Sizing Lenght of Nordic Magazine Spring

[EdC]

I'm replacing my stock 870 XCS magazine spring with a Nordic. The original spring is 27" long, so I cut the Nordic to that length to start. (Also, the diameter of the Nordic is significantly larger than the stock spring).

However, with the Nordic, I can fit only 5 shells in the magazine instead of the original 6.
(I replaced the follower with a GG&G, which is similar is size to the original, and the spring inserts right inside).

I could start trimming little by little by trial and error by taking about as much off as the length of the 6th shell that won't fit in the tube, but I'm wondering if there is a better way.

Anyone else deal with this?

Thanks

[Synchronizor]

I'm not sure the length of the spring is the real issue here. In your introduction thread, your shotgun looked like it had a factory Remington +2 extension on it. Are you still using this extension?

Factory Remington extensions are intended to be used with a fairly narrow-diameter magazine spring that is thin enough to fit through the follower stop/bracket groove in the middle of the extension tube. If your new spring is too wide, its forward end won't be able to fit past the interior follower stop, effectively reducing the usable space inside the magazine by about 2-3 inches - roughly the length of one shotshell.

Try this. Take your magazine extension tube off the gun, insert the Nordic magazine spring into the tube, and see how much of the spring you can fit in without compressing it at all. Then pull the spring out and compare the length that fit inside to the total length of the extension tube. If the spring fit properly inside, the two lengths should just about match.

[EdC]

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

It does have the factory 2 round extension.

[EdC]

I checked it out, and the spring goes in all the way to the end of the extension.
Not sure what else to do except to start trimming a little.

[Synchronizor]

With Remington extensions, trimming a spring goes a little differently than with others, so don't be too hasty to start chopping. First, make sure the problem isn't somewhere else. Without trimming the spring any further, how far can you get that sixth shell in? Not at all? Part-way? Most of the way? If you put the magazine together without the spring, can you get all six shells in?

Also, why are you replacing the factory spring anyway? The factory magazine spring was specifically designed to fit and function in Remington +2 and +3 extensions, and it works perfectly well. Not to knock your choices, but trying to modify a spring from a different extension kit seems like a lot of hassle for no real gain.

[EdC]

The sixth shell will go in about 2/3 of the way.

As far as replacing the spring, I was looking as the recommended upgrades on this site, and replacement of the magazine spring with the Nordic was one of the recommended inexpensive upgrades. It didn't mention that it should be with the Nordic magazine extension only, or at least that 's the way I understood.

I think I'll leave it as it was with the original spring.

[Synchronizor]

If you're referring to this piece, Vitaly was either talking about 870s without extensions and didn't explain himself very well, or he got his facts mixed up.

Police 870s without magazine extensions have different magazine springs than other models in order to increase power and effective longevity at the expense of ease of use and some magazine capacity (with longer magnum shells); but all standard 870s with factory +2 and +3 magazine extensions use identical springs, whether they're Express or Police models. Factory Remington extension springs are military-grade parts designed for hard use, and they're just the right length and pitch to allow the follower to reach the extension's internal stop without becoming over-compressed. An aftermarket spring won't feed shells any more reliably, and won't give you any more capacity no matter how short you cut it.

If you really feel the need to upgrade, Marine Magnum extension springs are supposed to be a little more corrosion-resistant, but they're functionally identical to what you have now.

[EdC]

That's the exact article I was looking at.

Actually, my XCS is the Marine Magnum. The receiver is stamped "Remington XCS" (for Xtreme Conditions Shotgun) on the ejector port side and "Marine Magnum" on the other side. It's black, with I think what is called a "TriNyte" finish.

It also came with a non-mim extractor (at least I think so, after comparing it with Vitaly's comparison pix)

[Synchronizor]

Well, if your 870 has Marine Magnum internals, you should already have all the best-quality parts. No need to "upgrade" anything unless you want to change the gun's operating characteristics (trigger pull, carrier stiffness, etc.).

If you want to know if your extractor is a MIM part, look for a raised gate mark on the outside face. I believe newer Marine Magnum extractors are MIM parts like the Express extractors, but with a more corrosion-resistant material or plating. In my eyes, they're an upgrade over less-corrosion-resistant machined extractors. There's nothing wrong with MIM parts, all 870s have some (even Police models).

[EdC]

Well, if your 870 has Marine Magnum internals, you should already have all the best-quality parts. No need to "upgrade" anything unless you want to change the gun's operating characteristics (trigger pull, carrier stiffness, etc.).

If you want to know if your extractor is a MIM part, look for a raised gate mark on the outside face. I believe newer Marine Magnum extractors are MIM parts like the Express extractors, but with a more corrosion-resistant material or plating. In my eyes, they're an upgrade over less-corrosion-resistant machined extractors. There's nothing wrong with MIM parts, all 870s have some (even Police models).

That's good to know. I think I'll just stick with the "upgrade" on the magazine follower and leave it at that, as far as non-operating characteristics features go.

Something tells me that the original plastic follower would do as well as the GG&G, though, but it makes me happy.

Thanks again for your help.