New Remington 870 Jamming?
 

I have had a remington 870 20 gauge for about ten. I mostly take it dove hunting and have shot the heck out of it with no problems. I know these guns are famous for being reliable in the worst conditions. Im looking at buying a new 12 guage model but have heard some discouraging things about them. A lot of people who have bought the more recent models have complained about them jamming all the time. I was wondering if anybody has purchased a newer model and had any problems of it jamming or not ejecting spent shells.

RE: New Remington 870 Jamming?
 

I have a Remington 870 Express Super Magnum that I've had not quite 3 years but almost. It jams fairly often and I can't say I'm too crazy about it. At the time a buddy I hunted with had a semi auto shotgun I really liked but it jammed several times that year. So when I came to looking at new guns I want a gun that wouldn't jam. I would have liked a semi auto but if a pump jammed less I would have way rather had it. Well, the gun shops along with people I talked to told me to go with a pump if I didn't want it to jam. Well, I got the pump and it jams more than his semi auto does. I just wish I had gotten a semi automatic like I kind of wanted at the time. The thing never has shot 2 3/4" Winchester shells right. Well, the 7 1/2 shot ones. Never shot buckshot. I didn't have this problem with 2 3/4 Federal shells I shot. With the Winchesters it would shoot a few times fine then would lock the pump up to where you would have to keep hitting the pump or often hit the stock against the ground to finally make the pump unlock and slide back. It never did this to me with 3" or 3 1/2" shells but it is always just randomly jamming with those. Like onetime it didn't catch the old shell so it didn't pull it out of the barrel and tried to send a new one in when the old shell was still in the barrel chamber. This has happened several times. Sometimes it wont kick the old one all the way out and will just turn the shell sideways in the action then get things all caught up. I also had one shell explode inside the gun. I'm not sure if it was a bad shell but it kind of acted more like the action wasn't all the way closed when it shot. However, it's supposed to not shoot if it's not all the way closed. I've just had nothing but problems with this gun since I got it. It was brand new when I got it. Not to mention the wood looks like crap after less than 3 years. Most of it is due to me using it and scratching it up however, the finish is wearing off around the edges and stuff like that. The wood on many of my other guns looks much better and the finish isn't worn off as bad. However, it's been hauled around a lot and dropped and everything else so the wood is mostly my fault I'm just not sure the finish is the nicest. What can you expect for that price though.

I finally just recently read online that the locking the pump up and not ejecting the shells is a common issue. The fix seems to be to polish the chamber of the barrel. I had a gunsmith do this and it seems to have fixed that issue. Seems to shoot 2 3/4" shells great now. I've shot some 3" buckshot through it also but not a ton and it's done fine with those. I'm not sure if this was the whole problem or not but it's something that should have been done at the factory. Wasn't a big deal but it took me quite a while to figure out what the issue is. I've shot probably 100 round through it at a time either Federal before the barrel chamber polishing or any 7 1/2" or 8 shot through it when just skeet shooting without it jamming. However, I haven't had that luck when hunting. I haven't shot it a ton since with buckshot but haven't had it jam since polishing the barrel so I'm hoping that fixed it all.

The gun recently has been a good gun and only jammed once or twice this hunting season and been shot several times. However, in the past I have had lots of jamming issues. I think I finally got them all worked out and when it shoots it's a nice shooting gun.

Would I buy it again? I'm not sure. More than likely I'd look at something else. If I wanted a fairly priced pump I'd probably buy it again however, I'd more than likely go for a semi auto if I had to do it again. Unless price was a factor.

I've got another buddy that had one. Ended up selling it but said it was his favorite shotgun he has ever had and that he never had it jam on him. So not sure if I just got one that needed the chamber polished some out of the box and hasn't been right because of that or if I got a lemon or what. A couple years later I've got the gun shooting pretty good though and I'm fairly happy with it now. A few people said they thought it might be jamming due to too much oil too. We aren't sure if that was the cause or not but I did cut back on the oil. It made it slide easier but were are thinking maybe it made stuff soo slick that's why it wasn't catching the shell to pull it out. Not really sure. Anyway, I think I've got the issues worked out but it wasn't exactly right out of the box and the gun shop I bought it from was no help. I'd not deal with them again. In fact if I bought one again I'd go to Wal-Mart and get it and save the money.

RE: New Remington 870 Jamming?
 

I have afifteen year old 870 Wingmasterthat has never hadone problem. I have used it for skeet, trap, sporting clays, grouse hunting, duck hunting, slugs, you name it.

I also have a newer (about 2 years old) 870 express 12 ga. 3". Again, absolutely no problems. I have used that gun quite hard, and it's been just as reliable as my 15 year old gun.

Worst gun I've ever owned was a Browining Gold3 1/2 inch, and I have also heard that the 870 Super Magnums have some problems. I will never own another 3 1/2 inch 12 gauge. I personally think that the 3 1/2 inch isjust a marketing gimmick. I've found that 3"shells are perfectly fine for waterfowl, geese, or turkey -- specially if you're usingHeavyShot or some of the other non-toxic loads that have densities similiar to lead. I've shot plenty of ducks with 2 3/4 inch Kent tungsten matrix or Kent Fasteel. Plus the 3" guns are lighter and easier to carry around for grouse, woodcock, and pheasant hunting.

Just my opinion and personal experience, and others are free to differ, but I would not hesitate buyingany newer3" version of the 870.They are great guns.

RE: New Remington 870 Jamming?
 

me and my dad between us own 3 870's. only had a problem one time. dad was turkey hunting, and shot a shell that would eject. he took it apart, and the sheel had expanded, and got caught. It wasnt the gun it was the sheel. It was a 3" federal turkey load. he said hell never shoot them again. Your main problem is the fact that you bought a super magnum. There is no need for the 3 1/2" shell. The toughest loads out there in 3" will do the same job as the 3 1/2" with less recoil, and noise. My dad has the super magnum, and he just bought it for the synthetic stock, because the regular 870 doesnt come in synthetic. He only shot3 1/2" shells when he first got it. Since then he has just shot 3". They are cheaper, and are easier to shoot.
Do yourself a favor, and get the 870. You will never look at shotguns the same way again.

RE: New Remington 870 Jamming?
 

All you need to do is hone/polish the chamber and you're back in business. There are various procedures that are probably more effective, but I doone that isvery simple.
Remove the barrel and clean the chamber area. Now you need a cleaning rod that comes apart (like one of the cheap rods at wal mart). Just use one of the pieces of rod and put a brass cleaningbrush on it, smaller than the chamber (ie 20ga brushfor a 12 ga chamber, 410 brush for a 20ga barrel). Put this rod in a drill. Now you take some fine steel wool and wrap it onto the brush - enough to make a firm fit in the chamber. Spray plenty of rem oil on thesteel wooland in the chamber. Now just place the rod in the chamber and feed it in and out a little wayswith the drill at high speed. Do several 30 second increments, adding more rem oil in between. After a few minutes of this, clean the chamber again. Put very fine steel wool on this time. Repeat the procedure. Clean and oil the entire bore as you would usually. Reassemble the gun, and you're done.
Tinylines and ringsin the chamber of the shotgun will grab onto the shotshell's case when it's fired and expands. Polishing the chamber's surface to make it mirror-shiny will reduce this effect and, in effect, cause ejection to come more easily.

RE: New Remington 870 Jamming?
 

I have an 07 and it has not jammed up on me yet.

RE: New Remington 870 Jamming?
 

I'm willing to bet that 9 out of 10 870's that have jammed are due to sub-standard quality shells. My buddy and I were at the trap range one day and he was shooting Winchester sport loads. The cheapest thing Wal-Mart had. He experienced about 6 jams. I gave him a box of my Remington shells and he shot the whole box without a single jam.

RE: New Remington 870 Jamming?
 

The Winchester Universals are known for being extremely cheap (junk) and jamming in semi autos. However, this should not happen in any pump. If the chamber area of the 870 Express were not so rough it would not do this. The simple fix is polishing the chamber (I always polish to the forcing cone) and shooting whatever you feel like.

RE: New Remington 870 Jamming?
 

Mine did lock up the pump with those cheapo Winchester shells however when it came to just general jamming I had it do it several times with Remington 00 buckshot. I've shot lots of 3 1/2" and some 3". I've also had it do it with Winchester Supreme 3" buckshot. Not sure if I've had it do it with Winchesters 3 1/2" or not but I'm thinking I might have. I don't think I've ever had it jam with Federal buckshot but I've only shot a box or two of Federal shells through it. It also does fairly well with Federal 7 1/2 or 8 shot when skeet shooting with it.

I think mine has just had a little something wrong with it. I'm not sure though and it seems to do okay now. I've heard of a few others having issues like me but for the most part most of the guys with them seem to have good luck. So I'd say it's more just that 9 out of the 10 guns are of decent quality. I think the quality control on these guns could have been a little better and I don't think people like me would have had any issues if it had been better.

I still like my gun okay though I guess. I just don't know if I'd buy it again. I'd more than likely go for the Benelli Super Black Eagle II or the Remington 11-87 if I was on a budget.

RE: New Remington 870 Jamming?
 

mine jammed and i got ride of it and got a benelli.