've put up to 20K worth of hullls through 870 barrels, with cleaning they just get slicker.

Clean it when you shoot it.....

 

[Bix]

Seems to me the objective should be to wear out the barrel......

 

[rcmodel]

my cousin's husband (far more experience with shottys than I have) was telling me a while back not to "overdo" shooting buckshot and slugs out of my new 870, for fear of wearing the barrel.

Yea! This guy sounds like a real gun expert!

Don't listen to anything else he tells you either!

Lead shot & lead rifled slugs cannot possibly harm a steel shotgun barrel.
As Dave Mc. said, "they just get slicker" & easier to clean after a few thousand rounds!


rcmodel

 

[Green Lantern]

Lead shot & lead rifled slugs cannot possibly harm a steel shotgun barrel.
As Dave Mc. said, "they just get slicker" & easier to clean after a few thousand rounds!

"Groovy."

I do clean the gun as much as I can w/o disassembly each time I shoot, just wasn't sure if I needed to strip it down totally (or as much as told in the book) each time.

As for the mag extension - it's actually a Remington factory one, with no mention of dimple removal - I guess it's sold under the idea that the people that own it ALREADY have "dimple-less" guns...

No HUGE deal anyway, as I've found that I'm pretty happy with the regular 4+1 setup. I might get around to it eventually....or I may one day buy ANOTHER 870 with the extension already installed and keep the kit as a spare.