Help with an 870 and Brenneke slugs jamming the gun up

[NineseveN]

Okay, here’s the dope:

I have an 870 Express with a standard cylinder that patterns very well with buckshot but only shoots Winchester Super X Slugs really well and does okay with some Federal Slugs. I tried Brennekes and they shot a minimum of 8" low at 100 meters with the standard bead...the others shoot 5" groups, so no Brennekes in my bead sighted gun. I can deal with that.

However, I have a rifle sighted 870p that patterns buckshot well (with the improved cylinder, it's no wonder it's a tad better than the express) and it shoots the Brennekes into some nice groups up to 100 meters. One problem, the Brennekes are VERY hard to cycle to the point to where one completely locked up the action requiring disassembly of the gun to remove.

Upon taking the gun down, I did find that my forend retainer ring/nut was very loose (the forend started feeling loose just before the gun started acting odd). I hand-tightened it as best I could and then ran some 7 1/2oz birdshot through the gun trying to see if it would jam. 30 rounds of bird shot as fast as I could shoot and load produced no malfunctions and they were not hard to load or eject like the Brennekes were. I tried some Remington 00 buck and they fed and ejected fine. I then tried some Brennekes again and while they did not totally lock the gun up, they were insanely hard to cycle. of course, since I only hand tightened the retaining nut, it was loose again.

On the next range session, I tried the Brennekes again with a properly tightened forend, no dice. While they didn't bind the gun up, it was VERY hard to cycle, the shells don't want to load or eject and I have to really rack the pump hard a few times to get it to let the shells cycle. I tried some more Federal Slugs and no problem, Buckshot, no problem, bird shot, not problem, the gun cycles smooth with everything except the Brennekes.

Any ideas? I get Brennekes for $2.49 a box compared to $3-$5 for the other slugs and I like what I hear about the performace of the KO slugs, so I'd like to figure this out if at all possible.

 

[Black_Talon]

FWIW, I've had the same issues with Brenneke slugs in otherwise perfectly functioning guns.

So consider my post a free bump.

 

[Dave McCracken]

I've had no issues with the 1 oz KOs at all. They are the most accurate slug in my two slug shooter 870s. They also work OK in Frankenstein.

There are occasional ammo/gun incompatibilities that crop up. One of the reasons good instructors emphasize using the ammo of choice during training.

FYI, the 20 gauge here LOVES Rottweil Brenekkes but has issues with the excellent Fed slug.

Best solution, use another slug and/or another shotgun.

 

[spooney]

My 20ga 870 will shoot the Brenneke Rottweils all day long, like yours however it won't eject them with any sort of reliability.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Haven't had a hiccup with Brenneke KOs in any of the 870s here I've tried them in.

When you say they're 'hard to load' do you mean they are hard to get into the chamber as you cycle the action, or do you mean they are hard to get into the magazine?

lpl/nc

 

[NineseveN]

Lee,

It seems like they are binding the action up both when trying to eject the spent shell out of the chamber and loading the fresh shell from the lifter. Most of the time the cycle is really rough and difficult to do (and no, I'm not babying it at all, I'ma strapping young lad and I yank on the damn pump ) and sometimes the action won't budge unless I unshoulder the gun and use a table or bench to rest the butt on while I use both hands on the pump.

The reason I say it is both extracting and loading the shell from the lifter is that the gun does this when stripping a shell from the tube with no spent case in the chamber and will do this when the last shot is fired and there's nothing left in the tube or lifter. It occurs either way, and only with the Brennekes.

 

[Fred Fuller]

That's the sort of oddity that crops up once in a great while. I would advise a good chamber cleaning as a first option. Using the steel wool on a wooden dowel trick is a good approach- take a1/2" or so wooden dowel, nick it in a lot of places with a sharp knife to roughen it up- as if you were going to whittle it to a point, but just make a 'fish scale' sort of cut and go on to the next one. Then take a pad of 4/0 (0000) steel wool and start unwrapping it so you get a flat sheet. Put your rough dowel down on the unrolled sheet and roll it up tight, just a bit oversized to go in the chamber. Use that as a cleaning tool with whatever solvent you have on hand, preferably one that will get out plastic as well as powder fouling.

If that doesn't help you may need to have a gunsmith hone the chamber.

Worst comes to worst, you just might not be able to shoot Brennekes out of that barrel. Sometimes it comes to that...

lpl/nc