I remember when a shotgun would fire any shells it was chambered for,with the exception of maybe low powered shells in some old automatics.In the last year I have had experiences with several different problems with the guns or the ammo itself.First 3 brand spanking new guns,one Maverick 88 a friend bought,and two Remington 870 expresses one is mine and the other is my nieces husband.All three fired Remington buckshot and slug loads with no problems,same with some Remington express and Winchester super X heavy field loads.All three then had problems with difficulty ejecting,sometimes you could really pull hard and shell would eject,sometimes a cleaning rod had to be used to knock out the shell because the extractor had ripped through the rim(these were Remington game loads with the black hulls).The other types that have caused extraction problems are Fiocchi's target and the bulk packs of budget ammo bought at wal mart.After looking at several firearms websites it seemed the problem was either dirty chambers,or rough chambers from the factory.All three were cleaned thoroughly cleaned before the first time they were shot so dirty chambers were not the problem.So I took a bore brush wrapped in OOOO steel wool and put it in the chuck of a battery drill and lubed it up good with CLP and cleaned,polished the chamber real good.It worked great on my gun,haven't found any ammo it will not eat since.I the did the same to the other 870 and my friend did the same to his Mav 88 and they are now able to shoot the budget shells as well.I think the problems were a combo of rough unpolished chambers on these lower priced firearms and poor quality control and cheap materials on the low priced ammo.Now the other gun in question is an Ithaca Model 37 that papaw bought new in 1942 and has shot every kind of ammo without problems over the years.I bought some PMC shells and they would extract fine but some were hanging up in the receiver,I compared some fired hulls from some other brand and found out that the fired hull was longer than 2 3/4 inches on the ones that hung up and thats why they were getting stuck.Nothing you can do about that except buy another brand or shoot in a o/u or sxs.The only other shells I had problems with were Winchester AA target shells,out of a box of 25 shells 9 of them had rims that were either out of round or oversized to the point that they would not fit into the magazine tube,the AA's aint really budget shells.I can deal with polishing my own chamber,after all it is a budget priced gun and fit and finish is less than on a Wingmaster thus the lower price.The ammo problems with the PMC and the AA's in the Ithaca though are bound to be quality control problems.Well,if any body here has an 870 express that sits in a closet because it was unreliable,try the steel wool and drill trick it sure worked for me.Thanks to the shotgun guru at TFL and THR.
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Shotguns and cheap ammo
- Thread starter willis
- Start date
Cougar Allen
Buccaneer (ret.)
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Paragraphs -- they're cool!
Sorry Cougar, proper use of my own countrys language and how to write properly are one of many of my weak points.I will try to get better at this,but if you had seen how long it took me to peck that story out using just one finger you might have forgiven me by english composition skills and said to your self damn that boy sure is dumb,but he's got staying power.
bwahahahaaaaa ^^^^
Hey, I feel ya. I have a lot of friends here (school) ask me about getting a gun (usually shotguns for some reason). I generally tell them you can't go wrong with an 870 or 500...and that my preference is an 870...and OLD 870. THEN I have to explain why I would pay $320 for a 30 year old 870 in good condition rather than spend $300 on a new 870.
Still great guns, but the quality...and quality control just aren't there anymore.
...As to the AA's that's a new one, I thought they were still the measuring standard.
And the length issue is amazing. I've lined up "2 3/4" shells side by side from different makers and there is at least a 1/2" of difference between the tallest and shortest. It still amazes me we don't see more problems than we do with the one-shotgun-does-everything hunter.
Hey, I feel ya. I have a lot of friends here (school) ask me about getting a gun (usually shotguns for some reason). I generally tell them you can't go wrong with an 870 or 500...and that my preference is an 870...and OLD 870. THEN I have to explain why I would pay $320 for a 30 year old 870 in good condition rather than spend $300 on a new 870.
Still great guns, but the quality...and quality control just aren't there anymore.
...As to the AA's that's a new one, I thought they were still the measuring standard.
And the length issue is amazing. I've lined up "2 3/4" shells side by side from different makers and there is at least a 1/2" of difference between the tallest and shortest. It still amazes me we don't see more problems than we do with the one-shotgun-does-everything hunter.
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2005
- Messages
- 11,135
Thats pretty interesting stuff..... I have a friend who has alot of trouble w/ his maverick ejecting.
I have had no problems w/ my 870 since I got it though.
I have had no problems w/ my 870 since I got it though.
Absintheur
Banned
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You have discovered a truism that applies to just about everything, you get what you pay for. With the inexpensive guns they don't always polish chambers like they should. They use single actions bars, fit and finish can be somewhat lacking, quality control in general can be lower than it is for a more expensive gun.
Even Remington which is a company known for good quality has different standards for different markets. When I owned a gunshop I could look at a Remington shotgun and tell if it came from another gunshop or Wal-Mart. Customers would be amazed I could tell where they came from till I showed them the huge differences in fit and finish, even in the Express lines. There is nothing wrong with these guns, just be prepared to do a little fine tuning like Willis did.
Even Remington which is a company known for good quality has different standards for different markets. When I owned a gunshop I could look at a Remington shotgun and tell if it came from another gunshop or Wal-Mart. Customers would be amazed I could tell where they came from till I showed them the huge differences in fit and finish, even in the Express lines. There is nothing wrong with these guns, just be prepared to do a little fine tuning like Willis did.
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- Aug 1, 2006
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- 1,506
I use AA hulls for my custom hand-load cartridges, which fire #7 pellets at just over 1700 feet per second. Any of you familiar with shotgun loads (2.75") know that this is quite a killer round---and I've had no problems with the cycling of any of these loads in my weapons.
Remington 870s are undyingly reliable. Pump-action weapons, especially the cheaper variants, are undyingly reliable because of looser tolerances and good designs. You can pump them with force and clear a jam, or they won't jam at all.
A story of World War II at the battle for Stalingrad tells of Russian weapons functioning fine in the colder weather with lower-grade ammo because the tolerances were loose enough to allow the weapons to run while dirty and half-frozen. The Nazi German weapons couldn't fire because they were machined to too close tolerances---very precise. This might explain why the older Remington 870s will always be more reliable than your very high-dollar semiautomatic any day of the week, and why most Americans keep ones loaded with buckshot in the bedrooms.
Just my simple contribution.
God bless you, America, and our men and women overseas.
KATN,
Wade
619G6
Remington 870s are undyingly reliable. Pump-action weapons, especially the cheaper variants, are undyingly reliable because of looser tolerances and good designs. You can pump them with force and clear a jam, or they won't jam at all.
A story of World War II at the battle for Stalingrad tells of Russian weapons functioning fine in the colder weather with lower-grade ammo because the tolerances were loose enough to allow the weapons to run while dirty and half-frozen. The Nazi German weapons couldn't fire because they were machined to too close tolerances---very precise. This might explain why the older Remington 870s will always be more reliable than your very high-dollar semiautomatic any day of the week, and why most Americans keep ones loaded with buckshot in the bedrooms.
Just my simple contribution.
God bless you, America, and our men and women overseas.
KATN,
Wade
619G6
Hmmm... I'll contribute to this thread just because I'm new to the world of shotgun sports and I just started shooting in a trap league last night. Weee!
Long story short, I got into a club sooner than expected. I wanted to shoot trap but I didn't have a gun. Was going to buy a new 870 Express, but came across a used 870 TC Trap. Since I was going to be shooting trap, I spent the additional $$ and bought the used gun.
I have shot 6 rounds with it, and haven't cleaned it yet (I will, don't worry). I have had no problems ejecting Estate 7/8 oz 8 shot loads.
Long story short, I got into a club sooner than expected. I wanted to shoot trap but I didn't have a gun. Was going to buy a new 870 Express, but came across a used 870 TC Trap. Since I was going to be shooting trap, I spent the additional $$ and bought the used gun.
I have shot 6 rounds with it, and haven't cleaned it yet (I will, don't worry). I have had no problems ejecting Estate 7/8 oz 8 shot loads.