Remington 878 Automaster -- cleaning the gas piston assembly

[Guest Aces&8s]

OK, so recently I acquired a 1960 Remington model 878 Automaster. Nice gun, has some wear that I need to touch up with some TLC, but all-in-all in decent shape for a 50 year old gun. However, when I got it, it had no paperwork, so I could not for the life of me figure out how to disassemble the gas system for cleaning. I contacted Remington, and they are sending me a copy of the owner's manual for free, but it is 4 to 6 weeks away.

After looking high and low online for disassembly instructions, I finally broke down and bought a Remington Gunsmith's Manual (turned out to be a copy). Seems there are a lot of people out there who are more than willing to sell you a photocopy of a manual on this gun. Since I went ahead and bought one, I decided to take some photos of the disassembly procedure, and posted them at the end of my recent blog review I did of the 878. Rather than repost all of the pictures here, I thought I would link my post, just in case anyone else has one of these guns, or acquires one, and would like to be able to clean their firearm without having to buy the instructions. Hope it helps.

Shooting from the Hip: Gun Review: Remington 878 Automaster semi-automatic shotgun

[Guest GunTroll]

Without clicking the link,

Did you figure out how to remove the magazine follower and magazine spring? I asked around and found no answer from anyone. The rest of the firearm is straight forward but that one stumped me. Seems like there is no "easy" way to do it.

[Guest Aces&8s]

Did you figure out how to remove the magazine follower and magazine spring?

Not yet... the Remington Factory Service Manual that I bought does not include that information. It does contain the following, however:

"Assembly instructions for the Model 878 are similar in many ways to the Remington Model SPORTSMAN-58. Listed, therefore, are detailed instructions for parts pertaining to the Model 878 only. For assembly instructions (and service) on unlisted Model 878 parts, see manual for SPORTSMAN-58." -- Remington Gunsmith Service Manual, Model 878 "Automaster" Gas Operated Repeating Shotgun, pg. i

Thanks, Remington... I guess I have another service manual to look for now. Once I have that information, I will try to either do a video or, like this time, post a series of photos detailing the procedure (assuming it is something I feel comfortable in undertaking).

EDIT: Well, that does me no good, either, as the 58 has a pin holding the action stop in place, whereas the 878 does not. The action stop on the 878 has 6 or 7 little vertical grooves spaced evenly around the outside, almost as though there might be a special wrench or tool to unscrew it, but I have not been able to find any such tool.

Edited May 18, 2011 by gtv
New information

[Guest GunTroll]

Somewhere here on this forum a member posted a link to a whole pile of manuals that one can download FYI.

I have a Remington service manual for most Remington made firearms up to as recent as a few years back. Some of the brand new stuff isn't in there. Anyways, the question that I asked you wasn't even answered in my manual(s).

[Guest Aces&8s]

I remember that manual list... unfortunately, the 878 was not one on there. The closest I have come is a parts schematic, but it is the same as the one in my gunsmith's manual, and neither one shows how to remove the magazine spring and follower. I cannot see how the action stop is held in there... there are some divots evenly spaced around the magazine tube, right behind the action stop (that is, they look to be on the magazine spring side of the stop as opposed to the piston spring side) but I wonder if those are there to create bumps inside the cylinder that the stop butts up against, or if they are there to hold it in place. I am hoping that the inside of the mag tube is threaded at that point and the thing just screws in like a choke, but neither schematic shows the action stop to be threaded... I guess I will just have to hope like heck that I never have to replace it.

[redfsr]

I have one of these myself. My grandfather gave it to me years ago. How dirty was the gas tube and piston on yours? Mine was pretty bad but it was used for decades as a quail gun by my grandfather. It shoots great but I've read to only shoot light loads in it.

[Guest Aces&8s]

I have one of these myself. My grandfather gave it to me years ago. How dirty was the gas tube and piston on yours? Mine was pretty bad but it was used for decades as a quail gun by my grandfather. It shoots great but I've read to only shoot light loads in it.

The gas tube on mine was pretty filthy... I don't know if it had ever been cleaned before. I used a brass brush to scrape the residue off of the inside of the tube, and to clean the piston. As per the manual, I didn't use a solvent, or put lube in it after cleaning, and it has been working fine.

I only use light loads, as well... the guy at Remington with whom I spoke advised me to stay away from even moderately heavy "modern" loads. Not a big deal to me as I have a 12 gauge pump that I can abuse with turkey loads, etc. I would hate to have something break on the 878... some things you can order from Numrich, but some parts are nigh irreplaceable at this point. It is a great shooter, though... I love busting clays with it, and I hope to use it this year as my dove gun.

By the way, Remington did send me copies of the owners manual for the gun, and it does not include directions on magazine disassembly. I guess I just have to hope nothing ever breaks in there.

[Guest GunTroll]

I'm now working on a cousin of the 878...the 58. It's very similar mechanically as well as appearance. For the mag spring/follower removal, it looks like Rem. figured a better route with this model. They put the block in with a pin instead of the "dents" in the mag tube. Removing the pin releases the mag stop,mag spring,follower. Looks like they "flubbed" on the 878 for that specific design function.

Oh yeah this thing is filthy! I'll be bluing it so it will turn out nice. Bluing gets you a free cleaning in my shop .