Remington 870 Issue with Snap Caps

[-G-]

Being a first-time shotgun owner, I wanted to practice loading, and chambering rounds with my new Remington 870.

Tonight I ran into an issue where a few times I tried to chamber one of my Snap Caps, the dummy round would get stuck and could not be chambered. I'd have to reach in, pull out the Snap Cap and try to chamber the second one.

Is this an issue with the Snap Caps being too heavy/not suited for practicing chambering rounds, or is it an issue with the gun?

I have not yet tried practicing with live rounds.

[osis32]

never had issues with my 870 and snap caps. not to worry but something sounds off.

[shellslinger]

The snap caps may be the one causing the problem. You should try some live ammunition and from there you should find the answer to your problem. My snap caps work fine in my shotgun though but who knows

[lolkopter]

Same here they work. Try dry firing practice at home with live ammunition and see if it jams then

[-G-]

Try dry firing practice at home with live ammunition and see if it jams then

Just used 2 rounds of 00 buckshot in my living room. No FTF this time.

Thank you for the suggestion!

Any recommendations for a good window repairman, though?

[shellslinger]

Just used 2 rounds of 00 buckshot in my living room. No FTF this time.

Thank you for the suggestion!

Any recommendations for a good window repairman, though?

Give me a PM I got ya covered. Also I am the King of Nigeria, I will need you to send me a $5000 check so I can send you a $10 million dollar check as an inheritance.

[Zarovich]

I bought some snapcaps that are short (not like the amazon pic.) Thus they are too short for the elevator of my shotgun to bring up consistently.
If I hold the barrel higher than the receiver it works alright.

[-G-]

Update:

I used some of my ammo this morning instead of the Snap Caps. Big difference. I had 1 FTF, but I think that was a result of short-shucking.

<sigh> I guess I'm going to have to go to the range to shoot this a bunch of times to make sure it's OK with live ammo.

Thank you for all your input!

[monk]

Where was it getting jammed?

[wweigle]

Most snap caps I have seen are either to light, not correct length, have sharp corner/edges or all of the above, and do not work well as dummy rounds for loading practice. I made my own using fired cases, primers removed, new wads, filed with the correct amount of shot, then topped off with hot glued. They work great, feel and load like live rounds, but they are not "snap caps".

[diverwcw]

I have some snap caps that, on occasion, double feed in my 870. With live ammo, there is never an issue. My thought is to trash the snap caps and go with some home made dummy rounds. I'm not set up for shotshell reloading, but I plan to in the future.

[NapalmCheese]

I have the red A-zoom snap caps and some other 'clear plastic with a spring attached to the primer' snap caps. The former work fine in everything I own, the latter won't even chamber in my Nova for some reason.

Chalk it up to the snap caps and your 870 needing to 'wear in' a bit.

[m16]

You may have a chamber that needs polishing.

Take it to the range with some cheap bulk ammo and see if you have any extraction failures.

If you do, hit that chamber with some steel wool.

[axhoaxho]

Ditto. For years, I have been using these on all my 870's, no problems and they still last.

Use these instead. Cheaper, are weighted to feel like real shells and they extract fine.



With regards to sticking chambers, buy one of these. It's cheaper on eBay than Brownells, but the honing oil with shipping is cheaper on Brownell's than eBay.

[loophole]

You mean 870s screw up with snap caps too? So much for the theory about the crappy ammo bases expanding.