870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

first day with my new 870 and it was cold today -5C at the range trying to shoot slugs seems the 870 magazine feed tube jambed and the shells would not feed out of the tube this problem fixed itself once I got to my nice warm house I will be leaving it outside tonight to see if this is a cold weather problem, I am wondering if this is an inherent problem with the 870 I have not heard of this problem before... anyone know of a fix other than keeping it warm not an option for me.

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

I have used mine snowshoe hare hunting in weather down to -20. Never had a problem.

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

Pull the trigger group out and degrease everything especaly the parts that lift the shell (can't remember what there called) and LITELY reoil .
Pull the spring and fouler out of the mag. tube and clean ,no oil on fouler, clean out the inside of the mag. tube .
Oil and grease if the wrong type stiffen in the cold.
I was hunting 2 weeks ago in -11 with no problems

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

Bill :

Take it apart and clean it !!! You said it was a "new" gun, it is probably excess oil or packing grease that has solidified. Take it apart and flush it out with a degreaser. Personnaly i use "gunk" - the stuff they use to wash machine parts, then blow it all out with high pressure air.

I have never had a gun " freeze up " on me - no matter what the temp !!

If you continue to have this problem even in warm atmospheres - send it back to Rem !!

Good luck !!

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

OK guys I figured out what is going on and I am Pissed OK the tube is metal and it will shrink in the cold ah but the plastic follower thats inside does not shrink in the cold and gets jammed up inside the tube so now I'm hooped as the plastic follower is already very thin and their is no way to thin it down.

that is why when I got it back in the warm house it worked great!

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

I would think the tube can only shrink a few thou. ,and the follower if needed could be sanded down that much .
Is there a raised mold line on the follower ?
Are you sure that the follower is not rough ,or rust or crud in the mag tube.
Maybe a slight dent or ovaling of the mag tube?
I can't remember the shrinkage factor of steel but it is not great at those temps .
I would look farther

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

I've had occasion to use a Rem.870 at temps of -30F, and no problems. You want to be
"pissed", that's up to you, but I have a better solution - CLEAN IT!

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

A few years back I was deer hunting a deer came into view I raised my gun aimed in pull the trigger....nothing looked at the safety it was off pulled the trigger again nothing ejected the shell put another in pulled the trigger again nothing. took the gun home after the ride in the warm pick up it worked fine everytime i cocked it pulled the trigger it worked. I looked into it asked around, found out that in cold weather gun oil can thicken so much that it will actually freeze up gun parts. for now on no more gun oil in my guns all i use now is dry lubricants like rem oil since i switched to rem oil I have never had any cold weather problems since. Id wipe off every part of your 870 and clean them with rem oil then put it back togther I bet you will never have that problem again. good luck

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

Plastic shrinks way more than metal. I had a similar issue & it was one of the cartrige stops, I forget which one left or right but it was the one that is supposed to release upon opening the action as opposed to the one that lets go upon closing (if that makes sense) I'd say take it apart & clean it out good first.

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

Yep, too many people use WAAAAAAAY too much oil on their guns. There are very few parts that actually need any oil at all. Most parts you just use an oil dampened cloth and wipe down the parts and then wipe off all excess. This very light coating is simply to prevent rust and not to actually lubricate parts.

About the only thing that gun oil is good for is attracting dust and clogging up moving parts.

Clean your gun and it should work perfectly.

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

Bill
I have the same problem with my 870 Express Super mag. When it is below freezing, I can't keep any shells in my pocket. If I leave them in the box (goose hunting here) I have no problem. When I put shells in my pocket and then put the 'warm' shells in my gun, they won't extract when fired.
And yes guys, my gun is clean, including the trigger mechanism, slide, bolt.

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

so you say, but the gun is telling us something different... have you checked for a rough chamber?... there is no reason that fired shells should not extract just because they were in your pocket... the PBJ sammich you had in there didn't leak and leaving a residue on the shells is it?...

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

rock, interesting thought. Maybe in your pocket? I don't carry food in my pockets.
The old adage must be true. "It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're an idiot, than to open it and remove all doubt."

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

If you think it's the gun lubricant thats jelling and making the action stiff , try squirting some lighter fluid into the action and work it clear . This will still leave a thin coating of oil that you want . A few fellas may think this is wrong , but all my gun oil is actually 10w30 motor oil which I thin out and it's always worked for me . I don't recall ever having a gun jam up because of cold .

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

Instead of oil, try some graphite. It's not liquid so it won't thicken or freeze. That or like the other guys are saying, check your chamber for either roughness or powder residue.

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

Careful with the lighter fluid. You may end up with your gun on fire after pulling the trigger.

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

I have had this happen before duck hunting. What I did to fix it was: I took the gun completely apart, then I put the entire breach assembly in my solvent tank. Extractor, firing mechanism, I mean everything. I let it set in the tank over night, then took a toothbrush to it. After that I blew it out with my air compressor. then re oiled, this is key, VERY SPARINGLY. Checked for burrs, and reassembled. I have had no problems since. Sometimes with new guns the cosmoline grease they use to pack the gun in gets into the hardest to reach places, and the best way I have found to get rid of it is the trusty solvent tank.

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

I just bought(last spring) 870 special purpose mag with Cant barrel etc. I've cleaned since purchase at least twice. Had the exact same problem 3 weeks ago during Jan Shotgun season. Thought I might of short stroked it? Brought it home and pryed a jammed shell out of tube.After reading this I'm gonna strip her down and clean it like she's never been cleaned. I have it sitting on bench ready for end of season clean up. GOOD INFO!

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

First off take your gun apart and clean the mag tube, what a lot of people don,t do! second sometimes when its cold a lot of people short stroke the action and ahave feeding and loading problems. just a th;o;ught vangunsmith

RE: 870 express- cold weather troubles!
 

On new or used magazine shotguns, I've always cleaned magazine tube with a good bore solvent.
Buildup from too much oil over time or shipping lubes and then longer times on the store shelf will really cause buildup which can cause shells to stick. Especially in cold weather.

Try some Butche's Bore Shine and really clean the mag tube. Then lightly oil and then wipe out the excess.