Installing Mag Cap Detent on 870 Barrel Guide Ring

[TheKlawMan]

I bought a used barrel for my 870 and it is missing a detent on the front of the "barrel guide ring". If the barrel takes the same parts as shown in the parts diagram for my 7 shot synthetic, which came with an 18.5" barrel and 2 shot extension, it looks like I need to install two parts if I want it to operate with a detent compatiible magazine cap or the extension.

Those two parts are #40, the magazine cap detent" and #41, the the "magazine cap detent spring" on the parts list and the part numbers for the detent and the spring are here on the Remington sight (They have the detents but do not show that they have the spring, for which they give two part numbers, I will have to call Remington about whether or not hey have them).

My quesion is if it is difficult to install them, if not how to do it, or if a special tool is needed. I now I can get by without it as aippi explained elsewhere what to do if it didn't have a detent (use loctite or a wave washer). This one is machined for a detent but it seems to have been lost and I would like to keep it OEM.

Meanwhile I will resort to blue loctite to keep the mag cap on. (Actually the mag extension sans barrel clamp which I have to use for now since the seller lorget to sent the cap and spring.

Thanks for any help you can give.

[aippi]

It may not be a DIY as you have to drill a hole, install the spring and the detent ball and get the tool to crimp it so the ball does not come out.

A better fix is go to www.brownells.com and enter the word "Wave Washer" in the search box. You will get 3 for around $6 and they will last you for years. Yes it says for a model 1100 but they work with any Remington shotgun.

[TheKlawMan]

It may not be a DIY as you have to drill a hole, install the spring and the detent ball and get the tool to crimp it so the ball does not come out.

A better fix is go to www.brownells.com and enter the word "Wave Washer" in the search box. You will get 3 for around $6 and they will last you for years. Yes it says for a model 1100 but they work with any Remington shotgun.

The hole is drilled but the detent and spring are gone. I imagine that the crimp either failed or someone pulled the detent out so they could use a different mag cap. If the cost of the crimp tool is too much, I imagine the cost of the tool is going to determine if I do it or take it to a gun smith.

And thanks again.

[Grumpyoldretiredcop]

I bought an 870 with a barrel that was in the same state. There was no sign of a crimp. I bought the tool, detent and spring and did it myself. Tape your barrel before you do it and read the instructions and the job will come out fine.

[TheKlawMan]

I found the staking tool at Brownells for $21 It explains how they can loosen and be lost. Anyhow, I think I will do the wave washer thing. While I am competent to install the parts and stake them, since the hole is already drilled, the cost of the spring, detent, the tool, and shipping will run close to $40. It makes me think I should have bought a new barrel, but it sounds as though they don't come with a detent, either, and I don't know if the detent hole would even be drilled in a new one.

[TheKlawMan]

I bought an 870 with a barrel that was in the same state. There was no sign of a crimp. I bought the tool, detent and spring and did it myself. Tape your barrel before you do it and read the instructions and the job will come out fine.

Yep, I didn't see any indication that it was ever crimped. Taping the barrel sounds smart and is something I wouldn't have thoght of doing. All I need is to slip and scar the finish of the barrel. If I buy the tool that is one more item for my museum of tools used once for a job I don't remember doing.

[aippi]

Express sport barrels do not have the detent ball and it is a crap shoot if the barrel ring is drilled for one. Sometimes they are as they have multiple barrel rings around and use them. Other times they are not as those barrel rings are for a dedicated express barrel production run and that is just a wasted process to drill the barrel ring. You are buying a speicalty tool that you may use only once. I would imaging that a gun smith would install the thing for $20 and your save money as you don't have to buy the tool and pay that shipping on it. do the math.

[TheKlawMan]

Express sport barrels do not have the detent ball and it is a crap shoot if the barrel ring is drilled for one. Sometimes they are as they have multiple barrel rings around and use them. Other times they are not as those barrel rings are for a dedicated express barrel production run and that is just a wasted process to drill the barrel ring. You are buying a speicalty tool that you may use only once. I would imaging that a gun smith would install the thing for $20 and your save money as you don't have to buy the tool and pay that shipping on it. do the math.

I would also rather pay a gunsmith $20 or $25 and support a local tradesman, in addition to making sure the job is done right.BTW, I just called Remington and if you order a Super Mag 28" barrel they come without a detent, unless you order it with one and pay an additional $25.

At the same time I may have another easy job for a smith; one that I could do but the cost of the tool may make it best done by a gun smith. My wife simply is to petit to even shoulder the 870 with the LE forend. She may be able to do so in a pinch, if I replace the LE with a sport forend it may enable her to hold the gun further out from her body and get the butt into her shoulder. It won't fit right but may do in an emergency. I dunno. Maybe she is better of not touching the gun should such a situration arise; especially if it isn't something that she is comforable with like a youth model in 20 gauge.

[CDMJ]

If your wife is a small build and she is having trouble shouldering the weapon the forend isn't going to make as much of a difference as the stock. My guess would be you have the standard factory Remington stock on there now which is a 14'' LOP plus a recoil pad which is just too much length of pull for someone with a small build. Your best option for her and even you would be to swap out your stock for something with a better LOP. Hogue makes a 12'' LOP stock that might be right up your alley. Speedfeed also makes the Speedfeed 4-S which is a 13'' inch LOP stock. You might not think an inch would make that much of a difference but it actually does. Two other options are the Blackhawk (or Knoxx) Spec-OPs stocks or Mesa stock adapter. Both of these stock systems give you a collapsible AR15 style stock on your shotgun. In my opinion the advantage goes to the Mesa version, however it is more expensive. The reason I mentioned their stocks is because you mentioned your wife being comfortable with the 12ga as it relates to recoil. JD and I were talking about this very subject last week. Mesa makes an excellent product in their stock adapter with the Enidine buffer system. Combine that product with low recoil 00 buck like the Fed tactical 00 buck (with the flite-control wad) and it makes your 12ga feel more like a 20ga shooting bird shot.

The mesa stock adapter with the Enidine system is costly however, it is less than the price of buy and outfitting a second gun that your wife may or may not take to and use. The Knoxx Spec-ops stock does offer some recoil reduction I personally do not feel it is on par with the Mesa product with the Enidine system and as such the price reflects that. Just some food for thought. For a defensive gun you need a shorter barrel, a shorter stock, a light, a way to mount the light and a better sighting system (a bead sight from XS sights or Meprolight will do the trick). Additionally, in your case you need to have a special consideration towards length of pull and recoil management for your wife. The buckshot that I use are Fed Tactical 00 buck 8 pellet. (LE133-00). You can pick some up from here.

http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/product_info.php/cPath/120_259_205/products_id/1423

[TheKlawMan]

I think you are right about the stock, but a 12" LOP would be pretty small for me at 5'8". Ideally, I think I need another gun. While I might be alright with a 13" LOP, it would be too much for my wife. The ideal solution is a second gun, which would be a hard sell so long as she has never been shooting and she won't go shooting with what I have. I will see if the range will rent a junior size, even if it is a 20 gauge. Since I am taking a group lesson this month, I may find that I really should have a 12" or 13" stock.

[CDMJ]

Instead of another gun why don't you check out the Mesa stock adapter. This way you can adjust the LOP on the fly to fit both of you. If you buy the Enidine buffer system they sell with it, combined with low recoil rounds your felt recoil will be in the range of a 20ga. Really eliminating the need for a 2nd gun and it will be saving you some money.

[TheKlawMan]

That adjustable stock is fine, especially, I imagine, if you are in Afhganistan and having to pump out a lot of high impact shot but for me I like the more traditional stock.

[CDMJ]

That adjustable stock is fine, especially, I imagine, if you are in Afhganistan and having to pump out a lot of high impact shot but for me I like the more traditional stock.

Edited. On second thought. It is not worth explaining it to you all over again. I will just say this; Felt recoil is still felt recoil no matter if you are shooting one round or one hundred rounds and it doesn't matter if the load is target or "high impact shot"..whatever those are. Good luck with the tactical shotgun build.

[TheKlawMan]

Thanks, CDMJ for trying to help, but no need to be rude. You assumed this is a tactical build, which it is not. The weapon was purchsed for HD and is now fulfilling a dual capacity role, which is the reason for the second barrel, a 28" vent rib. While a tactical type adjustable stocked 870 can be used for busting clays, it isn't optimal IMO. Nor is it best, IMO, for home defense in which I believe it is better to keep a weaponn as streamlined as possible and less likely to snag on things. Kicking in doors and taking names is simply not the same as protecting the home in a unique circumstance where a very few high capacity shotshells are likely to be expended.

[CDMJ]

Thanks, CDMJ for trying to help, but no need to be rude. You assumed this is a tactical build, which it is not. The weapon was purchsed for HD and is now fulfilling a dual capacity role, which is the reason for the second barrel, a 28" vent rib. While a tactical type adjustable stocked 870 can be used for busting clays, it isn't optimal IMO. Nor is it best, IMO, for home defense in which I believe it is better to keep a weaponn as streamlined as possible and less likely to snag on things. Kicking in doors and taking names is simply not the same as protecting the home in a unique circumstance where a very few high capacity shotshells are likely to be expended.

Nobody is being rude to you and I apologize if you took it that way. You just fail to understand that the word "tactical" and "home defense" run hand and hand and accessories for each are not different because the needs are not different. That if you wanted a gun your wife could use, you would have to make certain changes to make that possible since in my opinion what you currently have planned is not really going to make that possible. I wasn't being rude, I just decided to stop trying to further explain this point to you as I realized you don't really have a good grasp on the subject and yet at the same time you don't really seem all that interested in listening to anyone's advice. So I am not going to bother wasting my time giving it. That was all.

I shoot enough rounds in a year to understand what is needed on an HD/Tactical gun versus was is junk on a shotgun. In fact in a given year I shoot more shells then the average shooter will shoot in five. The accessories I suggested can help you. Or you can swap out your forearm to a sport forearm, but that isn't going to solve your wife's LOP problem or her issue with recoil, but when you go out to bust clays maybe you won't get any strange looks, which sounds to me might be your only real chief concern and to that I would tell you worrying about what snobs at the clay range are saying about your gun is stupid. You should be there to have fun. But that is just me. Which is why I often will show up with a tricked out tactical gun/HD gun. Just to see their reaction. Heaven forbid.