New here Old 870

[Jfmagnum]

Hey everyone, just thought I would take some time to share my build with the community. Been lurking on the forum for a while and what I have read here has helped me make some very informed decisions for what I wanted out of this build.

Started off as a "broken" wing master with a 30" full choke barrel based on what I could find was manufactured in 1956. Had the short veriweight plug but missing the 3 shot plug. I picked up the gun for cheap and replaced the broken ejector and had the original barrel cut down to 18.5". The original stock had a small crack forming so that was sold for half what I paid for the gun and replaced it with a new take off 870p walnut stock. Started shooting it and found out what I wanted to change. the cut down 30" barrel was shooting high with the bead on the barrel and I hated the fact that the bore was off center.

Quick rundown of what I put into this build:
870P walnut stock and forend
parkerized 18.5 inch IC bead sight barrel
left hand trigger plate (left handed shooter)
S&j jumbo safety
Wolff extra power hammer spring
Wolff extra power firing pin spring
full flex tab conversion (bolt, forend tube
Wilson Combat +2 extension
Volquartsen extractor
refinished in Parkerizing.

By far the best upgrade I did was the left hand trigger plate that allows me to operate the jumbo safety like a normal person. All the other modifications were for reliability as this weapon will be used for home defense.

[Chief Brody]

Very, very nice. Welcome!

[Synchronizor]

Welcome to the forum. Looks like you've got yourself a nice, straightforward HD build there.

Wolff extra power firing pin spring

This is something that's always puzzled me. Why install a stiffer version of that spring? In an 870, the spring is a firing pin retractor spring - its job is to hold the firing pin back from the breechface in order to prevent inertial firing pin strikes, and ensure that the firing pin's head is fully to the rear and in position to take the hit from the hammer. A stiffer spring there will only work against the movement of the firing pin, causing weaker primer strikes.

The marketing for that Wolff spring makes no sense, as it claims to both reduce the chances of unwanted discharges (which would be a benefit of a stiffer spring, although the factory spring does this just fine), and increase force to improve reliability with harder primers (which would only be the case if the Wolff spring was weaker than the factory part).

[Jfmagnum]

Based on what I could tell, there is little to no difference in spring pressure for the extra power spring. I am not concerned with light primer stikes due to the fact I have the extra power hammer spring which is quite a bit stiffer than the original. The springs were already purchased when I was deciding on the build and was before I purchased a new trigger plate (old hammer spring was weakening after 50 years) and did the flex tab upgrade with a new bolt. More or less I put them in the final build for reliability sake as the springs are of higher quality than the factory which I know are fine springs to start with. Just a little extra piece of mind for my sake.

First trip to the range after all the upgrades have been completed and I am happy to report that the old gun went bang every time. Very happy with the outcome of this build. At 30ft 25 shots of 00 buck all pellets were in center mass right where I put the bead so the gun does its job well.

Last few items I am considering for this build are the SBE aluminum follower to replace the Wilson combat green delrin follower and possibly a side saddle on the right side of the receiver since I'm a lefty. As of right now a light would not be needed as I live in an apartment with a small footprint and have plenty of ambient lighting.

[Synchronizor]

Last few items I am considering for this build are the SBE aluminum follower to replace the Wilson combat green delrin follower

From what I've read, the WC followers are nylon or ABS (depending on what Brownells page you read, no mention of the exact material on Wilson Combat's site). Whatever it is, it doesn't feel at all like any acetal (Delrin) material I've ever dealt with, but the follower does work fine once you break the fragile little center post off. I think the S&J Hardware followers are better parts (they are properly machined Delrin, for one), but I've used the WC follower & +2 extension together extensively, and never had an issue while shooting. If you do want to replace it, keep in mind that the beehive-style Wilson Combat springs should be matched with a tailed follower, not a cup-style one.

[Jfmagnum]

http://www.shotgunfollowers.com/product ... -follower/

That's the link for the follower I am looking at, it is a tailed follower and even in the product description states its a direct replacement for the Wilson combat/scattergun tech follower.

Plastics fail sooner than later and the little use that I have on the Wilson combat follower I am already noticing wear. I also don't like the idea of how the plastic can be imbedded with foreign material that will cause added friction between the follower and magazine tube causing scrapping and more metals to be imbedded or flat out jamming due to the imbedded pieces. Overkill maybe, but it will sure ease my OCD mind when it comes to properly functioning parts working together.

[Synchronizor]

That follower should function fine with the WC spring.

I've never really liked metal magazine followers. Yes, plastic followers will probably wear out faster than steel ones (not sure softer aluminum will outlive a good plastic part, though), but here's the thing: with plastic, the follower wears out. With steel, the gun wears out. Follower stop peening was a known issue back when steel followers were used in 870s, and fixing it took gunsmith work using very specialized reaming equipment.

870 follower stop shoulder damage_repair.JPG (193.8 KiB) Viewed 3834 times

As for aluminum followers, they're softer, and often made from less-costly alloys that aren't all that strong, so they can get pretty buggered up with heavy use.

Peened Brownell's Follower_SJ.JPG (16.36 KiB) Viewed 3834 times

And while powder residue can stain a plastic follower and maybe make it slightly abrasive, the oxide that naturally forms on bare aluminum is really abrasive - it's very commonly used in manufacturing sandpaper and cutting tools.

Even if it means I have to replace it every so often, I'd rather run plastic followers (which are pretty inexpensive even for high-end aftermarket ones) than cause wear to the receiver itself with a metal part. Anyone who actually shoots enough to wear out a follower shouldn't be concerned about replacing wear parts. That said, I've inspected some really thrashed range 870s that looked like they'd had tens of thousands of rounds through them, and then been dragged behind a truck for a while. And you know what? They were still running reliably with factory plastic followers. And they were the early gray plastic followers, not the current hi-viz orange ones, so I knew they hadn't been changed recently, if at all. We're long past the point where plastic parts = bad parts; modern polymers are a better choice than metals in many, many applications.

Anyway, that's my spiel, for what it's worth. Honestly, if you use your 870 as much as most people use their 870s, you can run whatever follower makes you feel better, and not worry too much about anything bad happening. The biggest thing is, whatever you pick, you need to test it to make sure it plays nice with the rest of your magazine configuration - some extension/spring/follower combos just don't get along.