Sticky Shotgun

[Hunter_Jed]

My Remington 870 express has seen some fairly high volume shooting lately. I seems no matter how meticulously I disassemble and clean it, it seems to stick badly after every 5 or so rounds i.e. the slide needs to be forced back to eject the spent hull. Also, just as frequently the ejector won't grab the spent hull on the first try. Any one know what I am missing during my cleaning process?

[Hilgy]

What type of ammo are you using. Alot of the cheap stuff with steel bases will cause this same problem. Try a box of double AA or some kents to see if it helps.

[Hunter_Jed]

good advice, but I'm going to have a hard time spending that much bread on shells for rec trap and skeet shooting. I have been using winchester target loads. I get em at Canadian Tire for about $20/100 shells.

[Cariboo]

Pull the barrel and REALLY clean the chamber. Plastic shells have a nasty habit of drying out the steel pores and leaving the chamber area ripe for getting a build-up of hull plastic and microscopic rust. (One of the reason some trap shooters still today prefer wax-coated paper hulls like the Federal Gold Metal Paper)

The easiest way to really get that chamber clean is to chuck an old bore brush and section of cleaning rod in a drill. At LOW speed with plenty of bore solvent as lubricant polish the chamber and forcing cone area of the barrel. Clean with a wet patch and repeat until the patches come out clean.

If this doesn't help a trip to the gunsmith may be in order.

[Hilgy]

Hey Jed,


I would wager that those Cheap winchester shells are the problem. I shoot alot of competitive skeet and sporting clays and have seen a ton of people have the same problem as you.

If I try and shoot them through my sub gauge tubes they will do the same thing.

If you are close to Wholesale sports try a case of Remington Gun Glubs. They are not that pricey and you will get better breaks with them anyways. Plus if you ever want to reload the gun club hulls load as nice or better that AA's with the same recipe


Hilgy

[AlexB]

When i started to shoot trap I used the Federal shells from Walmart (same price as the winchester shells), they fed and ejected well. Well one weekend Walmart was sold out so I picked up the Winchester shells at Crappy tire and I had problems. I cant remember exactly what was wrong but I did not like the shells.I guess my gun just did not like the winchester shells. The next week I went back to shooting the federal shells and had no problems. I have not gone back to the winchester shells and have not had a problem since. Give the Federal shot shells a go and see if you continue to have the same problem.

Alex