remington 870 blew off

[petersbrand]

Own a remington 870 express and took it out to the range, have shot it twice since owning, after about 8 shots, was using slugs, the top end including the barrel and magazine tube came off, ***, i was left holding the receiver with the spring and mag tub/barrel on the floor, if anyone can shed some light on what happened that would be appreciated, i'm scare to hell to shoot it again. prior to this i took it to the range and shot buck shot approx. 25 rounds without any prob.

[petersbrand]

okay after doing some research it appears the magazine cap was loose, can a lose magazine cap lead to the barrel flying or coming off

[kenno]

What do you think?

[petersbrand]

i checked the mag. cap before heading out though, so not sure what happened, i dont know what do you think?

[jaguarxk120]

This is just a guess, but it seems that the gun fired with the locking lug was not engauged into the barrel extension.

With the magazine cap loose the barrel moved forward and the locking lug could not engauge/seat in the barrel extension and the gun fired with excessive headspace.

Something had to give, better that the barrel went forward than the bolt comming back into your face.

[mrgoodwrench76]

Any damage to the threads on the magazine tube? I would expect their a bit flat now.

[k511]

Once the magazine cap is off, there is nothing to hold the barrel on. If its somthing that keeps comming loose i would take a look at getting a new cap.

[ET.]

That's a new self defense approach. First you shoot them with a slug then a nano second later they get a barrel up side their head. I like it...

[highvel]

It's a new experiment in the ATF limiting number of rounds you can fire

[roklok]

In your first post you say the barrel AND magazine tube flew off, then in second post you just talk about the barrel flying off. Which is it ?

Remington 870 Magazine tubes are for practical purposes, permanently installed, and would take a catastrophic failure for a magazine tube to part ways with the receiver. Or are you possibly talking about a magazine extension ?

[TheKlawMan]

I would take all the parts to a gunsmith and see if he can tell what happened and then I might call Remington if the smith can tell from the damage what happened.

[rantingredneck]

I would take all the parts to a gunsmith and see if he can tell what happened and then I might call Remington if the smith can tell from the damage what happened.

This ^

In your first post you say the barrel AND magazine tube flew off, then in second post you just talk about the barrel flying off. Which is it ?

Remington 870 Magazine tubes are for practical purposes, permanently installed, and would take a catastrophic failure for a magazine tube to part ways with the receiver. Or are you possibly talking about a magazine extension ?

I'm confused as well here ^.

To the OP,

ASSUMING, that just the magazine cap came off and the magazine tube stayed put, I'm ASSUMING that you did not have a proper magazine cap retention device in place. Did you buy this 870 express new or used? Did it have a plastic ratchet magazine spring retention device in place? Are the dimples still in the end of the magazine tube to hold the plastic ratchet in place?

ASSUMING, <- there's that word again, that there are no dimples in the front of the magazine tube, then there was nothing for the ratchet to hold onto and therefore nothing for the magazine cap to hold on to resulting it it loosening to the point of failure. Thusly leaving you holding a receiver with mag tube while barrel, mag cap, and spring hit the deck. If that's the case either the prior owner modified it to remove the dimples to install a magazine extension, or you have modified it as such. It's OK to modify one as such but you have to make alternative plans to keep the mag cap in place or this kind of thing can happen.

Of course, all of the above is predicated on several assumptions.

[TheKlawMan]

Can you post some good pictures? Close ups of the threads of the magaizne tube and the threads on the inside of the magazine cap might say a lot. I thought you got it new. Is that correct? Also, which barrel and model Express did you have. Most have the new style with detents in the side of the magazine tube but some are desighed for the old style. They do not have detents in the side of the magazine but a single little detent ball protruding from the front of the barrel guide ring. One magazine cap will fit either but may become loose if not designed for that system.

[TheKlawMan]

"i'm scare to hell to shoot it again."

I keep going back and re reading this, because it doesn't make a lot of sense that you would even be thinking of shooting it again if the magazine tube parted company with the reciever. From what others have written, I am wondering if what you mean is the mafazine cap or a magazine tube extension came off. I have heard of mag extenisons coming lose and falling off and imagine that a loose one could be a big problem. Anotgher reason you would need a mag extension desighed for the kind of detent your systme uses - unless perhaps it is like some that attach the extension to the barrel via a clamp.

If there are just a couple of threads stripped on the end of the magazine and/or the inside of the mag cap/extesion that might suggest to a smith that your mag cap or mag extension had unscrewed nearly all the way when you fired. If none of the threads appear stripped, I think that would suggest that the cap or extension had simply loosened up and fell off before you fired.

it masy also help to know the choke you were using and the exact slugs.

If the barrel and the rest of the gun is actually undamaged, I think it says a lot for the safety of the 870.

[Edward429451]

can a lose magazine cap lead to the barrel flying or coming off

Can you not see that the mag tube cap is what holds the barrel on? Perhaps you may want to rethink this whole weapons thing...

[petersbrand]

Will take into consideration all the suggestions, just to clear a few things the barrel came off and I was left holding the receiver, no mods done to the firearm, ie extension tubes. Was using crappy wolf buck shot. Gonna take it to the gunsmith, sorry if I'm not a firearms expert!!

[petersbrand]

Yeah I think I will think this whole firearms thing, should I return the noveske infidel I just purchased, whatever!!!!

[TheKlawMan]

Don't let anyone under your skin. Everyone knows nothing about guns at first.