Rechamber an 870??

[Oldnamvet]

The following is currently on AuctionArms. I was interested but am wondering about a gun that has been "rechambered" for 3" shells. Is this feasible or did they just ream out the chamber on the barrel? I had thought that the action was slightly different for 3" shells to function properly.

Manufacturer:
Remington

Model 870TB Wingmaster

Caliber:
12 Gauge

Serial #:
T224469V

Finish:
Blue

Barrel 30" Vent Ribbed
Special Features:
This Remington 870TB Wingmaster has a 30" barrel marked "Duck/Goose". The barrel is marked to accept 2 3/4" shells, but our gunsmith has rechambered the shotgun to accept 3 inch shells. It has a vent rib and a white bead front sight. Length of Pull is about 14.5". It has a fixed full choke.

Condition:
The shotgun is in good overall condition. The beautiful wooden fore arm is in very good condition. The stock has a chip where the stock meets the receiver near the trigger on the right side. There is a hairline crack in the stock on the left side. Both defects are shown in the pictures below. The inside of the barrel is clean and shiny without rust or pits. The magazine tube is worn and the blue is mostly worn off. It has the original thick Remington rubber butt pad.

 

[SIXTO]

I'd stay away from that one.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Not being able to see the gun itself,
the discription sounds like a 2 3/4" barrel
chamber was lengthened to accept 3" shells.

If the 870 shotgun action is a 3" action,
if the rechamber job on the barrel is competent,
it should work, but that is two ifs you should
consider.

I am not that familiar with the 870, but I do know
that the Ithaca 37 3" action (bolt and receiver) is
longer than the original 2 3/4" model.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Ummmmm...

I'd pass on it. Not knowing who did the "rechambering" is the main thing, if I knew someone who had some idea what they were doing had done the work it might be different. But just having somebody unknown run a reamer into a barrel... naaah.

Not to mention that the ejector would have to be changed out to make it eject 3" shells reliably too, that means redoing the rivets through the left side of the receiver and refinishing the receiver.

Shame to mess with a TB like that.

lpl/nc

 

[evbutler462]

My suggestion is that if you are only going to use 2 3/4" ammo and the price is around $125-150.00, you might consider it for personal use. If you loaned it some fool that put a 3" shell in and it blows, you might have a peck of trouble. Usually when these barrels give way, it is just behind where the hand is that is holding the forearm. It forms a gash in the tube. I never knew anyone to actually get hurt, but it always requires a change of underwear and some stain remover.

Personally, I'd pass on it. It ain't worth taking a chance. JMHO

 

[glockman19]

The Remington 870 Express Synthetic is chambered in 3" and Magazine capacity is seven 2 3/4" or 3" shells.

http://www.remington.com/products/f...l_870/model_870_express_synthetic_7-round.asp

 

[GigaBuist]

I could almost swear that the Wingmaster and the barrels that went on them are just fine when it comes to shooting 3" shells. You just need to get a different extractor.

Heck, I can remember where I was sitting when I found that info, who was with me, and what shotguns we were looking at, but I can't for the life of me remember enough to actually pull up something that would verify this.

Sounds crazy, I know, but I'm pretty sure it's just a swapping of the extractor.

Now, don't go trying it until we get somebody that actually knows what they're talking about in here.

 

[ArmedBear]

The barrel is replaceable.

If you want a TB (a nice old trap gun), and can fix some minor wood damage, I'd throw away the barrel and buy a new 2 3/4" trap barrel from Hastings or Remington. You'll have a nice trap gun (if the wood is original).

Be advised, though, the wood damage in question comes from shooting a lot of heavy loads. Make sure the receiver is sound. It's hard to wear out or break an 870 receiver, but it's not entirely impossible.

When buying the gun, offer the amount of money you'd pay for a TB without a barrel and minor wood repairs needed. Hell, tell them to keep their barrel and just ship the rest. I wouldn't shoot it, and I wouldn't sell it to someone else either, because I wouldn't want to be sued.

I suppose you could ream it out farther and lengthen the forcing cone, but the fact is you don't really know what was done to the barrel or what's been shot through it.

 

[evbutler462]

When done during maufacture and proofed with a proof load by Remington and stamped by them with their proof mark, it is fine to shoot 3". Not so by an aftermarket gunsmith. The 870's currently made by Remington and stamped 3" by the factory are good to go with 3". Tampering with a barrel after it leaves the factory is not my favorite habit. They need to be factory inspected with a very heavy load (proof load) before they are certified for 3".

 

[Oldnamvet]

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=7933824

23 people have bid so far and the price is over $200. I decided to pass on this one. There are a lot more out there and I am in no real hurry. Thanks for reinforcing my opinion.

 

[evbutler462]

Very good decision. This barrel has the potential for being a problem child. That you don't need. Keep on looking and you will find a factory proofed gun that you can trust. Patience in a virtue. Most of these gun auctions would be better served with more realistic prices, Honestly, I can go to the big box stores and buy new what the auctions are selling cheaper.

 

[Sunray]

3" 870 receivers are heavier too. It's not just the barrel.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

The 2 3/4" guns are capable of accepting the 3" cartridges. The locking engagement on the bolt is exactly the same. The barrel has an excellent heat treating, which yields it to being able to accept the larger cartridge. The one thing that Remington does to their 3" guns is install a flex tab kit. It is basically a new spring steel carrier and a couple of other parts that change the timing on the firing controls. I would recommend a qualified gunsmith install the kit to avoid any problems. The kit costs about $55 from Remington and it will prevent the shotgun from jamming up should a double feed occur. The chamber needs to be reamed out to accept a 3" chamber but other than that, the two guns are the same. You can tell if the flex tab kit has been installed by looking at the bottom of the receiver at the carrier (swingy thing that moves out of the way when you feed a shell in the mag. tube). If it is solid with no round cut in the middle, it is the old model. If it does have the lightening cut, it has the flex tab kit. To find out more, you can call Remington directly and ask about the kit. Or talk to your local gunsmith.

 

[DWARREN123]

I would not purchase such a firearm.

 

[kirbythegunsmith]

Details

The problem with the gun being mentioned would not be the fact that a perfectly good TB Trap barrel has been horribly altered. If the chambering job was competent, this would not in any way be unsafe.

The rub comes in when you find out that the 3" shell just won't fit out the ejection port since the EJECTOR in the frame is for the 2-3/4 length shells. If the frame was marked MAGNUM or has the 3" ejector fitted, no big deal, except by the time you pay to do that and refinish the metal, you are halfway or better to paying for a good used 870, probably.

All bets are off if the guy behind the reamer was not using proper measuring for the chamber length cutting.

I have seen some cut to almost 3-1/2 in a 16 gauge(!!!), just because the goof couldn't be bothered with a simple scale to measure a spot on the tool.

Excess length of chamber is never desired, nor should extra length that you would never need be accepted. Why, if the gun was only 2-3/4" possibly, would someone apply the effort to make a chamber out to 3" anyway? That, by itself, would be enough to make me reconsider EVER purchasing anything from that company, if in fact that was only a non-magnum 870 frame. Half of a conversion to magnum is half-baked. The TB version is supposed to be a target gun at 2-3/4" only, I believe.

Just recently I have seen that the new 870 Express 3" has a barrel marked to take 3-1/2" shells if mounted to the Super-mag frame. A few uninformed shooters put a standard barrel on a supermag and get the lawyers nervous, so we all suffer, again.

See the first picture showing a standard 870 with a little less than 3" from ejector to the end of the port.
The next picture is of a magnum with a little over 3" to the edge of the port.

Remember that shell angularity when swinging will require more than the standing length of the shell to clear the arc of rotation.

The final picture shows how you can spot a magnum from across the room, now, so see that the ejector is just about even with the back of the port when looking at the shell-kicking raised edge of the ejector.

See my previous posts for more gunsmith info.

[email protected]

 

[Fred Fuller]

Just to make sure no one reading some of the posts on this thread gets the wrong idea:

DO NOT SHOOT 3" SHELLS IN 2 3/4" CHAMBERS.

You might be able to get one in there. You might be able to fire it. You might be able to get it to eject, eventually. But it is still a dangerously Bad Idea.

Remington 12 ga. shotguns set up for 3" shells have an M suffix in the serial number (that is, the serial number ends in M). That means you have a 'magnum' receiver. You ALSO need a barrel with a 3" chamber to safely shoot 3" shells. Accept no substitutes... .

Remington 12 ga. shotguns set up for 2 3/4" shells have a V serial number suffix (that is, the serial number ends in V). You can shoot 2 3/4" shells in a 2 3/4" chambered barrel. You can install a 3" chambered barrel and can force a 3" shell into it and fire it, but chances are it will not eject cleanly.

For the gun to work as intended, you have to have a 3" receiver and a 3" chamber. The difference in a 3" receiver and a 2 3/4" receiver is the location of the step on the ejector. And it is simply not safe to shoot 3" shells in 2 3/4" chambers. You may get away with doing it for years, but then the next time you do it you may destroy your gun (and not do your face any good either).

Conversions CAN be done safely by someone who knows the design and has the proper equipment- Scattergun Technologies has done it for years and years as part of their "Remington Steal" deal ( http://www.wilsoncombat.com/s_remingtion_steal.asp ) for example. But I would not trust the job to some kitchen table gun butcher.

YMMV of course.

Just for clarification, y'all please be careful out there now, hear?

lpl/nc