All - I've got an 870 Super Mag that is about 15 months old. I've had issues with it failing to eject shells. It has been back to Remington twice for repair - the first time, they replaced the barrel, the second time they polished the chamber and adjusted the carrier. I just got it back last week and had a chance to fire it today, and, had issues with 6 out of 24 shells.
I've also got a 20-gauge 870 and that works with any shell, and, we've never had any issues with that one. Just the Super Mag.
I'm using #8 target loads for skeet. Remington shells always work, Herter works most of the time, and, some Estate shells have a lot of issues. I noticed that the brass of the Remington shells is slightly higher than the other brands that had issues.
So, the question is - why should I have to use a particular brand of shells? Other friends that have 870s and Mossbergs aren't picky - when we are at the range, we're all using the same shells, and, my 870 is the only one that has issues. I'm about ready to get rid of it and try something else.
Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks for the help,
Mark
Does your 870 prefer a particular brand of shell?
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Re: Does your 870 prefer a particular brand of shell?
For me, it's more that I prefer particular shells. These days, those shells are primarily my own handloads using quality hulls. But for factory stuff, I like just about anything from Remington or Federal, Estate buckshot, higher-end Winchester shells, and Rio or Herter's when I need cheap factory buckshot or slugs.
My 870 has only given me real problems with two loads:
Winchester Universal target shells were the big pain in the butt. Some former college housemates were back in my neck of the woods for a funeral a few years back, and afterward, we all met out in the woods for a redneck 21-gun salute (translation - five of us and a variety of firearms letting off somewhat more than 21 shots because we lost track of who was supposed to fire how many times to make it come out right), followed by some redneck trap (translation - as many people lined up as there were shotguns, another person throws a clay, and everybody blasts away trying to hit it first). Somebody's contribution to the ammo pool was a bunch of Winchester Universals, and every shotgun there choked on them, regardless of the brand. I took some of the fired shells home and examined them, and found that the steel cups were extremely thin and soft, and were trying to separate from the plastic tube even though they had only been fired once. I was breaking in a new barrel at the time, and the other guns there that day were not exactly models of cleanliness. I'm sure if I tried them again now, my 870 would have an easier time shooting Universals, but I've had no reason to bother trying. I can produce a lot of good quality handloads for the price of one of those Wal-Mart value-packs, and when I do need factory target shells for things like magazine extension reviews, the Federal cheapos are very reliable and even less expensive than the Winchesters (in my area).
More recently, the other shells that prooved problematic were the white box Estate target loads. After firing, the hulls would sometimes remain in the chamber after I opened the action, the extractor apparently not finding enough purchase and slipping off. When this happened, I had to cycle the action several times to get them to extract. I measured the rims on those hulls later that day, and it seemed like their outer diameter was smaller than it should hae been (compared to other hulls and SAAMI specs). I've heard many folks say that these Estate hulls are clones of the Federal Top Gun low-cup/paper basewad hulls, just with red plastic instead of maroon, but I've never had this issue with the Federal hulls. My guess is that those shells were from a slightly-bad batch, but there may be something in my gun that contributed to the issue. I still have some of these shells knocking around, and one of these days I'll try shooting them with some different bolts and extractors to see if I can identify any contributors. But I can say with confidence that the shells were to blame for at least part of the problem.
Apart from that, I've had the occasional sticky extraction with steel cup shells like Remington Gun Clubs or Federal target loads when breaking in a new barrel, but those were normal, minor things that were easy to clear, and went away pretty quick as I put some miles on those barrels. I also had one pretty spectacular jam that required me to pound a fired shell out of the chamber with a cleaning rod, but that was the result of my own foolishness in loading the thing with way more shot than it was supposed to have. Lucky for me, 870 barrels are ridiculously strong.
My 870 has only given me real problems with two loads:
Winchester Universal target shells were the big pain in the butt. Some former college housemates were back in my neck of the woods for a funeral a few years back, and afterward, we all met out in the woods for a redneck 21-gun salute (translation - five of us and a variety of firearms letting off somewhat more than 21 shots because we lost track of who was supposed to fire how many times to make it come out right), followed by some redneck trap (translation - as many people lined up as there were shotguns, another person throws a clay, and everybody blasts away trying to hit it first). Somebody's contribution to the ammo pool was a bunch of Winchester Universals, and every shotgun there choked on them, regardless of the brand. I took some of the fired shells home and examined them, and found that the steel cups were extremely thin and soft, and were trying to separate from the plastic tube even though they had only been fired once. I was breaking in a new barrel at the time, and the other guns there that day were not exactly models of cleanliness. I'm sure if I tried them again now, my 870 would have an easier time shooting Universals, but I've had no reason to bother trying. I can produce a lot of good quality handloads for the price of one of those Wal-Mart value-packs, and when I do need factory target shells for things like magazine extension reviews, the Federal cheapos are very reliable and even less expensive than the Winchesters (in my area).
More recently, the other shells that prooved problematic were the white box Estate target loads. After firing, the hulls would sometimes remain in the chamber after I opened the action, the extractor apparently not finding enough purchase and slipping off. When this happened, I had to cycle the action several times to get them to extract. I measured the rims on those hulls later that day, and it seemed like their outer diameter was smaller than it should hae been (compared to other hulls and SAAMI specs). I've heard many folks say that these Estate hulls are clones of the Federal Top Gun low-cup/paper basewad hulls, just with red plastic instead of maroon, but I've never had this issue with the Federal hulls. My guess is that those shells were from a slightly-bad batch, but there may be something in my gun that contributed to the issue. I still have some of these shells knocking around, and one of these days I'll try shooting them with some different bolts and extractors to see if I can identify any contributors. But I can say with confidence that the shells were to blame for at least part of the problem.
Apart from that, I've had the occasional sticky extraction with steel cup shells like Remington Gun Clubs or Federal target loads when breaking in a new barrel, but those were normal, minor things that were easy to clear, and went away pretty quick as I put some miles on those barrels. I also had one pretty spectacular jam that required me to pound a fired shell out of the chamber with a cleaning rod, but that was the result of my own foolishness in loading the thing with way more shot than it was supposed to have. Lucky for me, 870 barrels are ridiculously strong.