Breaking in an 870

[sharkman]

How many rounds would you shoot to break in a 870 Express before you were satisfied that is was reliable?

I got one for my Mom and will be taking it to the range before I give it to her. It's an 870 Express Synthetic 20g with 2 round mag extension. Got it for her after she told me the following story:

Monday evening about 1030pm a guy drives up to her house, lights off. She lives in farm country in North Carolina, a couple hundred yards off the nearest paved road so the guy wasn't lost and just looking for directions. Wearing dark clothes and some sorta badge or ID around his neck he then knocks on her door claiming to be a cop on a 911 call and tried to get her to unlock her door. She's no fool so she didn't open the door and he didn't try to kick it in and and he drove away. A call to the local PD confirmed that there were no 911 calls in the area...

 

[mljdeckard]

As many as you want, I suppose.

I don't consider a pump gun in the same category as an auto pistol, where the process of cycling relies on fine tuning and small parts. I have heard of guys breaking extractors and such on 870s, but I've never seen it personally. I cranked through a whole case of S&B birdshot one day and never had a hiccup.

Seriously, run a wad of degreaser through the barrel a couple of times, degrease the bolt and extractor assemblies, and if you are in the mood, knock out the two pins that hold in the trigger assembly, clean off the factory preservative, and give everything a light coat of your favorite gun oil. I DARE you to try to make the thing malfunction.

Get a few boxes of the load you will be using for defense, take her to the range and shoot some butcher paper at the range she will be using inside the house. Let her see exactly how it will pattern and work.

 

[sharkman]

As many as you want, I suppose.

I don't consider a pump gun in the same category as an auto pistol, where the process of cycling relies on fine tuning and small parts. I have heard of guys breaking extractors and such on 870s, but I've never seen it personally. I cranked through a whole case of S&B birdshot one day and never had a hiccup.

Seriously, run a wad of degreaser through the barrel a couple of times, degrease the bolt and extractor assemblies, and if you are in the mood, knock out the two pins that hold in the trigger assembly, clean off the factory preservative, and give everything a light coat of your favorite gun oil. I DARE you to try to make the thing malfunction.

Get a few boxes of the load you will be using for defense, take her to the range and shoot some butcher paper at the range she will be using inside the house. Let her see exactly how it will pattern and work.

Thanks, that's pretty much what I figured. I've got two pumps and never had a problem. Thought I'd read about some folks having problems with the Express 870's so thought I'd ask just to be sure

 

[ChCx2744]

My 870 Express was not eating Winchester lite 00 properly when I first bought it. My 2nd or 3rd time taking it to the range I began seeing an improvement in how the action cycled. Before I sold it, it was running strong. 870's are pretty rugged shotguns and will not disappoint...Although I personally think you should run at least 100 shells through it, or at least use snap cap shells and cycle the action repeatedly that way.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Assuming the OP's Mom knows a bit about shotguns, I'd want 200 rounds run through it glitchless(The Ayoob Test) before trusting it.

If she doesn't have much or any gun experience, she should get some ASAP at a local range.

 

[sharkman]

Assuming the OP's Mom knows a bit about shotguns, I'd want 200 rounds run through it glitchless(The Ayoob Test) before trusting it.

If she doesn't have much or any gun experience, she should get some ASAP at a local range.

She's got some gun experience but isn't an avid shooter. She is familiar with shotguns though she hasn't fired one in years. She knows the basics. Always had a pistol around for self defense and been ready to use that in the past, story for another time...Didn't mention in my original post but she's married to stepdad, he's got similar level of experience. The gun is for both to use and they both thought that it would be more suitable than a pistol for use around their land, so both will get some hands on before I leave it with them.

After I get it cleaned up and put suitable number of rounds through it I'll take it to her place. She's got 46 acres so I'll set up targets on the lower pasture and run through some more ammo with her. Then we'll talk about home defense situations and considerations

 

[swampboss]

I think it would be better to let her start with light loads to get used to the gun. You want to build confidence in her ability first, then let her shoot 1 or 2 rounds of buckshot to see the difference. This will help her be prepared for the recoil.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Get some of the ultralight birdshot loads for familiarization and practice. 3/4 oz loads from Fiocchi or Winchester will work well and not knock folks around.

 

[rmfnla]

Shooting is important, but if it's to be used for HD I like to break it down and inspect it in detail; you never know what bit of crud or partially finished part might cause a hang-up at the wrong time.

If you cannot do this I suggest an experienced gunsmith.

Might sound extreme but it only needs to be done once.

 

[KBintheSLC]

Mine worked well since day one. However, I would still go grab a bulk pack from Wally World, and perhaps a dozen or two defensive rounds and take her shooting so she can get a feel for the gun. Just having the gun doesn't make her safer... she needs to know how to use it.

As others stated, detail strip the gun and clean/lube it properly first (including the mag tube). After that, just clean the barrel and wipe out the action a bit after shooting.