870 Bolts

[crawdad185]

Are the bolts for the Remington 870 all the same regardless of whether its a 2.75 or 3" chamber? Thanks.

[Scattergun Bob]

That's a great question.

The answer is there is no difference between a 2 3/4" and 3" bolts. WHAT there is a difference in is PRE and POST flex tab bolts. You can interchange those bolts but it WILL affect the wonderful flex tab system.


Hope that helps, Good Luck & Be Safe

[dalecooper51]

Not to hijack a thread, but can you explain the flextab system and when was it introduced. I have a pair of early 70's wingmasters that havent given me a lick of trouble. Is there any reason I should convert my older wingmasters?

[Slopemeno]

I started seeing the 'tab equipped 870's in the late '80's. The idea is if (and more likely- when) a round isn't fully seated in front of both shell stops, and recoil makes it pop past the stops it'll tie up the gun. In a normal 870 you'll almost be forced to remove the barrel to clear the gun. With the flex tab the round can push down into the carrier and while it'll make it pretty hard to cycle the gun, at least you still CAN cycle it.

That's a bad malfunction to have when you use the gun for serious work, and a rushed reload makes it all the more likely. I always try to make a practice of "stooging" rounds. Load two at a time, and use the second round to seat the first one, then seat the second round vigorously.

870's rely on "staking" to hold the shell stops into the sides of the recevier, and I've seen a lot of 870's where the staking was no longer retaining the stops- only the trigger guard was keeping them in place. A loose shell stop means it's more likely you'll have a round pop past the stop. If youre sending your 870 to the smith it's not a bad idea to have him take a look at the shell stops and how they are doing.

The 3" and 2.75" bolts are similar, but Remington did make some changes to the bolts of all 870's around 1991 or so- though both bolts will work in either era 870. The flextab "kit" usually included a new bolt along with the carrier. It's fairly easy to convery a 2.75" 870 to 3" by replacing the barrel and ejector, though for home defense a 2.75" gun is plenty.

[Scattergun Bob]

The flex tab system is a modification to the shell carrier, slide and bolt to allow a double feed to be cleared without taking the gun apart. Flex tab carriers are identified by a U type cutout on the spoon of the shell carrier, all Express models that I have seen came with them. Wingmaster's, maybe, maybe not depending on when they were made, but the vast majority do not have them.

You normally need to be a repair facility or armorer to get the parts to do this type of work. If your wingmaster are for hunting I would not change them. If however your life depends on them, I would get this done.

Good Luck & Be Safe

[BigJimP]

Is this another reason to buy a Browning BPS ? .... ( Just Kidding ..)!

I'm amazed at how much ScattergunBob knows on these 870's / most of it is way above my level of expertise...but I sure enjoy the discussion / nice explanation guys / and I learned something.

[dalecooper51]

Thanks for explaining.