Making Remington 870 Express extractor work

[terrierkeeper]

Got me a nice Remington 870 Express Turkey gun for home Defense, I like the barrel length, and we all know that the express model is pretty much a cheap knock off of the Remington 870 Police Model built with cheaper parts to a lower standard so everybody can afford this excellent gun.

I have to admit I have come to enjoy my Remington and have replaced some of its parts including its choke and front grip and added a magazine extension so that it will be a good house gun but at the same time I have found it has some flaws.

One of its flaws is the extractor which grabs the rim of the shotgun shell as sometimes it fails to catch and eject the spent shells. I have had this problem several times failing to eject which is a pain trying to clear them. Anyway I found pulling back on the slide very hard always ejects the shell so for those who have this problem and are not yet ready to invest and get a better quality extractor I advise you to practice.

[nieuport17.1977]

I think I would just spend the money to upgrade the extractor.
It's not that expensive (couple lunch dollars) and it's quite important piece especially for home defense.
That's just me


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[Synchronizor]

...and we all know that the express model is pretty much a cheap knock off of the Remington 870 Police Model built with cheaper parts to a lower standard so everybody can afford this excellent gun.

Uhh, no. I don't think "we" all know that. Money is primarily saved on the Express models with a lower-grade finish, and rather basic furniture. Express & Police guns are mechanically identical, and are built to the same functional standard. Nearly all internal parts are identical between the two product lines; only a small handful come in separate Police & Express versions, and of those, maybe two or three actually represent a non-negligible manufacturing cost savings (extractor, cap retention parts, and trigger plate are the three I can think of). Even then, that doesn't necessarily make them inferior. The plastic trigger plates used on Expresses and some other models are generally thought to offer superior wear and impact resistance compared to the old powdered-aluminum parts used on Police guns, and the MIM extractors haven't had the machining and dimensional problems that have been observed with certain runs of the Police-style extractors.

As for your gun, what exactly is the issue you're having? If it's shells sticking in the chamber & preventing the bolt from opening easily, that's not the extractor. If it's weak ejection even when working the slide rapidly, that's probably not the extractor either. If the bolt is opening but the fired shell is staying in the chamber, that actually is an extraction failure, but it could be due to several other things besides the extractor - including bad ammo. And if it is due to the extractor, it's not because you have a MIM extractor instead of a machined one, it's because you have a bad extractor instead of a good one.

[greenterror2112]

If your extractor is slipping off the shell, I would try a new extractor. if the shell is stuck in the cylinder, many polish the cylinder and that fixes the problem. One thing I never hear anyone talk about is the condition of the receiver on the inside top, Where the bolt slides along the ceiling "inside top". Mine was rough, machine marks, couple of dents in there too. I got my 870 used, but it was like new, put on a new barrel with a polished cylinder, and it was still sticking every so many rounds. Took some 400 and 600 grit sandpaper rolled up and flatten down and polished this ceiling inside the receiver, rub some oil on it and so far, all rounds eject easy and don't hang up on me. With the bolt having a 45degree angled corner on the back pull and the inside of the receiver having uneven machining and ledges to catch on, this seemed like a problem. something to look at for those with the rough express model, like mine.

[Synchronizor]

Machining marks on the "ceiling" of the receiver are normal. So are dents in a couple places, which develop from the bolt's locking block camming up and tapping the metal when the bolt stops moving backward. These shouldn't cause any problems; the breech bolt is chamfered at the back, and the locking block is bull-nosed at the front, so the assembly can move back and forward over any roughness without hanging up. Plus, anything that really causes friction will eventually be worn down as the gun is cycled. It can't contribute to stuck shells, because the shell rim doesn't even reach that part of the receiver until it's partially extracted.

My 870's seen a ton of cycles, and here's what it looks like. No movement or cycling problems to report.

870 receiver ceiling wear.JPG (285.06 KiB) Viewed 3514 times