Rem 870 Not Ejecting

Hello again everyone,

I have a 2000 Remington 870 Express Magnum 12ga, I don't know how many rounds I have shot through it but it is around 15,000. Recently while shooting some clays the only way to eject the shell was to use excessive force. I figured it just needed cleaning. After I broke it down and scrubbed till everything was cleaned. Nothing changed I shot 5 rounds and had to slam the pump back to eject every shell. After some research on the interweb I reclean change shells and still had problems.

Any ideas on what could be going on or what parts might need to be replaced or should I just take it to a gun smith?

My first guess would be either a worn ejector, ejector spring, or both. That first guess is based on you saying all cleaned up. I'm no gunsmith, so the key word there is "guess".

What types of rounds were you using?

My 870 does this with cheap winchester shells as I found out last weekend.

Based on your description, it sounds like the issue is extraction (removal from the chamber), rather than ejection (from the shotgun), is that a fair description?

If so, the first step I'd advise is replacing the extractor with a non-mim version. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/138720/...100-12-20-gauge

I have the same issue. Everything I found online says it is related to cheap Winchester casing expanding into grooves located on various portions of the chamber. My experiences were with cheap Winchester shells as well. I just had UPS pick up my weapon yesterday for repairs at Remington. From my understanding, feeling out the grooves and "polishing" them away apparently does the trick. I'd rather have Remington do it instead of coding my warranty by unofficially modifying my own weapon. There are numerous videos on YouTube about it. Hope that helps.

Yep. I already sent mine back once to Remington because I had a lot of failures to eject and they "polished the chamber". Looks pretty half-a$$ed if you ask me. I am probably going to redo it with my dremel in the next couple of weeks.

My first 870 never had this problem, ate up everything I fed it. Then it was stolen. They really just don't make them like they use to!

I have a 870 wingmaster I bought in 1978. I also have an 870 I bought in 2008. The 1978 model has a smoother action and feels better all around. I agree, they dont make em like they used to.

Of course the 78 model has a smoother action... it is a Wingmaster not an express, and has 30 years worth of use over the 2008. Also has real wood furniture... Apples and oranges.

GWood Yes I was using the cheap Winchester rounds.

BSide - Yes you are correct, and thank you for correcting me. I am having issues with extraction.

As far as polishing the chamber, I think I will hold off on this till after I try a different brand of shell and replace the ejector and ejector spring.

Be sure to replace the extractor too. It's a common cause of the failure.

I pulled out the extractor, extractor plunger, and extractor spring. All the parts seem to be in working order and with little or no wear. Could there be anything else going on?

They will look like that. Try reassemble it and work it back and forth a couple times. If there some grit you might consider upgrading the ejector or at least polishing it.

If you have an 870 Express, you NEED to replace the extractor with the non mim versio. The mim extractor is bad and Remington should feel bad for using it. The geometry is wrong. Most of the time this doesn't present a problem, but the low bras win stuff is particularly problematic.

I hope Remington replaces my extractor. If they don't, I'll look into finding the non MIM version myself. Either way, keep us posted on the outcome as this seems to be a common issue with the Remington 870.

Actually after I took out and examined the extractor spring and plunger and re-installed I went out and bought a box of Remington STS. I did not have a single problem with the entire box. So in my opinion it was the shells. Thank you guys for helping out.

Bside I just saw your post, thank you for pic and explanation I think I will change it out now.

I just got done polishing the breech on mine. I noticed how rough the it looked and figured that could be causing some friction on the rim of the hull. Now it is mirror smooth.

My 870, which I previously had named Bob Marley, will no longer be jammin.

Just an update on my situation since it's related to the reported problem. Remington has logged my gun in for repairs and claims that the issue is with them not leaving in some piece during chamber creation, which led to there not being enough room to allow for clear ejection of expanded casings. They claim it has nothing to do with the extractor and that they will "expand" my chamber before polishing it to fix the issue. I highly doubt that they will expand the chamber. All I fear I can expect at this point is a poor polishing job of the chamber like the other guy stated earlier regarding his experience with Remington's repair job. I still believe it's a combo issue of poor quality chamber and extractor. The rep did admit to this being a large problem with numerous Remington 870 Express shotguns and indirectly admitted it was a poor QC issue. The rep said that they were swamped with repairs due to hunting season. What I took from it was that most people were probably sending in their shotguns to correct QC issues because they purchased for this year's hunting season only to learn that they had invested in frustration and a 5 week delay before they can hope/pray for a usable shotgun upon receipt of their returned weapon. At first I didn't really care too much as long as I could get my shotgun "fixed" aka elevated to a higher level of functioning that most quality manufacturers and their consumers would simply call proper working order, but now I'm quite irritated that Remington has manufactured so many shotguns with known issues and continue to sell them like an item off the dollar menu at McDonald's with no plans to correct the flaw(s) or recall to prevent poor experiences on the consumer side. I know ya'll don't know me from Adam, but I'm NOT the complaining type. I usually just go with the flow and make the best out of situations, but I must admit that with this being my first experience with investing in a Remington weapon, I am quite sure that it will be my last plus I cannot recommend them to anyone else.

Side Note: The customer service reps have been nice and helpful from what their position and I can't blame them for this issue, but I still can't get over the fact that I shouldn't have to deal with them for a brand new weapon.

I own a FG 870 express as well, and echo your recommendation that people stay the heck away from them.

Find a decent used wingmaster or police, or find one that's beaten to hell and send it to Wilson Combat. Just don't buy an 870Exp.

If you have one, I'd consider the extractor and magazine follower to be required replacements, and polishing the chamber a required step. Refinishing too if you live near the coast/in a humid environment.

Such a shame, I have a pre freeedom group Express, and you couldn't make that thing jam if you wanted to.

Like others have said the cheap rounds. I had the same problem.

I would get a decent, inexpensive rotary tool from amazon and some polishing compound and polish the chamber and breech to a mirror finish yourself. That will really make a difference. At least it did for mine.

Last weekend I found I had a half a box of the cheap winchester super x loads, same ones that were locking up my gun. I decided to try and run them through since having polished everything. To my surprise they ran fine. Your results may vary though!

Best of luck!