The 1972 870TB Saga

[PapaG]

In 1972, I bought an 870TB tap gun. My brother bought a TC as he had more money. Since 1972, I have shot trap weekly, on more than one team/league and kept track of several things. I'm approaching 300,000 plus shots through my TB. I had a trigger part "crystallize" at about 250,000. (During a club championship shootout). At about 260,000, a firing pin broke (during another shootoffagainst the same guy). Five years ago I found a crack in the receiver behind the ejection port and performed a "heart" transplant. Today, during an interclub match, the pump mechanism started sticking, bad. Tonight I found a broken action bar, the left one.
I don't want advice or comments,just wanted to brag on how reliable this old $172.00 shotgun has been. No repair has cost over $25.
BTW, brothers TC is at 60,000 rounds and in the hands of number one son. No breaks yet.
My average at trap is consistently 96% or better.
Now to find a matching for end as the old nut/tube have become age bonded together.
BTW, I also shot my first ducks, deer, and a lot of pheasant with old Tibbie.

 

[hAkron]

Where are the pictures!!!

 

[Hookeye]

Glad you got about $180 worth of use out of that old gal.
You're now money ahead

 

[USAF_Vet]

A quarter million plus rounds before a major repair? Wow. That's impressive.

 

[Virginian]

In my opinion you got one of the best of the best. Love the styling, too. I had a '74 Magnum with the chrome lifter, and it was the one gun I shot better than anything else I have ever owned. I started hunting out of a very cramped floating blind and after several short shucks I went to a semi auto. I sold it in a blinding moment of stupidity. Six tries later I got the '76 Magnum I have now. I've decided that is as close as I am going to get.
Some years ago I talked to several guys at Vandalia shooting 870s, and they all had similar tales of reliability as yours, but no cracked receivers. Keep on keeping on.

 

[PapaG]

Forearm tube/nut now soaking in Kroil. Have a spare slide action assembly and forearm but had to order a nut.
Might not get it together for Thursday league. Guess I'll have to let the Superposed Lightning (circa 1964) out of timeout where it has been sitting since April.

 

[eastbank]

in the mid sixties, just out of the service i joined a gun club and went to a trap shoot and had to borrow a shotgun and it was a 870TB with a morgan adjustable pad on it . i think i shot a 15-16 that day and i was hooked on the clay games, over the course of the trap shoots i shot several 25-25,s and a few 47-48-50,s with that shotgun, the owner would not sell it to me so i was forced to buy my own and for the use of his shotgun i bought him a flat of shells for each of the three months i used it. now 47 years later i have four browning clay games o/u,s and several 1100-11-87,s along with others that i shoot, but when we shoot i can,t help asking the owners of the 870 traps if i can pick it up and think of the first real live trap shotgun i ever shot. eastbank.