Remington 870 - Won't lock up with new barrel?

djwirk · January 30, 2018, 09:54 PM

I have a Model 870 Express Synthetic Tactical 7 Round shotgun. I want to do some wing shooting so yesterday I received a 28" Remington vent rib barrel. I swapped it out and used the tactical magazine spacer to seat everything properly, checked the action, etc. and everything seemed to be good to go. I fired a few rounds through it and both jammed in the barrel. I assumed it just that the chamber needed to be cleaned up so this morning I used some 0000 steel wool/oil on a bore brush/drill to get a nice mirror finish. So then I truck out to the woods, set everything up and the action will not lock up with the 28" barrel. I can't see how anything I did would have caused this, but since it was locking in battery yesterday it must have been something? The bolt slides forward and hits something solid about 2mm short of battery. I gave it a few taps so I could remove everything and look for any knicks, but everything looks fine. I can swap the 18" barrel back on and the action is perfect again. The barrel is seating all the way back into the receiver and for all intents and purposes, it looks exactly the way the 18" does; both side by side and locked into the receiver. I have removed the trigger group and still had the same problem so I've ruled that out.

Any idea what I'm dealing with?

BBarn · February 1, 2018, 07:15 AM

If you have some calipers I suggest measuring relative dimensions of the barrel extension, breech face, and locking slot of the two barrels, followed by comparing those dimensions between the two barrels. Perhaps that will point to something different between the barrels.

Does it lock up OK with no shell in the chamber?

djwirk · February 1, 2018, 09:58 AM

I don’t have calipers handy. It will not lock up with or without a shell in the chamber.
A buddy has an 870 I can borrow so I can isolate the problem to (hopefully) a specific part on the off chance my bolt is out of spec.

tangolima · February 1, 2018, 11:49 PM

Can you close the action on an empty chamber? Drop a shell into the chamber, does it go the way in?

-TL

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

**44 AMP** · February 2, 2018, 02:33 AM

Any chance you can borrow another 870 and see if the new barrel also won't lock up in it??

870 barrels ought to be a drop in fit, if yours isn't (and its not your receiver) the barrel needs to go back to Rem (or whoever made it) and be fixed.

I know the frustration, but if you work on that barrel to get it to fit, Remington won't. They might not anyway, but until you know that, you should wait.

Simply put, any work you do on it allows the maker to duck their responsibility to fix it, if they so choose. If you tinker with it, before giving the maker the chance to say yea or nay, its your problem from then on. And, rightly so.

Screwball · February 2, 2018, 06:36 AM

Check the relation of the extractor to the inlet in the barrel.

Maybe something you did changed the clearance of that cut. I got a barrel for my TAC-14, which had similar symptoms... the edge of the cut was meeting the middle of the extractor. Was a defect from the barrel maker, but the company that did the finishing work on the barrel is opening up that cut for it to work

shootbrownelk · February 2, 2018, 07:27 AM

Did you put a 3"barrel on a 2 & 3/4 receiver or a 2 & 3/4 barrel on a 3" receiver? An old barrel on a new receiver? Something is amiss. I have nothing but old (70's 80's) wingmasters and switch between 18" open choke barrels to 26"-28" vent rib barrels without issues. They are all 2 & 3/4" versions....the receivers & the barrels.

Screwball · February 2, 2018, 07:49 AM

870 barrels shouldn’t matter if it is a 2.75” or 3” on whichever receiver. You can take a 3.5” barrel, install on a 2.75” receiver... and it will work (won’t be able to shoot anything larger than 2.75” shells). Still should be able to close the bolt on it.

With that being said, you can’t take a 3.5” barrel, install on a Magnum receiver, and get it to fire 3.5” shells. There is a way to reposition the ejector on a 2.75” receiver to get 3” shells to work, but usually easier to buy a Magnum gun.

January 30, 2018, 09:54 PM	#1
djwirk Junior Member Join Date: January 30, 2018 Posts: 2	Remington 870 - Won't lock up with new barrel? I have a Model 870 Express Synthetic Tactical 7 Round shotgun. I want to do some wing shooting so yesterday I received a 28" Remington vent rib barrel. I swapped it out and used the tactical magazine spacer to seat everything properly, checked the action, etc. and everything seemed to be good to go. I fired a few rounds through it and both jammed in the barrel. I assumed it just that the chamber needed to be cleaned up so this morning I used some 0000 steel wool/oil on a bore brush/drill to get a nice mirror finish. So then I truck out to the woods, set everything up and the action will not lock up with the 28" barrel. I can't see how anything I did would have caused this, but since it was locking in battery yesterday it must have been something? The bolt slides forward and hits something solid about 2mm short of battery. I gave it a few taps so I could remove everything and look for any knicks, but everything looks fine. I can swap the 18" barrel back on and the action is perfect again. The barrel is seating all the way back into the receiver and for all intents and purposes, it looks exactly the way the 18" does; both side by side and locked into the receiver. I have removed the trigger group and still had the same problem so I've ruled that out. Any idea what I'm dealing with?

February 2, 2018, 02:33 AM	#5
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 28,818	Any chance you can borrow another 870 and see if the new barrel also won't lock up in it?? 870 barrels ought to be a drop in fit, if yours isn't (and its not your receiver) the barrel needs to go back to Rem (or whoever made it) and be fixed. I know the frustration, but if you work on that barrel to get it to fit, Remington won't. They might not anyway, but until you know that, you should wait. Simply put, any work you do on it allows the maker to duck their responsibility to fix it, if they so choose. If you tinker with it, before giving the maker the chance to say yea or nay, its your problem from then on. And, rightly so. __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.

February 2, 2018, 06:36 AM	#6
Screwball Senior Member Join Date: May 16, 2012 Location: ME Posts: 771	Remington 870 - Won't lock up with new barrel? Check the relation of the extractor to the inlet in the barrel. Maybe something you did changed the clearance of that cut. I got a barrel for my TAC-14, which had similar symptoms... the edge of the cut was meeting the middle of the extractor. Was a defect from the barrel maker, but the company that did the finishing work on the barrel is opening up that cut for it to work

February 1, 2018, 07:15 AM	#2
BBarn Senior Member Join Date: December 22, 2015 Posts: 887	If you have some calipers I suggest measuring relative dimensions of the barrel extension, breech face, and locking slot of the two barrels, followed by comparing those dimensions between the two barrels. Perhaps that will point to something different between the barrels. Does it lock up OK with no shell in the chamber?

February 1, 2018, 09:58 AM	#3
djwirk Junior Member Join Date: January 30, 2018 Posts: 2	I don’t have calipers handy. It will not lock up with or without a shell in the chamber. A buddy has an 870 I can borrow so I can isolate the problem to (hopefully) a specific part on the off chance my bolt is out of spec.

February 1, 2018, 11:49 PM	#4
tangolima Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2013 Posts: 3,816	Can you close the action on an empty chamber? Drop a shell into the chamber, does it go the way in? -TL Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

February 2, 2018, 07:27 AM	#7
shootbrownelk Senior Member Join Date: August 27, 2013 Location: Wyoming Posts: 329	Did you put a 3"barrel on a 2 & 3/4 receiver or a 2 & 3/4 barrel on a 3" receiver? An old barrel on a new receiver? Something is amiss. I have nothing but old (70's 80's) wingmasters and switch between 18" open choke barrels to 26"-28" vent rib barrels without issues. They are all 2 & 3/4" versions....the receivers & the barrels.

February 2, 2018, 07:49 AM	#8
Screwball Senior Member Join Date: May 16, 2012 Location: ME Posts: 771	870 barrels shouldn’t matter if it is a 2.75” or 3” on whichever receiver. You can take a 3.5” barrel, install on a 2.75” receiver... and it will work (won’t be able to shoot anything larger than 2.75” shells). Still should be able to close the bolt on it. With that being said, you can’t take a 3.5” barrel, install on a Magnum receiver, and get it to fire 3.5” shells. There is a way to reposition the ejector on a 2.75” receiver to get 3” shells to work, but usually easier to buy a Magnum gun.