Fast Racking the Remington 870

[SparrowHanger]

I have been trying to learn to quickly rack my 870 Express by keeping some rear pressure on the slide as I squeeze the trigger and I just realized something. If I have slight rearward pressure it works fine but if I apply a bit too much to the rack it seems that it will not slide to the rear until I first release some of that pressure.

Is this normal and what is the proper technique.

[aippi]

Pull the trigger then rack it with authority. You benifit nothing by pulling back on the forend.

[Norsemen308]

i second aippi, i use a 870 for dove hunting, love that gun, but heres the dilemma, you basically are jamming the whole system when you apply pressure before the trigger lock is released, thats why it "jams up" on you. pull trigger pump, pull trigger pump. What you are shooting for is not speed but being smooth, the better you get at racking while being smooth the faster you will go.

[SparrowHanger]

i second aippi, i use a 870 for dove hunting, love that gun, but heres the dilemma, you basically are jamming the whole system when you apply pressure before the trigger lock is released, thats why it "jams up" on you. pull trigger pump, pull trigger pump. What you are shooting for is not speed but being smooth, the better you get at racking while being smooth the faster you will go.

Thanks AIPPI and Norseman. That also explains why at the range, when practicing spoeed racking, it wasn't working. I thought I was simply forgetting to pull the slide back our of reaction to the kick. Now I realize that I couldn't pull it back and was in fact slowing down the process.

[prc77]

There is a push pull technique that reduces felt recoil. Something that you need to practice, but is effective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq74aiXn1b4&NR=1

[SAR_boats]

There is an easy way:

Buy a Winchester.

In this vid, on his second shot, you can see the slide come back and the shell eject.




On a more productive note: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

[Turo]

There is an easy way:

Buy a Winchester.

Oddly enough, I agree with this. My 1300 fires just as fast as any semi-auto I've tried. You can put all the pressure you like on the pump arm before the shot and rack it as quick as you want.

Speaking of which, I need to make a video of that. *writes reminder*

[aippi]

Your 1300 is no faster then an 870 or 37 or even a 500.

So posting in other brands to a Question on Remington is going to make you two look like Mossberg guys.

[SAR_boats]

Your 1300 is no faster then an 870 or 37 or even a 500.

So posting in other brands to a Question on Remington is going to make you two look like Mossberg guys.

It was a joke. I guess the sarcasm wasn't apparent enough. Of course a shooter who knows his 870 (or any weapon) will be faster than someone who doesn't.

The real answer is practice, practice, practice. Perhaps take a shotgun training course to smooth out some rough spots in technique.

While it is true that I can pull back on the slide of my 1300 and fire rounds without hanging up the action, I don't because it throws my aim off and slows down the sighting in of the next target.

I don't really care, I just don't wanna be known as a "Mossburg Guy" <---- JOKE!

[aippi]

Joke accepted. As for smooth and fast it would be hard to beat the 37. It was my rabbit and bird gun as a youth and I still belive it is one of the smoothest pumps made. Only issue with it is all those small parts. Not an easy weapon to work on.

Great thing about great shotguns, no matter the brand, they all get smoother and faster with round count.

[Fjold]

That's why I like the old Ithaca 37s, no disconnector. Hold the trigger back and just slam the pump back and forth.

[SparrowHanger]

There is a push pull technique that reduces felt recoil. Something that you need to practice, but is effective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq74aiXn1b4&NR=1

Thanks PRC. Presently I don't have a problem with felt recoil but have only been shooting target loads. Perhaps tomorrow I am going to find someplace to shoot up some milk jugs with slugs and buck snot and then will have need of that 70/30 technique.

[SparrowHanger]

There is an easy way:

Buy a Winchester.

In this vid, on his second shot, you can see the slide come back and the shell eject.




On a more productive note: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Thanks, but I am aware of the 1300 which is an interesting pump. Some people love them and others hate them. For my money, I am happy with and will stick with my 870.

[BigDogatPlay]

As for smooth and fast it would be hard to beat the 37.

+1... or a well worked in Winchester Model 12, IMO.

Several in this thread have hit paydirt.... practice, practice, practice. Knowing your weapon and it's performance envelope thoroughly, and knowing exactly what it will do when you run it, is the key.

A truly competent, top flight shooter should be able to pick up just about any pump, assuming it's in good condition, and after some familiarization run that gun to it's potential.

Our mission is to become that competent on our own gun and stay that way.

[jdberger]

That's why I like the old Ithaca 37s, no disconnector. Hold the trigger back and just slam the pump back and forth.

Bingo.

IIRC - if you watch the slide on an 870 when you pull the trigger (on an unloaded gun) you'll see it move just a teeny bit forward. I think (again - IIRC) that it has to do that to unlock the bolt.

This could be totally wrong - my experience with the 870 is pretty limited.