870 shells hanging in chamber

[KaNuckles]

My 870 Express Super Magnum is having a problem with spent shells sticking in the chamber. I have to pry the bolt back while pulling the forend back to get it open. When it first did it I blamed the cheap ammo. It was Rio. I bought some better ammo and it didn't do it. But it has since done it with the WalMart Federal value packs. I did some searching and it looks like Remington has had an issue with rough chambers. The gun is 2 years old. It hasn't been shot very much. That is why I just now suspected a problem. I read some suggestions of taking steel wool and wrapping it around a dowel and using a drill to polish the chamber. Does that sound like a good idea? Would I be safe to knock of any burrs with a stone as well? I would send it back to Remington but I doubt at this stage there's much they'll do.

[rugerla1]

I don't think it would hurt to ask them (Remington). You might be surprised. I've also watched videos on using the steel wool for polishing, but hopefully their CS will help you out before you have to go that route. But someone else may come along with a better idea. Hope you get it fixed.

[KaNuckles]

I may send them an email and see. It's definitely a problem with the gun and not the ammo. But if I shot it like I should I would have found it a long time ago. That's not their fault.

[rugerla1]

 KaNuckles, on 04 Jan 2014 - 10:14 PM, said:

I may send them an email and see. It's definitely a problem with the gun and not the ammo. But if I shot it like I should I would have found it a long time ago. That's not their fault.

Well, that may be true, but I'd like to think they will see that it's not been used much and want to take care of their customer. I'm sure you're not the only person that doesn't shoot one of their guns all the time. My poor ole 30-30 only gets used about every other deer season after I think "Hey, I need to get that out and hunt with it this year."

[Garufa]

Call Remington. 

[Westwindmike]

I had to polish the chambers of my Coachgun when I was Cowboy Shooting. Made the chambers really slick and the empty hulls just fell out. Easy to do with a dowel rod and 4X steel wool and oil.

[Oh Shoot]

... I read some suggestions of taking steel wool and wrapping it around a dowel and using a drill to polish the chamber.

 

Seems to be quite common that 870 chambers are sticky over last few years, and especially with cheap low brass shells -- see the complaint frequently on forums. And yep, that's standard fix. Fine steel wool or fresh ScothBrite pad chucked in drill one way or another -- some say best to sop with Hoppes while doing it, some say dry,  dunno.

 

- OS

Edited January 5, 2014 by Oh Shoot

[BrasilNuts]

I delt with a 870 Express that had the same issues. I had shells hanging in chamber with everything from low brass to to steel duck loads. It also wouldn't eject a loaded shell from the magazine to the lifter at times. I sent it to Remington and it came back with a tag saying the chamber had been polished and something had been adjusted on the magazine.

I took it to shoot skeet and it had the same problems within 5 shots.

I looked at the magazine and ended up fixing that myself, but the chamber still sticks. The gun belongs to a young cousin of mine so I didn't really want work on the chamber.

If the gun were mine and I were you, I'd just do it myself with the steel wool.

[KaNuckles]

Thanks for the replies. I was checking it out and I noticed a ridge just outside the edge of the chamber. It's pretty rough and raised. Also you can see the machining marks in the chamber and on the hood pretty good in the pics. I found a vid where this was easily remedied. Seems awful easy to fix. I think I might try it.

 

 

[rugerla1]

That oughta fix you right up. Let us know how it went!

[BrasilNuts]

Let me know how it goes and how you did it. I might get my cousins and give it a whirl.

[Rickey]

Could a man use a small wheel (brake) cyl hone? Ive used it on a single shot before

[KaNuckles]

Could a man use a small wheel (brake) cyl hone? Ive used it on a single shot before

That would probably work. But I've got steel wool and a bore brush laying around for free.

[chances R]

Bore Brush, Steel Wool and variable speed drill.  Have done it plenty of times on all makes of shotguns.  Poor chamber finish is one reason, but I think the real problem is steel case heads which tends to promote more corrosion vs. the brass which was once used routinely. 

[Oh Shoot]

Bore Brush, Steel Wool and variable speed drill.  Have done it plenty of times on all makes of shotguns.  Poor chamber finish is one reason, but I think the real problem is steel case heads which tends to promote more corrosion vs. the brass which was once used routinely. 

 

The lower end 870 problem is fairly unique though, and seems to be simply lack of quality machining at the factory. Indeed, most reports I've read happen right at the gitgo with folks' first firing of their new shottie, even on the very first shot.

 

- OS

Edited January 6, 2014 by Oh Shoot

[KaNuckles]

Yeah. The gun did it right out of the box. It was cleaned and lubed every time I have shot it and before I shot it the first time. Those specs that look like rust in the pictures...I can't even see them just looking at it. Only in the pictures.

[KaNuckles]

So I finally got it finished. First thing I did was sand that band down that is seen in the pics above. I used my Dremel with the finest sand paper drum in the box.

 

 

Finished product...

 

Next I wrapped 0000 steel wool around a 12 ga. bore brush and oiled it down. I also rubbed a little il in the chamber.
 

Bore brush...

 

Next pic is the chamber. I ran the drill on the low speed setting. I slowly ran it in and out so as not to make any grooves. I never went in over 2-1/2 inches deep. I would stop and check the progress every minute or so. The total run time was approx. 6 min. That probably varies depending on how bad the chamber is. I only went in as deep as the brass would go. I didn't see any need to go deeper since it is definitely the metal base that is hanging. You can clearly see the transition in the pic where the polishing stopped. You can feel it with your finger, too.

 

 

So far this is all I am doing. I will try it out tomorrow to see if this fixed it. If so I may hit it with a final polishing with the Dremel and a polishing wheel with some compound. Then I will blue it.

 

BrasilNuts....This was simple. I'm sure you could do it.

[Oh Shoot]

Hope that takes care of it, let us know.

 

- OS

[rugerla1]

Good work, hope its good to go now. Probably just saved yourself a lot if wait time without your gun if you'd sent it back. Can't wait to hear your range results!

[BrasilNuts]

If I can mess up a Glock with a Dremel I can mess up a 870 with one no problem. lol

Looking forward to a range report.

[KaNuckles]

So I had pretty good results. I used the Rio that gave the most trouble. It went from only 5 out of 25 that DIDN'T stick to only 3 out of 25 that did. And those 3 popped right out with a second tug at the forearm. I was having to pry it open when they stuck before. I'm not sure if I'll hit it with the steel wool again or if I'll try the dremel with a polishing wheel. I tried those Rio's in my new never fired Beretta A300 Outlander that I've been waiting 2 weeks to shoot. It cycled a box fine. No hiccups.

[Oh Shoot]

So I had pretty good results. I used the Rio that gave the most trouble. It went from only 5 out of 25 that DIDN'T stick to only 3 out of 25 that did. And those 3 popped right out with a second tug at the forearm. I was having to pry it open when they stuck before. I'm not sure if I'll hit it with the steel wool again or if I'll try the dremel with a polishing wheel. I tried those Rio's in my new never fired Beretta A300 Outlander that I've been waiting 2 weeks to shoot. It cycled a box fine. No hiccups.

 

Well, I thought what you did so far would have made it 100%. But at least you're obviously on the right track.

 

- OS

[tnhandgun57]

This was an issue with my 870 Tactical(also my son's 870 mag). After doing some research, I found the the small brass ends on the 'cheaper' shells was causing this issue. To test this, I bought some Remington Express shells, which have more brass.

 

Cutting to the chase, my 870 has ran 100 rounds of this ammo through with NO issues.

[rugerla1]

Well, it seems I may be doing this same thing to mine. Took it to the range for the 2nd time since buying it and it started hanging up. I'm going to polish up the chamber and see if it helps. I was watching this video and he changes the extractor too. In case you haven't seen this video I'm adding it for you to check out.

http://youtu.be/eu9LIroAEuw

 

[KaNuckles]

That's a good vid.

 

This was an issue with my 870 Tactical(also my son's 870 mag). After doing some research, I found the the small brass ends on the 'cheaper' shells was causing this issue. To test this, I bought some Remington Express shells, which have more brass.

 

Cutting to the chase, my 870 has ran 100 rounds of this ammo through with NO issues.

That's interesting. The Rio is actually brass (low brass). It is also worse than the Federal bulk packs about it. I figured that it may be that the soft brass is worse about digging than the aluminum/tin bottomed federals.

 

Well, it seems I may be doing this same thing to mine. Took it to the range for the 2nd time since buying it and it started hanging up. I'm going to polish up the chamber and see if it helps. I was watching this video and he changes the extractor too. In case you haven't seen this video I'm adding it for you to check out.

http://youtu.be/eu9LIroAEuw

That's the vid I got the idea from. I'm gonna hit it a little more. Then I'm going to take the dremel with a polishing cloth and some compound to it.