I seen 5 different 870s lock up with winchester universal birdshot

[my762buzz]

I am not sure how common this is with most other 870s.
These same 870s worked fine with a variety of other types
of cartridges. Any clues to why this specific cartridge might
cause this?

 

[ReloaderFred]

If it's the line that Winchester has loaded in Spain, I've seen a lot of messed up crimps and split plastic with them at the SASS shoots.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[rich636]

Mine was sticky with "Estate" brand dove loads. It wouldn't chamber the round. Apparently you can do the steel wool on a dowel in a drill thing, and buff out the chamber to help. However, Winchester, Remington, and Federal loads all worked fine so I never bothered.

 

[exoduster18]

I have had the same thing happen with Winchester loads......My 870 Extractor actually bent the rim down and slipped off of the shell....It's been the only FTE (that has been the ONLY problem I have had with it) and I know that it was no fault of the gun.....but of the ammo....

 

[JImbothefiveth]

I've had my 870 feel like it "locked up" a few times. Each time, if I stopped trying to cycle it then tried harder, it cycled. Maybe I didn't try hard enough at first?

It usually happened after putting some birdshot first in the magazine, then some buckshot, so I think higher pressure rounds do sort of "lock up" the action.

I don't recall it happening with buckshot in first.

Edit: woo-hoo 900 posts.

 

[flyboy1788]

(original post deleted)
ETA: sorry, i meant that mine wouldnt lock from time to time, sounds like the opposite of what you guys are experiencing. maybe just dont buy that ammo from now on. You cant get all pissed off at a multiple hundred dollar firearm when the ammo you're feeding it is cheap-ass, out of spec shells. That being said, all i use is winchester universal and i have never had the bolt lock up.

 

[my762buzz]

Just to clearify, once fired these shells somehow prevented
the bolt from extracting as though they were glued inside
the chamber. I will definitely avoid them in the future.
I couldn't help but to be curious why this occurred.
My only suspicion is that the case head over swelled
and the 870 chambers might be tighter than other
shotguns like Mossbergs , Winchesters , etc.
These same shells extracted well from non-870s
which leads me to consider the chamber differences.
However, I am not an expert in this area.

 

[my762buzz]

I tried to find a picture of the box.
No one lists these shells except Walmart.

 

[flyboy1788]

another question for the OP: was this all on one occasion that you saw the 870s lock up (a hunting trip, or a range trip) or was this over a period of some time(several different outings) that you saw them lock up. The reason I ask is maybe it is a bad batch of ammo. Also, were there other guns that were using this ammo, or just the remmies?

 

[chuckusaret]

Exoduster18 what type of Winchester. I just bought 250 rounds of Winchester Super Speed 12 gauge 2 3/4 1oz #8 shot and 250 rounds of SuperX heavy game loads #8 shot at Wal Mart at a good price. I use this stuff for target practice but still don't want any problem ammo.

 

[Snarlingiron]

There have been tons of posts regarding 870's and Winchester el cheapo ammo.

My 870's are all well worn and have thousands of rounds through them, so I haven't seen it. I was skeptical until a friend of mine showed it to me. I fired 2 rounds of the Winchester stuff, and had very hard extraction. I then fired several rounds of Remington and the gun cycled perfectly.

Do a search, you will find a lot of posts reporting the same. It appears to be an issue of the ammo and Remington Express tighter and less finely finished chambers. Lots of folks have reported that they corrected it with a chamber polish job.

With that said, I use the cheap Winchester stuff in my Beretta's all the time, and have never had an issue with it.

 

[exoduster18]

The shell that did to me was one of the 100 round value packs from Walmart

Here is the info off of the box (top flap):

12 Gauge
2 3/4 inches
3 Dram Equivalent
1 1/8 oz.
6 Shot
U126

The rest of it is Winchester Universal. The box is red and grey with the word "Universal" in a diamond on both the top and the front of the box.

It was one of those shells that did to me.....

Everything else that I have used (including other Winchester loads) has worked and functioned fine.....

 

[sbarkowski]

had the same problem with my 870 on the value pack winchester 12ga even after polishing the chamber. The low brass base (its actually some sort of flimbsy tin) expands too much and doesnt go back to shape. When the round is fired the crimping opens unevenly leaving jagged pieces of plastic on the hull that like to catch on everything as its being extracted. Did this on a friends semi-auto, they would extract only as far as the crimping then get hung up. Ended up selling the 870 because I do alot of clay shooting and wont spend the money for better ammo when I can buy 100rds for 22.00 and Ill go through at least 200rds in an afternoon shooting. IMO a pump should reliably cycle any ammo. Got a benelli and using the same cheap value pack winchesters it has never failed to cycle or extract.

 

[ZRX61]

Here is the info off of the box (top flap):

12 Gauge
2 3/4 inches
3 Dram Equivalent
1 1/8 oz.
6 Shot
U126

The rest of it is Winchester Universal. The box is red and grey with the word "Universal" in a diamond on both the top and the front of the box.

I have some of that, but 7 1/2 shot.. & mine says U127 on it. Not fired any yet, but will put some thru my 590 on Sunday

 

[ReloaderFred]

Look on the box and see where it was made. It will be in small print somewhere on the side or bottom.

Fred

 

[Shotgun Dave]

winchester universal birdshot

Have had the same problem with the Wal-Mart 100-round value packs, but of all things in my o/u. Happened twice with the same ammo. Looking at the shell, it appears the shell-head is aluminum vs brass. After punching the shell out of the chamber, it looked like the ejector sheared the thin aluminum trying to eject the shell. Two bucks more and get the remington, has not happened since

 

[maxxwilde]

I've had the same thing happen with the WalMart ammo as well. My shotguns an old Western Field Pump, modeled after the Mossberg 500. I just figured the extractor was getting old... Glad I saw this post before I went out changing partsLOL


M

 

[Virginian]

They run through my 1100s and 870 (Wingmaster) fine. The newest of these is '70s vintage however. I did see a guy at the range with a Mossberg with the same problem. I suspect polishing the chamber might solve things.

 

[dicty2004]

I had same problem with WM value pack, three lockups in two trips and sometimes it was hard to chamber the shells. Rem value pack worked fine for my 870. I'll try Federal, it's same price as Winchester, but cheaper than Remington.

 

[gentleman987]

I had this same problem i did the steel wool/drill trick and it seems to have worked have shot two boxes of shells with no problem
Before it was locking up every 3 shells

 

[556A2]

They have locked up 3 870s of mine. An Express, a Police, and a vintage Wingmaster. My Father-in-Law had the same problem with them in 1 of his 870s as well.

I literally gave away 3 boxes of them due to them choking in all my 870s.

 

[monkyboy1975]

I've had the same problem with the cheap winchester shells, in my wifes 520. I think it's because of the cheap metal used in the rim, for some reason they don't agree with the carrier,as the problem don't happen when I only put one in the chamber and leave the mag empty, but with a full mag the problem is real bad. It don't do this with the SuperX shells though.

 

[mp510]

A local gun dealer said he had seen several 870's have problems with Federal shells. He said the brass was longer than it should be and other shotguns had problems with it too. He knows his stuff pretty well and I've never had him lie to me. He sells stuff cheaper than anyone else too so I tend to think he's honest.

I have an old Hi-Standard, with a 2.75" chamber (most-but not all- modern guns have a 3" chamber). It cycles federal bulk pack/low brass shells very smoothly.