870 Tactical Express Synthetic 7-Shot Spring upgrade question

[La_leo]

There are a number of good springs out there; it's not hard to find one that'll serve reliably, especially if you don't use your shotgun very heavily. There are two key things to keep in mind, though.

First, you want the right level of force. Too little force, and you can get partial-feed and no-feed malfunctions. However, you have to try really hard to see these problems. So long as you get a good spring meant for your magazine capacity or higher, these malfunctions shouldn't show up unless you're specifically trying to induce them. A spring so weak as to cause them during normal operation should feel obviously underpowered when you're installing & using it (spring retainer takes almost no effort to push into place, or the first shell slips into the magazine with negligible resistance). A more common problem, in my experience, is a spring that's too powerful. Some folks will buy a spring that's total overkill for their magazine capacity, and cram it in unaltered, assuming that stronger is always better. An overly-stiff spring will stiffen the action, reduce magazine capacity, make loading more difficult, and beat up the shells and follower - all without adding anything to reliability. It can also deform shells that are stored in the magazine for extended periods of time, and those deformed shells can then jam the gun when you try to use it. It's fine to buy a spring that's longer than necessary if you want its features, but you should trim it to a more appropriate length. I would say shoot for about 1 - 2 pounds of force when the magazine is empty. This is easy enough to work out with some math and a scale, but you can also just take off a little at a time, and keep checking as you go until you get it where you want it. Remember, you can always take more coils off of a spring, but you can't add them back on, so take your time. "
You've hit the nail on the head. But I have a specific question. I bought a brand new "870 tactical 7 shot " for DIRT CHEAP. This makes my 5th 870. I've bought a few upgrade parts for it and polished the chamber.( I think it's misleading to call it a 7 shot. The mag tube holds 6 2 3/4 shells. )Anyway, while getting the packing grease out I removed the magazine tube spring. It seems VERY weak. I mean it doesn't even pop the little plastic retainer up. Previously, I had an old school 870 with the standard 5 shot mag. I bought the Remington 2 shot extension for it but have since removed it. THAT spring is much longer and stiffer (gigity) than the one in my new 870 tactical 7 shot. So i figured since I upgraded the carrier dog spring I'd swap the magazine tube spring with the one that came with my 2 shot extension. That being said it definitely seems too long, I really had to shove it down the tube. I'm going to not use it. Does the WOLFF 6-7 shot spring be better suited? Has anyone had problems with these so called 7 shot models?

[Romulus]

I've got the Wilson Combat springs with their follower in both my 870s. Follower and spring came as kit from WC. ZERO issues, excellent price from WC direct.
Rom