Shell latch/ forearm problem! S.O.S. Synchronizor!!!

[Littlecurb]

Hello, first off,I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these crazy times!

I’ve come to this forum mainly because of the fact I’m having a problem with my Remington 870 Express and I know I will get the proper information/Solutions to the problem on here. I’m going list a bit of information about the firearm before getting into the main issue. (I feel this is necessary because of the Uncertainty of the issue)

I picked up an 870 at a local pawn shop for an easy $170. It came with 28” rem choke barrel and a fairly decent bushnel scope. Gun clearly had been fired a lot and clear signs of neglectful storage. But nothing that was too unsightly. This particular shotgun was purchased with the intension of being a home defense weapon. So I knew before I purchased it,I was going to have to swap out parts and upgrade a few things. I swapped out the barrel for a Remington cyl. 18.5” and put a +2 Magazine extension on it. Spent about 3 + hours cleaning the firearm, (it literally had a dead bug behind the bolt, it was THAT dirty) and about an hour with cycling snap caps through. At this point, the gun is now looking great, cycling extremely well, and is ready to be test fired to make sure everything is in working order.

Went to a local range and put 50 shells though it. (7 1/2 bird Winchester Super X) and 10 slugs. (Fed Premium trueball slug) and besides a slight sore shoulder, everything was much better than I expected! So after the range, I returned home to clean the firearm and to store for keeping. Upon that cleaning session, I had decided that the finish on the slide and the butt of the gun should be refinished. (wood had some scuffs and knicks in it)
So after doing plenty of research I decided to re finish the wood using a product called Birchwood Casey’s Truoil. Took about 2 weeks from start to finish, and it really made the grain in the wood pop!
Now, my day job is a carpenter. I’m very aware of how to handle and things like this. I knew how long, and how tedious this was going to be. But I knew I wanted to do it.

Now here is my problem...
Once all the truoil had dried and it was time to put the gun back together, I noticed one of my shell latches was displaced. (Luckily, I had been watching all of Synchronizor‘s videos on YouTube and I was aware on how to fix the issue) So as I go to Realign it, the whole latch pops out. And wasn’t like I forced it out. When I say the smallest amount of pressure pushed it off...I’m not joking. So I thought...okay, no biggie, I’ll just pop it back it, seemed to be okay. No issues really as far as I could tell. But now that I’ve it out recently to show a family member I’ve noticed my pump (forearm/slide/what ever) gets stuck when back twords the receiver. It just takes a slight bit more of force to get the thing to back up. But it’s still more than I feel comfortable with.

So my question is do you think that I may have put too much truoil on the top pard of the pump, causing it Rub on the barrel? Or is the shell latch the problem? And if it IS a latch problem, is this fixable without going to a gunsmith?

On a side note, I’d like to personally thank the user Synchronizor for all he’s done with the Remington 870 community. He was a huge factor in why I purchased the firearm that I did. Without his videos on YouTube, I may not have made such an informed decision when it came to buying the shotgun. And while I know it may be a lot to ask, I would really like the chance to hear his opinion on the issue. But really, anyone who can help would be amazing!

Any questions, need photos of the issue, or just a follow up, feel free to comment and I will check this post as much as I can. Really look forward to tackling this issue.
Thanks again!
-Kyle

[Scorpion8]

Unfortunately you don't tell us which shell latch? Those latches are held in by the trigger guard pins and are removeable for cleaning. You're not confusing them with the ejector? The shell latches should pop right back in during re-assembly. 870 slide tolerances are fairly loose so I doubt a little extra Truoil could cause your issue. Without seeing or handling it, my advice would be to reassemble the gun, rack it back and forth like you were channeling your inner-Terminator and see what the result is. Nothing on the 870 says "take me slow", all the parts are invisibly stamped with "use with authority".

[gWebber]

I’m having a similar issue. The right side shell latch will jam about every second or third shell (dummies).

It’s not moving backward or anything, it’s like it’s getting caught up on the edge of the groove it sits in and I can’t move it at all without taking it all apart.

Sent it to gun smith for repair, it’s just too weird.

[Littlecurb]

My mistake. It’s the right one. The left one is perfectly fine as far as I know. I will disassemble the firearm sometime today and just give it an additional look over. I would prefer not to slam my forearm around if I do not need to. This is precisely the thing I’m trying to avoid =).

One thing I noticed I failed to mention above was that the forearm is showing signs of rub from where the forearm has touched the barrel at some point during the racking. So I was thinking about taking some 300-400 grit sandpaper and lightly sanding the top part of the forearm to see if that was the issue.

Something else I remember about the last time I had it apart and the right shell latch was completely out I noticed it wasn’t as bent as other videos and pictures had shown it to be. In fact, mine was more flat if I remember correctly. Didn’t think too much about it, but that’s just another bit of info I can add to the discussion.

[Scorpion8]

Shell latches are easy to replace, and one of your may be bent. This gun wasn't meant to be daisy-footed into chambering the next round. Some authority is needed without being maniacal.

A side story - at the range one day helping a CCW class and letting a gal use my GP-100. I'm working with the shooter next to her and suddenly she tells me the GP-100 has jammed. Jammed? It's impossible to jam a stout revolver like that. I take it, shoot off the rest of the cylinder into the mound backstop and ask what the problem is. She shows me and another instructor, and she starts to thumb the hammer back at a glacially slow pace with barely perceptible movement until the sear does jam. Other instructor swears that gun isn't safe. I ask "who ever thumbs the hammer back like that?" Again, I proceed to shoot off an entire 2 cylinders at normal trigger DA speeds and no jams. The gun is fine. It wasn't meant to be cycled as slow as that lady was doing it. It's still in my safe as a HD standby.

[Banshee]

Scorpion8 is correct, shell latches are very easy to replace. They are normally staked in place, but it doesn’t take much to remove them. I normally replace them both when they are not working right. They can be bought for less than $10 each. I don’t restake them, just hold them in place till you get the trigger group and pins in place. Plus it make it much easier to clean the latches if you decide to clean then.

[Littlecurb]

So after checking again, I can see now the right shell latch is bent, and not useable. Since I k ow it’s the right latch causing the issue, should I just replace that one, or should I replace the left one at the same time. And if so, how should I go about removing the left shell latch that is still very snug in the receiver. Thanks again for all the help!

[Romulus]

Replace them in pairs, but save both old ones, event the bent one, you never know
Rom

[Scorpion8]

I had a shell latch that would move forward, but restaking it with a pin punch drift settled that issue. Now it stays in place.

[Littlecurb]

Problem is solved. It was indeed the right shell latch causing the problem. It wasn’t that it was bent left or right, it was bent up. While the back end of the latch would fit properly, the front end was bent in a way the in went up into the magizine. (More than it should have) I’m not sure how this piece of metal go so screwed up, but replacing the latch fixed every problem I had. I’m assuming since it was bent in such an awkward way that it was somehow causing the wood forearm to slide against the barrel. (Rub marks from faded truoil told me it was rubbing at some point.)

Thanks again for all the help!