Rem 870 Tact. Locking up

[Khara]

I took my 870 out to the desert this past weekend and had a blast. But I noticed that it seemed to lock up when I would try to rapid fire. I aquired this shotgun from someone in a trade but it seemed that didn't clean it as well as I had thought. So when I came back I gave a good scrubing and cleaning trying to rid of any carbon build up and what not. My question is, is there anything else I can do to get this shotgun running smoother? I had a Mossberg so I'm a little unfamiliar with any complication that a 870 might have. I was thinking of taking it to a gun smith to get it looked at and tuned up.

what do you guys think?

[Lone_Gunman]

I ran an 870 in an HD shotgun class this weekend and had that happen a couple times. One of the instructors told us you need to run a pump shotgun "stretched out" in other words pull it hard into your chest but push the pump part slightly away from you. If you have the pump pulled back toward you when you fire it can cause the gun to lock up. Pull the pump toward you while dry firing and it will likely lock up on you then too, but its much easier to get it to unlock in a dry firing situation.

It's easy to forget this when rapid firing, so train running the gun stretched out until that is just how you run a shotgun.

[pesty3782]

After using 870's at work for over 27 years I can tell you if you baby this shotgun when shooting it (pulling back on pump easy soft etc) this will happen. Now depending on how many rounds there have been shot down this gun it still might be stiff...When you take the shotgun apart for cleaning you might find some shinny spots on the action bars (bars on pump area) This is where they are rubbing in the receiver...a light lube here will help...

I have some high end beretta semi autos, but I always go back to my 2 870's

Tony P.

P.S. Get some low recoil slugs and have a ball shooting 50-100 yards

[BigDogatPlay]

Locking up as in fired shell is sticky in the chamber keeping the gun from opening? If yes, follow this link and many issues will be solved. Polishing out the chamber just a bit will make even the cheapest Winchester Universal ammo run through fine.

A light lube of the action bars isn't a bad thing, but make sure the channels in the receiver are clean and use a good liquid lube like CLP or Froglube that doesn't cake up. The gun doesn't have to be dripping wet, just damp should suffice.

It's true that you need to run the gun like you mean it... pull back hard, push forward hard. But you should also check the sides of the barrel to see if there is any rubbing from the fore end. Binding from the fore end being a bit out of size or out of place, or (worse) torqued action bars can cause some of what you are experiencing as well.

[Jimmy310]

I took a scotch brite pad (mildly abrasive), and polished my chamber. It helped alot, although i think these shotguns are just prejudice to winchester shells. It cycles remington and federal ones just fine.

[sd_shooter]

It's probably you. No offense.

Look up "short stroking", it's the one thing that pump shotguns only as reliable as the operator.

Run through a few tubes while taking your time on every shot. I'll bet the gun will be 100% reliable.

[Squid]

I assume we're talking cheap low brass shells?

my 870 supermag express balks at Fed but likes the Rem just fine. But I didn't know about the 'stretch' issue, or polishing.

[Khara]

I'll consider the short stroking but I doubt it. I feel it is more of the shotgun. My Mossy never did this and I put at least 2k round through it. I'll take it to the range report to you guys if anything improves.

[jyo]

Pump shotguns should be operated like you mean it - briskly! This doesn't mean abusing the gun - just firmly operating it. My three 870s are older guns - all purchased used, but near mint. One polished blue gun was bought, oiled up, never fired and sat in this guy's closet for around 25 years! It now wears a 20' rifle sight barrel with chokes.
As mentioned in earlier posts, the chambers on newer guns tend to need a little polishing to work their best.

[Wallabing]

It's the ammo. Cheap shotshells with the soft silver bases will get stuck hard after firing.

[knucklehead0202]

ammo nonsense, it's a gun problem. any decent pump shotgun shouldn't have any trouble cycling whatever ammo if it's working properly. i run whatever the cheapest crap walmart has on sale through my defender and rapid-fire it without any hiccups. new remingtons just aren't what they used to be and require lots of love to work properly. stand it on end and push the slide release, does the slide move? if so, how far? that'll give you an idea what's going on.

[aippi]

Knucklehead - There is ammo that does not operate well in not just pumps but other weapons. Winchester Universal is the worst offender.

You condem an entire line of weapons but overlook the mess the ammo manufacturers are putting out. That is not a fair assesment of the OP's issue.

Not having the weapon in your hands makes it difficult to say what the issue is. So how can you say it is the weapon? A benificial response is to mention thin steel bases as a possible offender along with a dirty chamber. Others gave more possible causes from their expiriences without bashing the weapon. As for New Remingtons, I have shot hundreds this year without issue, hundreds.

[Khara]

It definitely not short stroking and I'm considering that its maybe the chamber. So when I got back from the range, I for sure scrubbed all the crap out of it with a bore brush. I now looks like a brand new barrel, actually better. If it still locks up then I'm out of ideas.

I eliminated the short stroking because I was at the range shooting clays and I was taking my time. At least 2-3 seconds on each shot if not more.

[Zartan]

I took my 870 out to the desert this past weekend and had a blast

[john.t.singh]

I had this happen to my 870. I took it to a smith and he polished some parts inside and now it runs super smooth.