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Question for gunsmiths - Remington 870


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A friend of mine recently bought a youth model remington 870 for his granddaughter. 20 ga. and with the "express" finish. It has been fired a few times since purchase.

 

The initial problem was that they could not load any rounds into the magazine. While there was a plug in the magazine it was not so long as to prevent rounds from fitting.

 

It was determined (I apologize now if I don't know the proper part names) that the carrier was not raising far enough to allow the lip on the rear of the shell to pass forward into the magazine. It appeared as though the raised flanges on either side of the carrier were being blocked by the bottom of the bolt carrier(?). I don't know if the bottom of the bolt carrier was improperly inlet to make room for the flanges or if the flanges were simply too tall.

 

I removed the slide, bolt and bolt carrier to get a look at them. Nothing was obvious to me about improper inletting on the bolt carrier.

 

With the bolt removed rounds easily fed into the magazine.

 

What I DID notice was that the bolt carrier looked like it was made for a Remington 1100 as it had the slot in it that would correspond to the slot for the bolt handle on an 1100. Question: Are the bolt carriers for the 870 and 1100 interchangeable?

 

Next problem: Upon attempting to reassemble the shotgun, the bolt/slide assembly would not easily go back into the receiver. With some fiddling around I could get them in the receiver, however they would get stuck and not retract back far enough to replace the barrel. Cycling the action was out of the question.

 

It just so happened that we were at a Cowboy match while checking the gun and several of us had experience with 870's (including one who had gone through a PD armorer's course on the 870) and we were all stymied on the problem.

 

The end result was the slide/action bar was replaced and the bolt and bolt carrier went home in a bag.

 

I figure somebody here has got to know the answer to this problem.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Black Angus McPherson

 

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the triggrer and lifter assembly works the same way in all and if my old mind is working good i think these few parts are the same. the lifter has to be bent slightly to accomade the rounds sickling . i have worked on 1100's 11/87's and 870's all in 12g .nerver delt with a 20 but theinternals work the same.call remington and talk to a armerer. there should be a authorized repair close to where you live the office will tell you where to go.i have been to thier factory school a couple times lan still have the repair manuals

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If the follower extends too far into the action It will cause this problem. I found out when the (Plastic) follower on my elderly 1100 wore enough to extend into the action. Try pushing it forward with your finger and then pushing the carrier up.

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True, the bolts are different. I am puzzled that he reports that the bolt carrier looked like it was from an 1100.

 

The trigger group and the magazine are very similar, and that is where I have seen similar problems. The plastic follower sometimes becomes worn enough to slip past the shell stop and prevent the carrier from moving enough to let a shell into the magazine.

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The Bolt for an 870 is completely different than the bolt for an 1100 or an 1187. I have both and they look and function completely differently.

It's the part the actual bolt rides on and has tabs that fit on top of the action bars that looks like it came from an 1100. I don't know what to call it other than a "bolt carrier". The bolt does not have a slot for an 1100 type bolt handle. The bolt carrier(?) has a slot for an 1100 type bolt handle.

 

It's not the follower causing a problem. The carrier will lift enough to allow a shell to start into the magazine. It's just that the shell will get stuck before the base can get past the end of the carrier and fully into the magazine.

 

If I still had the gun I'd take pictures to show you all what I'm talking about.

 

Meanwhile, thanks for all the suggestions. If I ever hear back about what the actual problem was/is I'll let you know.

 

Angus

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