Rem 870 has a tendency to jam

[scotie28]

I purchased a gently used 870 Tactical that will cycle shells without firing them all day long, but after I begin shooting the shells and the gun heats up (I guess) it will jam and fail to chamber a new shell about every other shot or two. Any one ever had this problem before? I always had a high regard for this gun model but I'm getting a bad feeling now.

[jpfrog]

How is the jam occurring? Is it ejecting the spent round and then not loading a new round from the tube? Or is it failing to eject? If it's failing to extract/eject the spent shell, I would do two things....first, buy better ammo. I used to have some extraction problems with very low quality hulls made by Winchester- they would heat up and expand and get stuck in the chamber, making extraction very difficult. Buying slightly better quality shells fixed that. Second, polish your chamber- this can be done by following some of the tips on this board, or by taking a few hundred shells to the range and shooting them, cycling the gun, then shooting some more. Either way, the extraction/ejection and overall cycling of the action in general will improve over time.

If your problem is with loading a new shell into the chamber, do the following. First, check to make sure there is another round to load...I know, sounds basic but you'd be surprised at how many people try to load another round with an empty tube. Second, check the follower and spring- the factory follower is plastic and sometimes gets brittle and hangs up inside the tube. Go to Brownells.com for a replacement, or there are some other options on this board from S&J. Get aluminum- it's light weight and slick and won't get caught in the tube. Then, make sure the spring tension on the magazine tube spring is strong. If the spring is too short/weak, it won't push the next round forward to the lift gate, and your 870 won't be able to load when you cycle the action. Typically, this will only happen on the last round or two of an extended magazine.

If none of these work or address the problem you are having, repost with some pics and more description of the problem...good luck!

[scotie28]

Thanks JP. I will let you know how it turns out.

[scotie28]

JP,
OK. I took the gun out to do some more investigating about the problem. I loaded three(3) shells in each time and did this five(5) times. I made note of the shell brass for the sake of this problem also. The sequence of sets is as follows:

1) All three low brass Winchester. 1st shot fine, ejected and chambered next round OK. 2nd shot fine, ejected OK but when next shell was being chambered it jammed in shell chamber and would not feed into the barrel.
2) All three low brass Winchester again. 1st shot fine, ejected and chambered next round OK. 2nd shot fine, ejected and chambered next round. 3rd shot fine, ejected OK.
3) First shell low brass Winchester again but next two were high brass. 1st shot fine, ejected and chambered next round OK. 2nd shot fine, ejected and chambered next round. 3rd shot fine, ejected OK.
4) All three low brass Winchester again. 1st shot fine, ejected and chambered next round OK. 2nd shot fine, ejected and chambered next round. 3rd shot fine, ejected OK.
5) First shell low brass Winchester again but next two were high brass. 1st shot fine, ejected and chambered next round OK. 2nd shot fine, ejected and chambered next round. 3rd shot fine, ejected OK.
I took pictures of the shell that jammed in the chamber and wouldn't feed into the barrel. I tried to attach the picture file but was not allowed, If I can send them to you some other way please let me know. Thanks, Scott

[Kentactic]

but when next shell was being chambered it jammed in shell chamber and would not feed into the barrel.

A barrel has a chamber and the magazine tube is where the rounds eject from to be chambered. Please be more specific as to what happened to better help figure this out.

Did it jam in the chamber as in it wouldnt fit in the chamber of the barrel? Or did it fail to eject from the magazine tube? Or... did the round smash into the bottom of the chamber as it was loading because the lift gate didnt move fast enough?

[scotie28]

the shell comes out of the mag tube OK and is lifted up by the ramp but then just hung on what looks like the lip of the barrel. i am going to try to polish the throat of the barrel to see if it will help but why doesn't it do this all the time?

[Kentactic]

the shell comes out of the mag tube OK and is lifted up by the ramp but then just hung on what looks like the lip of the barrel. i am going to try to polish the throat of the barrel to see if it will help but why doesn't it do this all the time?

Sounds like lift gate issues. If its hitting the bottom of the chamber then its either a sticky lift gate or the springs worn out. Both causing the gate to no be able to push the shell up fast enough to keep up with the speed of the action. Try cleaning and oiling the lift gate mechanism. If that dosent work and its not bent or damaged then upgrade the spring to a factory 1100 spring. Its stiffer.

To answer your question it probably only happens when you work the action very fast or if its gummy or dammaged its just random.

[scotie28]

Is the carrier supposed to stick up inside the chamber if I push it up when the action is all the way open? Mine will stay up inside. Is the 'Lift Gate' you mentioned what I am calling the "carrier"?

[Kentactic]

Is the carrier supposed to stick up inside the chamber if I push it up when the action is all the way open? Mine will stay up inside. Is the 'Lift Gate' you mentioned what I am calling the "carrier"?

Yes the lift gate/carrier should stay up if you push it up with your finger when the actions all the way open. You have to close the action to get it to pop down.