# 870 not shooting some shells



## Duckhawk (Jan 9, 2011)

I've been having some problems with my shotgun and shells during the waterfowl season, this morning was the 4th hunt that I have cheeked up on the gun pulled the trigger and it not go off. 

The primer is getting hit and leaving an indention. The gun thinks the shell shot cause the action opens and I can pump the shell out. Any thoughts on why this is happening?

Gun is a remington 870 and the shells are hevi shot heavy metal 


I shot it yesterday fne and this morning fine except for 2 shots


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## one hogman (Jan 9, 2011)

I have several 870s never had that problem, How small is the primer strike? if it is a good dent in the primer, the shells are bad, if it is a light strike, [ small dent] either the firing pin assy / bolt is binding or the hammer spring is weak or misaligned, I would drop out the trigger assy and make sure the firing pin seemed to be coming out properly when the hammer strikes the back of the bolt, if you don;t have an owners manual you can pull them up online at Remington's website. if it is a pretty new gun Remington should take care of the firearm problem if not I would find a good local smith if a good cleaning and lube does not correct this, these guns are KNOWN for always working, this is rare unless the gun is very old and hasn't been properly maintained, hope this helps.


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## Duckhawk (Jan 9, 2011)

Gun is less than 1 year old, and I clean it atleast 1 time a week during the season


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## Arrow3 (Jan 9, 2011)

one hogman said:


> I have several 870s never had that problem, How small is the primer strike? if it is a good dent in the primer, the shells are bad, if it is a light strike, [ small dent] either the firing pin assy / bolt is binding or the hammer spring is weak or misaligned, I would drop out the trigger assy and make sure the firing pin seemed to be coming out properly when the hammer strikes the back of the bolt, if you don;t have an owners manual you can pull them up online at Remington's website. if it is a pretty new gun Remington should take care of the firearm problem if not I would find a good local smith if a good cleaning and lube does not correct this, these guns are KNOWN for always working, this is rare unless the gun is very old and hasn't been properly maintained, hope this helps.




I guess its a possibility it could be the shells but me and Duckhawk bought a case and split them...I haven't had any problems...


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## Duckhawk (Jan 9, 2011)

I posted up some pics...........


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## miles58 (Jan 9, 2011)

You have a response in the other forum.


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## chase870 (Jan 9, 2011)

Tighten the nut that holds the forearm on the action bars


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## one hogman (Jan 9, 2011)

This is something I didn't consider if the barrel is not snugged up fully in place it could set the distance out from the bolt and poss cause a light strike on the primer, The forend nut does hold the barrel on ,  looks like you have a lot of info, good luck, I hope you figure it out.


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## Duckhawk (Jan 9, 2011)

Thanks for the advice....... I've tightened the forend nut, oiled the bolt and firing pin and got the magazine cap tight as I can get it. Maybe I can get out and fire it tomorrow


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## chase870 (Jan 10, 2011)

one hogman said:


> This is something I didn't consider if the barrel is not snugged up fully in place it could set the distance out from the bolt and poss cause a light strike on the primer, The forend nut does hold the barrel on ,  looks like you have a lot of info, good luck, I hope you figure it out.



Right the barrell isnt the issue the play tin the fore arm will cause the bolt to not lock all the way up in some cases


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## Dead Eye Eddy (Jan 12, 2011)

Duckhawk said:


> The gun thinks the shell shot cause the action opens and I can pump the shell out.



That has nothing to do with whether or not the shell fires.  The slide release automatically triggers everytime the trigger is pulled and the hammer falls, even when dry firing.

From the looks of the pictures, those primers were hit hard enough that they should have fired.  I would guess it's either a loose barrel or a gummed-up firing pin.  Have you had the gun completely broken down with the bolt out of the receiver?  If not, it's easy to do.  There are videos on youtube.com that show how.


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