Rem 870 locking up!

[Fatelvis]

I just bought a used Rem 870 with the dull finish and plain stock, as my Son's fist pheasant gun. Yesterday we were burning through the shells at clays, practicing for the upcoming season, when his shotgun refused to open and eject the shell after shooting. I let it cool for awhile, and the action opened/ejected. It happened again after about a dozen more shots. I have a Benelli, and never had this problem. Any ideas as what this can be? Any solutions? Thanks-

 

[MrTuffPaws]

Hmmm, never heard of that one before.

Since it is used, then you have no idea of how they cleaned the gun. I would give the chamber a really good scrubbing with Hoppes or some such. If you get enough gunk in there, the brass on the shell might swell enough to cause it to stick when it is hot.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Sounds like a rough and/or dirty chamber to me. 4/0 steel wool on a dedicated chamber brush and some elbow grease oughta clear things up.

Or go the power route.

Chuck the brush up in a variable speed drill and Zziiiippp!

HTH....

 

[bernie]

This exact thing happened to me last year. This sounds really basic, but all I did to fix it was strip it down to the point of pulling out the bolt, clean it really well, grease it well, and put it back together. Has worked like a charm ever since.

 

[Flatfender]

Rough chamber and/or ammo related.

Clean and smooth chamber.
Try different ammo. I had some federal shotshells that would swell up and get hung up in the chamber.

 

[Fatelvis]

It was cheap Federal target loads that hung up.

 

[9mmMike]

I have used Dave's "Chuck the brush up in a variable speed drill and Zziiiippp!" method with some success. I shoot cheap ammo all the time with no problems in my Express 870's. I agree that this sounds like a tight chamber from either dirt or just crappy quality control. A good chemical wash to make sure that the previous owner did not contaminate the chamber with oil or never properly cleaned the packing coating (cosmo?) from day one might also help.
Mike

 

[Bill B.]

I haven't had that issue with a 870 but have had it occur with a Winchester 97. I won some cheap Remington game loads and when used in the 97 it would lockup the action every time. Went back to the Winchester AA or Remington STS and never had another issue. I don't know if its cheaper brass or actually what was causing this problem.