Opening day SC

weekender

Well-known member
Yesterday started out purdy good, not perfect but I got one down. My wife was hunting with me as we have had several poaching issues as of late on our lease. She is a better caller than I am and has dozens of beards to prove it. We sat back to back on a good size oak on the edge of a swamp. It's been wet, with 2018 being the wettest year on record. I don't hear well and could not hear the two far off gobbles she heard at the crack of light. We called but got not answers. About 8:45, we had both been calling at the same time when a gobbler answered and sounded close on my side. Soon another call was answered from even closer. I spotted a long beard about 60 yds out in the thick stuff, he was coming slowly our way. I whispered to Kay I could see him, then 2, then 3 now 5 long beards were inbound. My wife was trying to ease around the big oak so we could "make a mess". You can kill 2 of your 3 bird limit in the same day. At 35 yds. the lead turkey saw something he didn't like and started to leave. I told Kay they were leaving cause she could not see them yet and I was gonna shoot. The one I shot went down, I worked the pump on my 870 and lined up on a 2nd bird and the gun just snapped. I worked the pump again, snap. By now the bird I had shot was up on his feet going around in tight circles. I told Kay to give me her gun to finish mine off not realizing she was about to shoot one. She gave me her gun instead of shooting and I got my bird anchored. I have never had my pump gun jam before. The feed plate was stuck about half way up not allowing the next shell to cycle up. Five long beards came in, four left. We had the same thing happen a few years ago on an opening day when 5 long beards came in and we gave 3 of them a ride to the house. Oh well, we left plenty for seed. 10" beard 7/8" spurs a 2 yr old. This bird flopped around in the mud and didn't take a good picture.

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Good job! Nice hunting with your wife. My wife hunts and fishes, I enjoy that time with her. Got that gun fixed yet?
 
Originally Posted By: GCGood job! Nice hunting with your wife. My wife hunts and fishes, I enjoy that time with her. Got that gun fixed yet?


I can't find anything wrong now. My best guess is it had some debris of some sort that cause the feeder plate to get stuck.
 
It can happen. I once had some gritty stuff get in my old 870 Wingmaster magazine tube and bind up the solid magazine follower to the point I couldn't put shells in the magazine. I hunted with it as a single shot that day. Later I did replace it with a slotted aluminum follower thats supposed to be more reliable in such a situation. It's never happened again so who knows.

I had one of the 870 Express guns fail to feed after I shot a coyote. The recoil impulse slammed the two heavy 3" magnums in the magazine tube forward in the tube binding the spring and the whole mess just stuck tight. The coyote I had just shot in the face at 25 yards with a two ounce turkey load of #4's was spinning circles and snapping his way in a twister headed right for my lap as I sat against a tree. At about five yards as the coyote was spinning into me I was trying to figure out if I could kick the wounded coyote off me or poke him off with the shotgun. Fortunately he lined out and bailed off the ridge away from me before that was necessary.

I disassembled the gun, pulled the spring out and sorted out the mess. Reloaded and found my coyote dead in the hollar below. I went a quarter mile and made another stand and called a hard charger that I rolled at about 25 yards. The turkey load knocked him down but he jumped up and headed out for a better neighborhood. I had a good second shot but the gun had jammed again. Same deal, I was lucky to find that coyote dead 200 yards away.
 
Besides a gummed up magazine follower the only issues I've experienced with 870 feeding is a loose shell latch. It's the part that when the action is worked releases the shell from the tube. If it's out of "alignment" for lack of better terms may not release the shell. Can pop in and out so you might want to drop the trigger assembly and have a look.
 
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In that case the feed plate was probably the issue for some reason. If that latch comes out far enough it can jam up the ramp, but could be anything
I've used them for several decades with more abuse than I'm proud of with very little problems. Congrats on the bird by the way.
 
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