Remington 870, wont cycle.

the noobie

the noobie

New member
Helping my trap shooting buddy. He has a Remington 870 (Im not sure the exact model) he is having issues with it. I couldnt help him, I said I would get help online before he spent more money taking it to a smith if it didn;t need to be.

Sometimes upon firing the bolt will open about a 1/4". He really has to rack it closed to stop this.

Ontop of that when he racks it hard it wont open back up again. He really has to work the action hard to get it too open.


We thought he might have gotten some dirt in the action while hunting this fall so he took the bolt out, submerged it in some solveant and let it sit for a few hours then cleaned it up really good. cleaned the insides of the gun and the trigger as well. Re-lubed and it cycled fine untill we were on the range today it started acting up again.

Anyone have anything to check? Im not familiar with the 870's and their bolts are a lot different than my Super Nova's so im pretty useless as far as knowing how that action works.
 
I would check the rails that the slides from the pump ride on, and make sure theres nothing hanging it up. And check the two release levers on each side of the action inside, that you use to slide the bolt back in.

My 870 was having similar issues, and it was a bur under one of those little levers.

Bryan
 
The gun should never blow itself open when fired. The above post implies that the shooter can make it do that...he cannot. If an 870 blows open on firing there is something wrong besides the "operator." It also shouldn't be hard to open either, but this one could be the operator. The forend has to be moved slightly forward to "unlock" the action after firing, this is usually done during recoil without thought or input by the shooter, but if the forend is held back tight the gun wont open. Drop the trigger group and clean it real good. If it is really nasty and gummed up it may have to be at least partially dissassembled to get it clean. If the gun is overall just generally real dirty check that the locking recess in the barrel hood is not full of gunk. Usually with an 870 blowing itself open it is because the gun is not properly locking to battery in the first place. Hard opening can be a few things...I have seen so much dried up grease between the action bar forend tube and the mag tube that you almost couldn't pump the gun at all.
 
Don't rule out a dirty chamber, either use a chamber brush or a regular 12 Ga. cleaning rod & brush & clean the first 4" of the barrel til she shines nice & bright.

Pump guns are notorious for jamming up due to a dirty chamber, if its a hunting gun & has been used duck hunting the odds are even higher, since the powders used in steel shot seem to leave even more carbon fouling in the chamber than standard dove & quail loads.

While he's at it have him clean the whole barrel, the choke & the threads. Then clean & inspect every piece of the action & trigger group.

At minimum he'll learn his 870 inside & out, which is never a bad thing.

Best of luck, Lee
 
Ok so so far Im having him do another thorough cleaning checking for any build up in the action/chamber/barrel.

Ill have him clean the trigger, he didnt want to last time but it might not hurt. How is best to clean triggers? Ive always been told to use lighter fluid because it cleans and lubes but when I mentioned that to someone they looked at me like I was insane.

Check everywhere for burrs.

How does the bolt lock in the first place? For exammple my Benelli has a bolt similar to an AR that goes in and rotates, how does the 870 lock and is there anything to check with that?
 
I usually clean the trigger group with some type of strong spray detergent like Purple Power or Greased Lightning, etc. Run as hot of water from a sink as you have on it to warm everything up and thin out the grease/oil. Then spray it down good and let it sit for a few minutes before a good hot water rinse. Repeat if you still have gunk or dirt in the trigger group. Do this until it is clean and then either dry it with compressed air or a water displacing spray like WD-40. Followed with some light gun oil and that usually does it for the trigger group.
The bolt has a lug that ramps up out of the center top and locks into a recess in the barrel hood. Make sure that recess is clean and free of junk. You can clean the bolt assembly the same way as above.
 
I have had him clean everything, we even ran cotton balls around in the action and everywhere that moved looking for burrs and we could not find anything.

Chamber was clean and I polished the whole chamber/barrel with the cleaning brush and still nothing.

I wish we had a spare bolt laying around to give a whirl
 
Ok so I went and dry fired then fired the gun and when you pull the trigger it also unlocks the action and allows it to open a little bit. What paert one these guns locks the action shut. Its almost like what ever locks it shut doesn't hold enough to withstand recoil. We have a little 20 gauge that does this as well
 
Here is one way to do a quick check on the locking bolt thing...make sure the gun is empty of ammo. Point it in a safe direction and pump the action once so it is now empty but the hammer is cocked and the action is closed like you would shoot it. Take the safety off and pull back on the forend towards you hard, then pull the trigger like you are firing the gun. The action should stay locked as long as you are pulling back on the forend. It should not unlock until you push slightly forward on the forend and then it unlocks and you can cycle the gun again. If it is not correct it will either open as soon as you pull back before you pull the trigger, in which case it is never locking to battery. If it unlocks when you pull the trigger and you can continue back with the slide while keeping pressure back on it then that is also wrong and it is unlocking upon firing. Understand that when you load the gun and actually fire it for real it will kind of "automatically" unlock when you fire it because the recoil gives the forend that slight jolt forward to unlock the slide. In all my years working on guns I have yet to ever see an 870 that unlocks or blows itself open. Seen many Mossberg 500's do it, worn or not and see a few Model 12's do it that were high mileage guns. If your gun is unlocking then that is a very extremely rare thing for an 870.
 
Hey guys I have had 3 or 4 870 wingmastes and they all opened up a little upon firing. I just thought the recoil caused it since it unlocks after firing.With target loads it probably wont do this.Explain to me why it shouldnt do this. I thought it was normal. Just curious.
Daryl P.
 
I know that the guns unlock themselves upon firing but we were worried that, like a rifle, if it isnt in fully locked and some of the shell is exposed can it explode?

We also cant figure out why sometimes it opens itself and other times it is jammed shut and he really has to rack it hard to get it to open. After shooting 2 rounds of trap his arm is more tired from racking the occasional stuck hull that it is from shooting or recoil.
 
Is he shooting the cheap Winchester 100 shell pack ammo. I have seen several 870 do the same thing at our range use this certain type of ammo. They must have had some bad resizing on the shells. As for the gun opening after firing, that is normal. After the.trigger is pulled and there is backward force on the forms, the bolt slides out of battery.
 
Thanks tacticalassault,, I knew it was normal. It wont explode. That shell has already been fired. It justunlocks after its fire like Tactical said.
Daryl P.
 
If he's shooting Winchester bulk packs, that is almost surely the problem. It's well known for not extracting well.

870s are also well known for having rough chambers that can lead to extraction problems. Polish the chamber, it takes only a few minutes and instructions are easily found on the internet (search appi polish 870 chamber).
 
I found a box of Estates under the seat, let him shoot them and they gunran great. He shot another box of Federal (hes been shooting the red boxed federal from wally world) and it gave him problems again. Hes selling me the rest of the federal and buying a flat of Estates.

Estates have always been cheap but I love them. This flat of federals Im in is garbage. It seems that out of a box of 25 two thump me a little extra hard. When I burn up these federals Ill stick to my Estates.

Thanks for the help everyone! now that hes got the gun running great his trap scores are picking up. He said thanks as well.
 
Originally Posted By: Ernest IIHey guys I have had 3 or 4 870 wingmasters and they all opened up a little upon firing. I just thought the recoil caused it since it unlocks after firing.With target loads it probably wont do this.Explain to me why it shouldnt do this. I thought it was normal. Just curious.
Daryl P.

O.K. I think we are talking about two different things going on and getting them confused. I will explain this, but to do it I have to sound like a retired Navy chief and correct every word you say so bear with me please...

"and they all opened up a little upon firing." No, they all opened up a little AFTER RECOIL because that caused the forend to lose the tension backwards when the gun "kicked out from under it" so to speak. Once the forend loses the tension that slight forward movement unlocks the slide and you can now pump or cycle the action for the next shot.

"I just thought the recoil caused it since it unlocks after firing." That is absolutely correct, but...{insert jackass Navy chief here} what the recoil causes is slack tension on the forend so it can unlock.

So far what you are describing is really the exact way the gun should work if it is correct and has no problems.

"With target loads it probably wont do this." Nope, it dont matter what load you have from the lightest target to the heaviest charge of 3" magnum Hevi-Shot...the gun functions the same. Go back and read my last post about testing. Pump the gun and pull back on the forend, then dry fire. The gun should stay locked and the forend should not open the bolt until you push forward on the forend to unlock it then the slide can be worked. Same thing happens when you fire any type of live ammo. The difference is the recoil causes that forend to move forward {gun kicking out from under it} and unlocks the gun.

"Explain to me why it shouldnt do this. I thought it was normal." It should do this and it is normal. What is not normal is to have the gun truly unlock upon firing. Not unlock upon recoil causing or helping you to do it. You have obviously never fired a pump gun that was worn so bad it would truly blow itself open when fired. You cannot hold the bolt shut...it throws the empty about 20-30 feet away and it is scary for sure. That is what a pump gun shouldn't do. Again when testing, pump the gun {empty of course} pull back on the forend and dry fire...if it opens while pulling back on the forend when you snap the trigger there is a problem and I dont suggest you try it with live ammo. Bottom line is that most people use the words "opens automatically" when they should be saying "unlocks by the operator with out having to think about doing it as a result of the design using recoil to help." The difference being that the system wont work "automatically" without you...close the gun and lock it in a vice and you should still have to move the forend forward manually to unlock the gun well after the shot was fired. I have fired a few pump shotguns that blew themselves open when fired and I could not imagine having a 760 Remington do it in 30-06!!!!!


 
Noobie,
I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure Federal makes the Estate shells... just an FYI. msinc is right on track and is giving excellent advice. Good post msinc! This must be an Express Model? I've had three of them and had trouble with every danged one of them. Conversely, I've been around dozens of Wingmasters and only had one that was problematic.
 
Noobie,

2 years ago I won a Remington 870 Express 12 gauge from a local gun club I belong to. I had trouble ejecting any 3" magnum load I fired. Upon close inspection it seemed that the chamber area of the barrel was a bit rough. I had Remington send me a call tag and sent the gun back to them. It appears as if they reamed out the chamber end of the barrel a bit more. Since then no more extraction problems at all. Gun runs great with any ammo with no more problems.

I agree with the poster who suggested that you dry fire the gun with the pump held back tightly toward the shooter. It should not unlock the action when you do this. Pump shotguns will unlock when you fire them while putting forward pressure on the pump. It becomes so much like second nature when you are used to firing a pump shotgun that you may not even realize you're doing it. Good luck.
 
Im not sure who makes Estate but Federal does sound correct. All I know is, his gun likes the estates better and when I shoot the federals some seem to have more bang than others. Maybe we got into a bad batch but I would like a bit more consistency.

I did dry fire and pull back on the slide and it did not open UNTILL I sort of wiggled it. I didnt push forward but I rolled my wrist and wiggled the fore end.
 
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