NEF Pardner pump and Winchester AA stovepiping

[Dirtybob]

Was shooting some informal clay games today and a friend brought some Winchester AAs along (smooth, black hulls). Discovered that my NEF will stovepipe on ejection about 1/3 of the time, only with those shells. No issues with two Mossberg 500s and a Winchester 1300. Took a closer look and noticed the rim of the AAs is a few thousandths larger than the Federals I had on hand and were hanging on the ejection window.
Besides not using Winchester AAs, I was wondering if there is a fix? First thought was to open up the ejection window a little (though there's not a whole lot of room to open it up)...
Window measures to roughly 15/16" x 2 7/8" and I might be able to get it open to 1" before it's flush with the action bar.


Thanks for looking.

 

[Col. Harrumph]

I like the "don't use AAs" idea a lot better. Sure you could open the port a bit but unless you are a genius hacker the gun is gonna look like bubba got hold of it.

 

[tmd16556]

I’ve had a shotgun just not like hulls. My 870 had a problem with Fiocci hulls about 20 years ago. The rim would bulge and the ejector would get an inconsistent hold on them. I just avoided those hulls since then.

Federal loads are fine and the cheapest I’ve seen locally for 1 1/8 target/dove loads in the 4 box packs at Walmart.

I’d make sure to check function if you were planning on using it for self defense purposes. Otherwise, try some others but be ok accepting it doesn’t like that AA loading.

 

[GRIZ22]

Never had an issue with my Pardner pump

 

[Dirtybob]

I’ve had a shotgun just not like hulls. My 870 had a problem with Fiocci hulls about 20 years ago. The rim would bulge and the ejector would get an inconsistent hold on them. I just avoided those hulls since then.

Federal loads are fine and the cheapest I’ve seen locally for 1 1/8 target/dove loads in the 4 box packs at Walmart.

I’d make sure to check function if you were planning on using it for self defense purposes. Otherwise, try some others but be ok accepting it doesn’t like that AA loading.

This gun is well vetted and it's not my primary HD gun, have approx. 2k rounds through it with the majority of them being federal and winchester promo loads. Also ran several flavors of buckshot and slugs w/o issue (maybe 3-400 rds.). Fiocchi, remington, clever, B&P, federal, winchester, etc...
Not losing any sleep over these AA loads, just curious about other (perhaps less obvious) solutions since this is the first ammo I've encountered that wasn't 100% reliable in this gun. Was still able to sweep the hanging rounds clear fast enough to break report pairs - might be an issue with true pairs though.

 

[tmd16556]

Are those hulls real brass (not brass plated steel). That may be the difference. I’d guess it’s something about how the ejector is gripping the case head. It could be that lot of AAs were out of spec too. The black hulls and gray ones can be different. I’ve not shot newer AA hulls (post 2005 or so) but I remember the gray ones being a problem for some reason and I don’t have a more in my reloading stockpile. I’m sure I had a good reason but don’t remember why.

 

[Blue Brick]

The old guys use to say Winchester built them that way to make the 870 look bad.

I like Federal. And use a Maverick. I do own a Protector. It gobbled up all the ammo, but I didn't buy Winchester and I didn't feed it 2000 rounds.

 

[Dirtybob]

Not sure if those AAs were brass or plated, should be able to check that later this week. My friend has like 10 flats of the stuff, I only put one box of it through my NEF.
Normally this NEF will take 6 2.75" shells in the tube even though it is rated for 5 (last round is always a tight fit). Noticed that twice it would only accept 5 of the AAs with maybe an inch to go on number 6...

 

[tmd16556]

Normally this NEF will take 6 2.75" shells in the tube even though it is rated for 5 (last round is always a tight fit). Noticed that twice it would only accept 5 of the AAs with maybe an inch to go on number 6...

That may be the key. If they’re a little long that might matter. I think the NEF is a sort of 870 clone but with a square port. It may come down to how the crimp unfolds too. If the others have 3” chambers they may eject more easily. The ejector may be bouncing them off the top. Some Winchester hulls open really wide at the crimp compared to others.

The fix is simple: don’t use the black AA hulls. The mystery of figuring out why they don’t work is the real puzzle.