Why should you purchase a "no-jam" magazine follower?

[tpattgeek]

Am I missing something? I was just reading about some practical upgrades to my 870 and come across a no-jam follower. I'm not an expert, but is that the default orange (plastic?) thing following the shells? Is the factory one known to jam? Why is it necessary to replace it? I have a Nordic mag extension on the way with the extra long end cap to fit a 7+1 configuration flush with my 18.5" barrell, so will a no-jam follower be necessary? Is it only needed when stuffing the mag to capacity? Please help me out. Thanks!

[Vitaly]

Am I missing something? I was just reading about some practical upgrades to my 870 and come across a no-jam follower. I'm not an expert, but is that the default orange (plastic?) thing following the shells? Is the factory one known to jam? Why is it necessary to replace it? I have a Nordic mag extension on the way with the extra long end cap to fit a 7+1 configuration flush with my 18.5" barrell, so will a no-jam follower be necessary? Is it only needed when stuffing the mag to capacity? Please help me out. Thanks!

Orange plastic follower is not reliable. It is easy to break it. I recommend to replace it with one of the aftermarket followers.

[tpattgeek]

I see from your review of different followers that the S&J is very well-made and includes slots in the side to work with the dimples in the magazine... Does this mean I will not have to drill the dimples out when I put my Nordic extension on? Will the shells still pass by the dimples since the follower can make it past them?

[jpfrog]

I'm assuming the shells will still hang up on the dimples even if the follower does not, so you'll likely still need to drill out the dimples if you have a newer model 870...if you have an older model, there are no dimples so you're good to go. Either way, I'm not sure what purpose the slots in the follower would serve if dimples are either non-existant or have been drilled out. I haven't tried this setup though, so I am not 100% sure. If you have dimples, try dropping some shells in the magazine without the spring/follwer and see if it'll pass through freely.

I've used the standard factory (orange) follower in my 3gun setup and never had a problem. That said, it's plastic and could theoretically break, but I don't know that there's a part on the market that is impervious to wear and tear.

[vmax]

Jpfrog you are quite right the factory follower does work great. It is maybe the very best shape. As remington made it for all of us to enjoy. But with increased spring pressure and heavy use it will wear out faster than a premium alloy follower of the same design. There are some so called no jam followers on the market that do the exact opposite they jam!!! Some. Junk. followers that don't follow the original design from remington will bind with mag extentions. PS the original remington wingmaster follower was metal and still works great today. No need to reinvent the wheel with gimicks. There are many light weight alloy followers on the market that will be your best bet for factory replacment.