From another thread:
If you have time, I'd like to hear more about the mechanical failures you've seen in pump shotguns. The family inventory includes 500s and 870s.Originally Posted by nyeti
From another thread:
If you have time, I'd like to hear more about the mechanical failures you've seen in pump shotguns. The family inventory includes 500s and 870s.
I too would be interested to hear more about shotgun reliability.
The first shotgun I bought was from ai&p tactical. The claim is that Remington 870 shotguns can be easily upgraded to the police model with a few parts upgrades (which he does) he also Parkerizes the guns. All of this appears reasonable but I really have not heard from an independent source if this is worth it.
My second pump is just a cheap Hawk 982 (Chinese 870 clone) which is available for less than $200. I am satisfied with this purchase but wonder if I should perform some of the same upgrades (and would the Remington parts fit?) The only upgrade I did to the shotgun was replace the butt pad (Limbsaver 870 youth model will fit,).
Do people change out the magazine springs in the magazine tube? I only see replacement springs advertised for the extended tube and I am worried about cutting coils (probably because people tell me not to cut coils off the trigger spring, this spring may be fine to cut for all I know).
I have been wondering if I should take an armorer/gunsmith course for the pump. I have no idea even where to lube it. I just take it apart and grease the parts that move, including the slide assembly and bolt and locking block assembly though I do not think these parts require any lube.
Oh and while I am rambling about things I do not understand, does anyone have any information about the scheme to make the shotgun safety lock the firing pin (or was it hammer) as well. There was a guy who had an add on, but he made a legal ass of himself and I never heard about the technical merits of the scheme.
Just found this link combat-shotgun forum/
oh and my favorite internet jape is from the AI&P website
The second photo album are the after pictures. Notice the TPD on the receiver, remember the beat up barrel? The heavy Zinc looks a little sparkly as it is heavy Zinc, you oil it and it is as black as my ex-wife's heart.
I like mine... So far. $180 at Academy a few months ago.
Still trying to find Federal LE132-1B for it to make sure it works with the ammo I want it to carry.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
An 870P has all machined internals, so I don't know how easy it would be to convert an 870 to an 870P. That said, how many rounds does it take to wear out an 870 Express? Probably more than most people ever shoot. The Benelli Nova and the Mossy 590 would probably be good choices too. If it breaks, it isn't going to be a field fix anyway, so it might not be such a big deal. Most shotguns are fairly simplistic, and you could probably do the fix at home with a punch and 10 minutes.
Last edited by John Ralston; 10-22-2013 at 09:31 PM.
The only real "gunsmith type" repairs on an 870 is the shell latches and the ejector. These are rather tricky and benefit from special staking tools. Replacing some of the springs in the trigger group are beyond your average Glock enthusiast's abilities, as well; but the bottom line is, these things hardly EVER break.
We kept up to a dozen "range shotguns" handy for training extras, etc. They got used pretty hard; much more than the average shotgun issued to the individual trooper. We had to replace/repair the shell latches on those miserable Ithaca 37s fairly frequently. Once we moved to 870s, all that effort went away.
When I retired, the sheriff's office range I went to work out did the same thing, except those 870s got used even more. Many of the S.O. personnel are not issued a shotgun, but are required to be qualified on it (jail folks, etc.).
Truth is, the 870 is about as simple and robust of a weapon "platform" (sorry, I'm feeling all tingly and tactical this morning) you can get. With just a bit of maintenance, it will provide you with much trouble-free service.
If you're really that concerned about it, I would purchase a complete extra trigger group. These are a drop-in replacement, and given the manufacturing shortcuts/increased use of plastic in this component as of late, I suspect it is now the weak link in the 870 system. Just my opinion, I dunno for sure as I haven't been around any recent-production examples. The one I bought when I retired has a plastic trigger group with that retarded "diallable" safety to lock the trigger. The gun hasn't had 100 shells through it in six years; I bought it mainly "just because", so while I find that trigger group distasteful, I'm not worried about it... for now. I keep meaning to score a "real" trigger group (all metal, no lock), but have simply neglected to get around to it.
If that suddenly became my only shoulder gun, I'd be scrambling to find an extra trigger group.
Just sayin'...
.
The worst thing that I have seen was an 870P that simply wouldn't feed rounds that had been loaded into the tube brass first. Big Green should be ashamed of themselves for letting that particular gun get past quality control. Pump shotguns are supposed to feed everything!!!
----
I bought a used/agency trade-in 870P years ago and took it to a 40 hour shotgun instructor course. I didn't realize that the detent ball was missing from the mag cap. Thankfully, I caught that something "didn't look right" in the middle of a course of fire and stopped. The mag cap was working loose. One of the instructors was an armorer and had the parts to fix it.
One of the other instructors was kind enough to take it home over night and thread it for choke tubes. The next day before class started, they made a big deal of asking me if there was any other work I would like to have done on my gun before the shooting started.
I have seen a few issues caused by improper sidesaddle installation.
I saw the the safety button fly off of a Mossy/New Haven 600.
Recently, I won a 590A1 in a drawing, but I have yet to fire a shot through it; so, no reports.
ProTip: Non-MIM 870P extractors are NOT drop-in parts. At least not in my experience.
What does drop in mean to you, Tam?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk
The dictionary definition or the parts catalog definition?
To translate catalog-speak into English:
- "Drop In" Installation: Some fitting required.
- Some Fitting Required: Better take it to a good gunsmith.
- Gunsmith Installation Recommended: ...and bring money.
Was actually a serious question. To be used as a data point for something I'm writing.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk
Reply With Quote
