Ejector spring replacement

[Smack]

I have an old Express, and my ejector spring broke off. From my research, I learning that this is a fairly common malady. I saw a cool little YouTube vid (posted by rem870.com) wherein they used a small rivet cutter to square the front rivet, replaced the spring and then re-peened the rivet. Does anyone have any suggestions on where I might find a rivet cutter like this? Thanks for the help...

[Synchronizor]

I wouldn't say broken ejector springs are that common a problem. At least, it's very rare that someone comes through here with that issue.

Anyway, Brownells carries the rivet cutter and staking tools you're talking about. However, you may want to get a quote from a gunsmith before spending a lot of money on tools you'll likely never use again. It's a pretty straightforward procedure, as you've seen, and I've had gunsmiths do more complex repairs for less than what those tools cost.

Also, is the ejector spring broken with a piece still attached to the rivet, or is it broken off completely, leaving just the ejector? If it's the latter, I'd be interested in having you try something if you're willing.

[Smack]

To Synchronizer..
I apologize for the delay in responding, but I am new to this forum and I'' still learning how to navigate around. From what I can see, it looks as though the small end of the spring is gone too, leaving only the river on the ejector.... tried to attach a pic but not sure if it worked. I'm up for an experiment if you have any ideas..

[Synchronizor]

I'm interested in confirming a theory that the 870's ejector system is redundant, and that if the ejector spring breaks in the field, the ejector alone could let the gun keep cycling.

Design-wise, the 870 has a lot in common with semi-auto shotguns - more than most pumps. It's related to the earlier Remington 11-48 autoloader, and Remington's subsequent semi-auto 58, 878, 1100, 11-87, and 11-96 models are all based very heavily on the 870. These semi-auto shotguns use fixed ejectors to flip shells out of the gun as they're extracted at high speed by the gas-operated actions. From a functional standpoint, the fixed semi-auto ejectors are basically the same thing as the 870's ejector, just minus the spring.

My thinking is that so long as you work the action quickly enough, the 870's ejector should be able to get the job done on its own, without the assistance from the ejector spring. The small-frame 20ga, 28ga, and .410 870s don't have ejector springs, just ejectors. As I understand it, ejector springs are used in large-frame 870s to help get the wider shells out of the wider receiver when the slide is worked slower than is ideal. But given how the 870's small-frame versions and semi-auto relatives work, I'm pretty confident that a 12ga model could do the same if racked with authority.

So, if you'd be up to it, I'd be interested in having you see how your gun performs without its ejector spring before you have a new one installed. I'm sure others here would be interested in the results as well, and Vitaly would probably like to have an article about it on the blog. The 870 gets criticized sometimes for its ejector system, but I think it's got a number of advantages, and it would be cool to add redundancy to the list.

Live-fire testing would be best (your gun is perfectly fine to shoot in its current state), ideally trying out both low-brass 2.75" and high-brass 3" shells (the differing center of mass of the hulls leads to different ejection characteristics) while holding the gun in different orientations and varying the speed with which you work the pump. Or you could just shoot one inexpensive load and see if you can get it to eject, or even just play at home with some already-fired hulls. Whatever is reasonable given your budget and available time.

[Vitaly]

Here is post with description, video and links: Remington 870 Ejector Spring Replacement