LOCKING BLOCK

[Karlo]

I received a 17-year-old 870 for Christmas and I'm in the process of doing a refresh on some of the worn parts. I noticed the top of the locking block where it locks into the barrel has a flat spot. Hence, for $24.00 I can purchase a new one, as I was surfing Midway USA I noticed they have two types of locking blocks for sale. One appears to be a standard and the other is referred to as an oversized, My question(s):

What is the purpose of the oversize locking block ?

Is it considered an upgrade ?

Is it for the 870 chambered in 3 1/2 shells

THANKS !

[Synchronizor]

The oversized locking block is intended for heavily-used 870s with worn-out locking notches in the barrel. A worn locking notch can lead to loose lock-up or excessive headspace, and the notch cannot easily be fixed without replacing the entire barrel. A gunsmith can hand-fit an oversized locking block to a worn barrel to allow the gun to continue functioning safely and reliably with the original barrel.

The oversized block is not an upgrade, and if your gun locks up fine with the standard locking block, there's no need to install an oversized one (the oversized block may even cause malfunctions).

Exactly how worn is your 870's current locking block? Can you post pictures? It takes a lot to wear out an 870, so unless your gun's previous owner fed tens or hundreds of thousands of shells through it, you're probably fine leaving the original locking block in.

[Karlo]

The oversized locking block is intended for heavily-used 870s with worn-out locking notches in the barrel. A worn locking notch can lead to loose lock-up or excessive headspace, and the notch cannot easily be fixed without replacing the entire barrel. A gunsmith can hand-fit an oversized locking block to a worn barrel to allow the gun to continue functioning safely and reliably with the original barrel.

The oversized block is not an upgrade, and if your gun locks up fine with the standard locking block, there's no need to install an oversized one (the oversized block may even cause malfunctions).

Exactly how worn is your 870's current locking block? Can you post pictures? It takes a lot to wear out an 870, so unless your gun's previous owner fed tens or hundreds of thousands of shells through it, you're probably fine leaving the original locking block in.

Thanks for the feed back, I'm happy now ... ...
One of the reasons I was given this shotgun was because it HAD an extraction problem after you fired a round ... so I bought a $30.00 800-grit chamber hone, honed it for 5 minutes and then put 25 3" 000 buck magnums through it last Sunday without a hiccup .... Now my shoulder is a wee-bit sore today !

[Synchronizor]

What ammo were you experiencing problems with before honing the chamber?

[Karlo]

What ammo were you experiencing problems with before honing the chamber?

Short answer: "I don't know"

Long answer: "This weapon was given to me from one of my son's good friends for Christmas, after a serial# check with Remington this weapon is 17-years-old, last summer I remember going to the local gravel pit with the young men and my son's friend had random problems with about every 3rd round fired. I removed the trigger group, locking block, bolt and cleaned out years of gunk and gave all moving parts a light oil, replaced the MIM-extractor with a Non-MIM marine magnum and honed the chamber. Now it seems to function as meant to."