870 hammer dented

[Straight Shooter]

Wow! I didn't figure that was a metal trigger plate because of what appear to be unfinished mould markings on either side of the hammer, as well as the kind of jagged seam/line by your thumb, above the trigger pin bushing. A lot of our 870P trigger plates are natural metal finish on the top side. I just went and pulled one of our spares out, the difference in apparent quality of the plate itself is astounding.

I'm even more glad all my personal 870's are over 20 years old (and Wingmasters).

26Inf..or anyone else- when is the "cut-off" date so-to-speak on buying defense 870's? I too do not & will not buy anything under 8-10 years old, but is there a specific serial number or date that the guns are good to go? Been wondering about this while, thanks for any info.

[26 Inf]

Attachment 39763


Here is a side view...

Who can I send my trigger group to and have them replace my hammer?...haven't found a good how to video on how to replace the hammer.

I'm just really curious on how this happened, as well.

Pretty much any gunstore that does any gunsmithing would be able to do it.

Here is what you'll need to do it:

Hammer Pin - I'd get two in case you screw one up.

Hammer Pin Washer - I'd get one, you should be able to reuse the old one.

Hammer

all shown here:

http://www.shopremingtoncountry.com/...&Action=submit

You can refer to this schematic: http://www.mcarbo.com/remington-870-...oded-view.aspx

First thing you want to do is remove the carrier pivot tube (13 on the schematic). Do this by maintaining some downward pressure on the carrier dog (number 8) as you push the pivot tube out. The pressure keeps the spring and plunger from getting away from you. Slide the shell carrier (number 7) forward and off the trigger plate as you control the carrier dog spring and plunger (number 9 and 10). Remove the spring and plunger. This gets the shell carrier out of the way so you can work more easily on the hammer pin.

Now take a look at the side of the trigger group with the action bar lock on it. We are going to loosen/remove the action bar lock so you need to make sure you look and see the the tail of the action bar goes UNDER the left connector (number 14) so that you reassemble correctly. Let the hammer go forward and now look at the hammer plunger (number 35) notice how the action bar lock activator leg interacts with the hammer plunger. Next look at the trigger plate from the front, noting how the action bar lock spring (number 2) is routed. Since I've taken it down this far, I'd install a new spring, these quite often break on the high use police guns. Here's the link:

http://www.shopremingtoncountry.com/...&Action=submit

To remove the trigger pin I lay the trigger plate on it's side with the action bar lock down. The hammer should be forward. I slide it over to the edge of the bench and make sure the end of the pin is out over the edge of the bench - you could use and aromorer's block, but I do it this way. Take a punch and gently tap out the old hammer pin. Make sure you aren't banging the action bar lock on the bench as it could bend.

As the trigger pin comes out, there is still some spring pressure against the action bar lock actuator leg so make sure you control everything.

Now just reverse the process making sure you get the tail of the action bar lock under the left connector and the action bar lock spring routed correctly.

The most difficult thing for me is staking the hammer pin. I generally go to a corner of my bench and orient the trigger plate so the flat end of the trigger pin is against bench. I've also use the jaw of my larger vise (vise is opened wide). I have used a c-clamp to hold the plate in place if no one is around, otherwise I have one of the kids hold it while I stake it. I just use the edge of a screwdriver and stake it from inside the pin to out side in 3 or 4 places.

Easy as that - I'd give it a whirl, if you don't get it right you can always send it off, you wont hurt anything.

[GH41]

I get irritated watching this guy but I am way too lazy to make a movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7ousNw5QEM

[jahwarrior1423]

Thank you for the instructions. I did send a email to VangComp about the issue. They helped me out in the past with great customer service...so I'm in no position to point fingers at them. Just waiting to hear back and see what they recommend.

The instructions you typed out should help me out if I tackle this myself

[26 Inf]

26Inf..or anyone else- when is the "cut-off" date so-to-speak on buying defense 870's? I too do not & will not buy anything under 8-10 years old, but is there a specific serial number or date that the guns are good to go? Been wondering about this while, thanks for any info.

The Express came out in 1987. Up to that point it was all Wingmasters. Anything with an S, T, or V serial number prefix was before that date.

I don't think you can go wrong with any Wingmaster, but in recent years it has become harder to find them as the budget-minded Expresses sell better.

DuPont owned Remington until 1993. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) owned them until 2007 when they sold to Cerberus Group who formed Freedom Group to mange their firearms companies.

If I had to choose a date it wouldn't be much after 1993. CD&R is an investment group, assumably with no real passion for firearms other than profit. Dang sure know 2007 was a bad year.

Here is what I have for serial numbers:

S-68, T-74, V-78, W-84, X-90, A-91, B-94, C-97, D-01, AB-05

Probably I'd guess low B serial numbers would be okay -even in the Express line; anything after AB may be chancy.

[Straight Shooter]

The Express came out in 1987. Up to that point it was all Wingmasters. Anything with an S, T, or V serial number prefix was before that date.

I don't think you can go wrong with any Wingmaster, but in recent years it has become harder to find them as the budget-minded Expresses sell better.

DuPont owned Remington until 1993. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) owned them until 2007 when they sold to Cerberus Group who formed Freedom Group to mange their firearms companies.

If I had to choose a date it wouldn't be much after 1993. CD&R is an investment group, assumably with no real passion for firearms other than profit. Dang sure know 2007 was a bad year.

Here is what I have for serial numbers:

S-68, T-74, V-78, W-84, X-90, A-91, B-94, C-97, D-01, AB-05

Probably I'd guess low B serial numbers would be okay -even in the Express line; anything after AB may be chancy.

Brother-THANK YOU, that's awesome info, & exactly what I was wanting to know..appreciate it!!

[jahwarrior1423]

The washer says it's for synthetic, could it still be used for my metal trigger housing?

[jahwarrior1423]

VangComp replied back to my email. He stated that Hans believes it is caused by dry firing.

Wonder if there's a company that sells a hammer that is a stronger material?

[tango-papa]

I had the timney kit in my old trigger group. Sent my 870 in for some work at VangComp. Had them enlarge the loading port and ejection port while they had it. In order to enlarge the loading port, you need the metal trigger housing. So that was the reason I bought the police trigger group.

Again, I do not remember that dent after receiving it from VangComp. Curiots what could cause it. I will take more pictures tomorrow

Would you post pics of those mods?

Thanks,
tp

[G19A3]

Good news is that is well below where the hammer hits the firing pin.

VangComp replied back to my email. He stated that Hans believes it is caused by dry firing.

I'm no 870 expert, but if what 26 Inf says is true, how can a divot be formed where that area has no contact with the firing pin?

Or conversely, if the hammer (not in the divot area) does contact the firing pin during dry firing, it there an extra piece of receiver material sticking out that contacts the divot portion of the hammer at the same time the non-divot portion hits the firing pin? If that hammer didn't leave the factory with that divot and therefore bad QC, I would think the hammer has a bad Rockwell hardness, again bad QC.

AND how many countless 870's in service with PD's, some for almost half a century and have been dry fired countless times and put away wet, would they also have divots on their hammers?

Again I'm no 870 expert like Vang, but that seems like a weird statement coming from someone (Vang) who should know better about 870's.