View Full Version : Shotgun malfunction: mechanical cause?
I shot my first shotgun match this weekend with a police trade-in 870 that has certainly seen better days. On stage two I had a malfunction where the empty shell refused to eject. I had to mortar the gun like clearing a stuck case in an AR and it popped loose.
My question is, since this is a used gun, what might be the mechanical cause of this in the shotgun? I'm not going to go chasing gremlins right away but if it persists what might I look at as the cause?
What kind of shells were you using, Rob?
What kind of shells were you using, Rob?
The Walmart cheapy birdshot loads are notorious for sticking in the chambers of some shotguns, I've seen it lock up an 870 Tactical that ran 100% with standard quality loads.
Other wise, extractor spring tension or a rough chamber.
The Walmart cheapy birdshot loads are notorious for sticking in the chambers of some shotguns, I've seen it lock up an 870 Tactical that ran 100% with standard quality loads.
Other wise, extractor spring tension or a rough chamber.
Exactly. I have a few 'flawless' shotguns that get the cheap shells to jam up once in a while.
My Mossy 500 had issues with cheap walmart bulk, too. Nothing major like your issue, but enough that I could notice increased difficulty in cycling the action. Really made for a sore arm after a two day class. It was a mix of Winchester and Federal I believe.
My guns' issues are particularly with the cheap Winchester shells. Everything else runs fine. What were you shooting?
The Walmart cheapy birdshot loads are notorious for sticking in the chambers of some shotguns, I've seen it lock up an 870 Tactical that ran 100% with standard quality loads.
Other wise, extractor spring tension or a rough chamber.
I'll echo the extractor spring tension and chamber issue. I've repaired and refurbed more 870's than I'd care to imagine in my career. Police 870s are a mixed bag. Car mounted guns generally are carried a lot and fired little. In my agency, the academy guns and precinct issued take home guns were ridden very hard and were often aged men o' war. It could very well be a cheap ammo issue, but if this happens again or if you feel the need, change that spring. Scrubbing the chamber with a strong cleaner and a brass or copper brush might also be in order. Who knows how many years of gunk is in that thing.
Yeah, it was cheap birdshot. No idea what make as it was from an old grab bag of ammo that's easily 10+ years old.
At least I wasn't the guy that put a 3.5" shell in a 3" gun!
+1 on the cheap loads. At our last skeet shoot, one guy's 870 'tactical' had to be mortared several times. It was Federal wally world crap, and a switch to some ancient field loads I had lying around fixed the issue. My old 870P had no issues with it, though.
At least I wasn't the guy that put a 3.5" shell in a 3" gun!
That'll buff right out......:nono:
It fired, and even extracted, but wouldn't eject as the ejection port wasn't large enough. I can't even figure out why someone would have a 3.5" shell with them at all at a competitive shooting event.
Had the same problem recently. Turns out it was a bad magazine spring. The company installed a new one, as a "just in case" they also put a new extractor spring in.
During shotgun training I experienced something similar. We were using new 14" Remington 870 Police Magnums firing Remington Disintigrator 2 3/4" #4 buckshot loads. I fired, something felt a little strange about it and I couldn't rack the foreend. I had to mortar the shotgun on the concrete floor to get the bolt to move rearward. It's not the best ammunition in the world. Shit happens.
Rob, our work guns (all 870's) do this all the time with buck and slug loads. You know who our primary instructor is and he hasn't been able to work it out. This is one reason why I prefer my Mossberg - dual extractors.
n/m - just saw where you said it did extract.
xrayoneone
10-22-11, 22:05
My experience is that it is probably dirty, regardles of ammo it shouldn't lock up like that. We've been experiencing that problem with our issue 870's and it has come down to the accumulated build up of plastics, carbon and such, especialy in the locking areas. Many people run a swab down the bore, see it is brite and assume it is clean. One pass with a brush will start to peel off the layers of wad fouling, and being a police trade in there is probably years of build up. Depending on the size of the police department that owned it it is very likely that thing was shot for each qualification and cleaned very little.
A thorough cleaning should alleviate the problem. Strip the bolt and pay close attention to the locking area in the barrel. You should inspect the locking lug and recess for any galling, cracks, etc. For stubborn plastic fouling we have a tornado brush on a one peice rod attached to a variable power drill.
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