DuckSouth.com

dont know anyother way to describe it other than tell you what it aint doing. when you pull the trigger it dont go BOOM!!
In all seriously last week while dog training it started missing the second round then eventually the firing pin/hammmer quit working all together. I went home and took it apart sprayed it down with gunscrubber and glr( i think it is called) and cleaned the trigger assembly and inside the receiver. With trigger assm in hand clicked the safety off and pulled the trigger and the hammer worked...cocked it and it worked again. Put it back together and worked the action, clicked the safety off and nothing...worked the action again and nothing...no click..nothing.

What beez the problem?

Throw it away and buy a brand new one.

make sure your bolt is locked in good. I had one do that and it wound up being the bolt was not locked in good. the nut that holds the forearm on had loosened up that was keeping it from locking shut.

T bone there is a guy in Shelby that they say can fix anything. I have to take hime one of mine will be glad to take yours just get to me.

take the action out, push the chrome piece where the hammer hits and see if the firing pin protrudes through its hole, if it does check and see what condition its in. i bet you have some trash in the firing pin, or the pin warped so its getting friction therfore loosing speed and not contacting the primer correctly. are you getting dimpes on the ejected shell? if so thats your prob, you can either straighen it, or buy a new pin. The 870 was the most reliable shotgun ever made until remington started making the for wally world, now they are a piece of chit like anything else u buy at that store. the gun is still a sound design, just the materials are sub parr.

If the assembly works in your hand out of the reciever then the problem is in the slide mechanism. Like someone else said the nut on the end of the forearm being loose can cause this. It sounds just like the bolt is not being locked in properly. Try this: When you rack the gun, pull the trigger to see if it fires. If it doesn't can you work the slide WITHOUT mashing your slide release? If so then that's your problem. If not It could be some brass buildup around the inside of the chamber not allowing the breech to fully close. Like I said if it works in your hand but not in the gun it's got to do with the bolt not being closed.

older 870's will fire if they not locked in good, i saw it happen on a duck hunt, it was nasty, the brass came out the ejection ports and the hull went out down through the lifter. i had to field strip it in waist deep water to bend the lifter back in position, and scrape the obstruction so that the bolt would lock. really needs to be in the hands of gun smith, or in the hands of someone that understands whats happening

Bonecollecter1111 wrote:older 870's will fire if they not locked in good, i saw it happen on a duck hunt, it was nasty, the brass came out the ejection ports and the hull went out down through the lifter. i had to field strip it in waist deep water to bend the lifter back in position, and scrape the obstruction so that the bolt would lock. really needs to be in the hands of gun smith, or in the hands of someone that understands whats happening

Sir I beg to differ with you An 870 can't fire if the bolt is not closed. What you witnessed was a delay in the shell firing. I.E dud load! got wet or something that caused a delay. By this point the bolt was unlocked and was probably being racked by the shooter by the time it went off. I've had this happen to me many times myself. The safety mechanism in the 870 won't allow the gun to fire without the bolt being locked. New or old! Same trigger assembly since the beginning with the exception they now have a lock on them.

Actually what was wrong with this gun was fairly simple...... The cap that holds the slide on had backed off and there was trash in the threads giving it the appearance of it being tight. This was not allowing the action to slide foward enough to lock in and peepee the gun. The gun works like it did when it came straight out of the box.

Doc & Nash wrote:Actually what was wrong with this gun was fairly simple...... The cap that holds the slide on had backed off and there was trash in the threads giving it the appearance of it being tight. This was not allowing the action to slide foward enough to lock in and !~@# the gun. The gun works like it did when it came straight out of the box.

That generally is the case with most of them! This gun has to be one of the best inventions of all time. If it were to come out today it still would be. I can't thing of any other gun that's gone thru 59 years of production without a major change in the way it was built! The main frame,reciever, and trigger mechanism are still built just like they were in 1950! That says a lot right there!

When I was 19 I put one in lay a way with Wally World in Senatobia. It was 199.99 I told my self that it would have to last me thru College until I got a real job and could afford a real gun. Since then it has been tore completly down and cleaned 3 times and at each time I had to re-paint it because all the blue has worn off of it.

Shoots everytime and never had any problems with it. The first time I took it hunting, I dropped it in 3 ft of water before I ever shot it. I was hunting right off 55 in what is now that reserve area next to the interstate.

I've got 2 that were manufactured in the 50's Dad bout one brand new when the came out in 1950. He bought another one when the magnum version came out in 1955. Both still shoot good today. It's amazing though when you can take a part from a gun made in the fifites and put it in a gun manufactured just last year and it's still the same part! I don't believe there is another gun made that's been thru 59 years of service without changing something major about it. Just goes to show you it's hard to improve on perfection!

I agree. The 870 is often over looked. Many see it as a cheap pos and would rather has a new gun for bling. Every year I see the same guys with some new shiv still missing the same ducks. Crazy how well the marketing companies work. If your not with the newest your not the coolest.

But a lot has to do with personal opinion.

The only thing I have to say about an 870 is the older mine got, the worse the recoil?????? Funny thing is my nephew who is 19 says it doesn't kick at all?????

Get about $30K of surgery on your right shoulder, and you will get a whole new appreciation for "gas operated" guns!

I still dig my wife's 1970 model "dog training" 870 for shootin' poppers!