Weird Remington 870 Malfunction?

[Magsz]

Let me preface all of this by saying in my life, I probably have something like 750 rounds of buck and slug through the platform which is NOT a ton. I have been issued a Remington 870 SBS with a 14 inch barrel that I have never shot outside of qualification and department training. I prefer to run my issued rifle instead. I barely know what i'm doing when it comes to shotguns as far as what the general failures, problems, malfunctions etc may be.

I can diagnose AR15 issues with my eyes closed and half dead. Shotguns...not so much.

Having said all of this. I have recently fallen in love with shotguns after getting a 1301 and have decided to invest some time, money and effort into learning more about the gauge.

I picked up a Vang Comp 870 965 with Walnut stocks. Holy...shit is this thing cool.

I took it to the range today and ran some high brass slugs and 9 pellet buck through it just to check function. This stuff ranges from 1200 fps to 1350 fps.

I had the same issue twice.

I would breech load (combat load) the gun with either buck or a slug. The slide would be moved forward putting the gun into battery.

I would go to insert a shell into the magazine tube and the lifter would impede my ability to get the shell into the tube. It seemed as thought he lifter wasn't able to move upwards enough. I ensured that the gun was in battery. I physically pressed the lifter "up" in an effort to move it but it wouldn't budge. It was NOT stuck in the down position, it just appeared as though it couldn't move all the way "up". I didn't want to press beyond its "stop" point as I didn't want to break anything.

The "fix" was to eject the round, reinsert and then top the mag tube off. This happened twice. I do NOT believe it was an ammo related issue as I was able to chamber and load the same rounds after "fixing" the malfunction.

Can someone explain to me what may be going on? Is this an operator error of some type? If so, educate me, please.

[TCinVA]

Doesn't sound like operator error.

When the bolt is fully forward and the action is locked (meaning you can't just run the pump back and forth) the lifter should easily allow you to put shells into the magazine tube.

There could be multiple potential problems causing this behavior.

If a shell is not completely beyond both of the shell stops (there are two on the 870, one on each side of the receiver) then the lifter's upward movement will be blocked by the back end of the shell. I've seen multiple recent production 870's with issues centered around the shell stops not operating properly, including a Wilson Combat shotgun that likely had the issue from Remington but it wasn't spotted or corrected by Wilson.

I'm assuming the magazine tube is empty based on your description, though, which would center the most likely culprit as something wrong in the trigger plate. If the lifter can't move freely it could be an issue with the lifter itself, the carrier dog, or a bent/out of spec action lock.

The simplest way to check if the problem is in the trigger group is to remove your gun's trigger group and replace with a trigger group from a gun that is working as it should. If the problem continues then something inside the receiver is munged. Possibly an improperly staked shell stop getting in the way, possibly just a burr inside the receiver that hits just right every now and then, etc.

If the problem disappears with the new trigger group in the gun then you have your answer. I'm the kind of crazy that I usually have an entire spare 870 trigger group handy when I teach a class and I've been known to throw it into a gun that's having problems to allow the owner to continue through class as there isn't time or usually spare parts to fix whatever is wrong inside their trigger group. If you're looking to be a serious 870 guy having a spare trigger group is a pretty good idea. My problem is that I end up having entire 870's sprout up around the trigger groups because I can't stop myself.

The good news for you is that since you bought the gun from Vang, they are highly likely to be interested in fixing whatever is wrong. So if you don't want to fool with it you can probably call them up and they'll handle it for you. They may even have a simple suggestion that will resolve the issue off the bat. I'm ok with an 870 but they've got me beat on volume by a long, long stretch.

[Magsz]

Hmmm.

Great information. Thank you.

I'm going to have to play with it some more before I reach out to anyone.

I have noticed that the shell catch is a little "laggy" sometimes when I'm doing slug changeover drills with snap caps. Sometimes I'll push the shell back in and the catch wont engage which results in the shell being ejected onto the lifter when I fully rack the pump.

Again, i'm not sure if this is a user error or what.