Bought Old 870 at Gun Show

[brockgl]

I was with my Dad at the Indianapolis Gun Show this weekend, and he bought a used (pretty old) Remington 870 Wingmaster 12ga. We took it home and cleaned it inside and out, and it shined up real nicely. But I noticed some things that I wanted to ask on here about to get some expert advice... =) The first thing isn't a problem, it is just different than my newer Wingmaster, and so I was wondering about it. On my Wingmaster, when I screw off the cap that holds on the barrel there is a plastic insert in the magazine tube that you can push in, turn, and remove. It allows you to remove the magazine spring and the follower. On this older Wingmaster there is not a plastic insert. Instead there is a metal piece that looks like it may be permanent. It has some slots (3 to be exact) on the sides, that look like there may be a tool to remove it, but I don't have the tool and was wondering if this piece is indeed permanent. Second, on the inside of the action area when we had removed all of the inerds (the trigger assembly, the firing pin assembly, etc...) one of the flexible arms fell out. It looks like the little welded dot has broken off. The arm I am talking about is the arm that you push in the be able to remove the pump assembly when you first disassemble it. Is this a real problem? Should we try to weld it back on, or (since it seems to function perfectly once we reassemble it) should we just leave it alone? We do put it back in the gun upon reassembly, however instead of being attached to the wall of the gun, it is just sitting in its little groove.

Thanks in advance!

[Slopemeno]

That's how they used to retain the cap on the older Wingmasters.

The cap you see in there retains the magazine spring.

What's happened in the used 870 is: one of the shell stops has become "unstaked". The shell stops fit in slots inside the sides of the receiver, and are retained by staking the receiver. Staking upsets the metal on the edge of the slot to retain the shell stop. There's a specialized tool that every 'smith worthy of hanging out a shinle should have that will re-stake your shell stops. Talk to your local smith and ask if he does that kind of work.

This is important to correct, as it can lead to your 870 allowing the shell in the magazine to pop past the shell stop in recoil, which means the carrier cant raise- effectively tying the gun up.

[Scattergun Bob]

Sounds like you have a vintage 870.
Magazine spring retainer clip is the the metal thing you are asking about, you can just pry it out with medium straight slot driver (be gentle) or brownells sells the right tool to remove it REMEMBER GUARD YOUR EYES THERE IS A VERY STIFF SPRING CAPTURED BY THIS CLIP. It presses right back in place with thumb pressure (a plastic drive hammer is great for this job).

Slopemeno is correct for most of what he said, the part is called a SHELL LATCH, and there is a Right and Left. These often come loose in 870's and need to be re-staked. I agree it is worth a trip to the gunsmith, have him run an action check on your baby. Also there is an improved carrier with a flex tab available to help prevent lockup if the gun double feeds, have your gunsmith check that also.

Congrads on the 870, my wish to you is as always "that it will shoot to where you look every time you choose."
Good Luck & Be Safe