Question About My Remington 870 Express

[Smith]

So yesterday I finally went out to test my "new to me" used Remington 870 Express. When I got it, it appeared well used, but not abused. It functioned almost flawlessly.

I fired a total of around 250 rounds, using Waly World's cheapest Remington #8 shot, Waly World cheapest Winchester 9 pellet 00 buck shot, slightly less cheap Remington #8 shot, and slightly less cheap Winchester #7 1/2 (I think) shot.

I had two failure to extract's; both of which occurred while using the Wally World Winchester buck shot. I had heard that Winchester ammo was notorious for getting stuck in 870's, making it very difficult to eject the spent shell, so I expected this to happen a few times. My problem was a bit different, however.

After firing a few rounds, the next round was a bit tougher to chamber. By applying a bit more forward pressure on the forearm it locked up fine. I fired and racked the slide back to eject the spent shell. The forearm slid back easily, but when I attempted to slide it forward, it slid a few inches then stopped. I inspected the chamber and saw that the previous round had not ejected, therefor the new round was hitting the rear of the spent shell which was still chambered. I rolled the shotgun to the side and dropped out the live round, racked the shotgun closed, racked it back again, and the spent shell ejected fine. This happened one more time a little bit later.

So is this purely the ammo's fault, or is it partly due to some worn part? If the round had just been very hard to extract, I would have assumed that it was just out-of-spec ammo, since it was a bit hard to chamber. But the fact that the extractor did not grip the spent shell well enough to eject it makes me think that perhaps there's something wrong with the extractor as well.

Any suggestions/solutions would be greatly appreciated.

Edit to add more information: I had cleaned the entire gun extremely well before this event, so I don't think it's a cleanliness problem.

Thanks,
Smith

 

[Hungry Seagull]

On my last shoot, I found myself required to clear my weapon, I simply dumped the magazine tube through the ejection port gently with the action.

I dont shoot winchester shells anymore because they are the ones that have gotten stuck on me. All other brands Ive fired have not.

All things considered, I hope to be consistent with ammuntion with good bases that dont cause problems with ejection.

I find it interesting that you racked action back to eject fired shell and then forward again trying to load a fresh shell; nothing was working when old shell did not eject.

Something for me to watch for in the future.

 

[MAX100]

In your case it sounds like it might be the extractor.

GC

 

[DIM]

I had same problem when I bought brand new 870 Express from Dick’s, on the first round I fired from it, I couldn’t extract spent shell, the problem was due to the manufacture defect in ejector, the end piece was broken . Had to send it to Remington, they replaced ejector rail.

 

[Smith]

Thanks for the advice so far, everyone. Is there something I can look for to determine whether the extractor is worn out or defective?

 

[Rshooter]

I would suspect the extractor but you say the failure to extract occurred after you had a hard time chambering the round that failed to extract. If I read that correctly I would still suspect that the round is the problem. I would suspect that the round is stuck and the ejector claw is not strong enough to pull the round out the first time. When you rack the bolt home on a spent round and then attempt to eject it I believe it is doing the trick.

This brings to mind a thought about operation of the shotgun. Maybe I am a strange bird but when I fire my shotgun and operate the pump if nothing comes out I am immediately suspicious of something being wrong. At that point I would not attempt to chamber a new round.

 

[DIM]

The Ejector has to match Ejector cut on the barrel.

 

[Lone Star]

Has anyone else here had problems with Winchester shells in M-870's?

 

[Smith]

I would suspect that the round is stuck and the ejector claw is not strong enough to pull the round out the first time.

That's what I suspected as well: a combination of an out-of-spec round and a worn-out extractor claw.

Maybe I am a strange bird but when I fire my shotgun and operate the pump if nothing comes out I am immediately suspicious of something being wrong.

I agree; however, I did not notice that the shell failed to eject.