Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns lubing an 870 shotgun

Why should the OP have to pay to have that done on a new shotgun?

D: It's new and doesn't work. Return to the place he bought it from and get something else.

Any new 870 should have the stock and fore end removed. Remove the bolt from the stock. Spray it out with carb cleaner. When dry spray some Eezox inside the receiver and inside the fore end tube. Wipe it down while wet with Eezox and reassemble.

If it won't run 1000 rounds without issue after that get rid of it. I am with Battue on this one. I have dropped an 870 overboard into loon [bleep] and all it took to keep going was to jack the shells out of it and then work the action in water a few times.

I walked into an 870 marine magnum that had so much plastic in the barrel that it took a whole can of carb cleaner spray and a brush chucked up in a drill, yet it still worked just fine.

DId all that just recently on my 10 year old 870 still rough as a cob.

This is both sad and humorous that Remington can no longer make an 870 that works and keeps doing so with little more than a wipe down. They used to and they are out there to be easily found.

50 rounds and it is sticking and it isn't because of lubricant on the shell. Nor the barrel getting hot from 50 rounds.

Have an old Wingmaster that I can't wouldn't know how many rounds have gone down the barrel. Beat up trap gun when I bought it, used it myself for trap for a few years and also used it in the field and for sporting clays. I've got at least 10,000 rounds out of it and who knows how many from the previous owners.


The barrel hasn't had an inside wipe in years. Feed it and it works.

The only thing it doesn't like all that well is some of the new Spanish shell offerings. Especially those made with steel instead of brass in that the steel doesn't spring back enough in the chamber to allow easy ejection. Feed it Remington, Winchester or Federal cases and it just keep running smooth.

Best suggestion, trade it in on and old 870 Wingmaster and enjoy trouble free shooting with minimal maintenance.

First, I didn't say it was the lube on the shell thing. Don't believe it is though I've seen something like that instructing 4-H trap with heavily used club guns.

I have seen various model pumps including 870's exhibit the symptoms the OP describes, gradually increasing difficulty opening the action after firing until the kid couldn't do it anymore and the coach had difficulty. If you consider the surface area of the hull being held in contact with a sticky chamber it doesn't take much. In all instances a THOROUGH cleaning of the chamber up to the spinning steel wool trick fixed it. Occasionally it was surface rust and a true polish fixed it. It's a place to start, quick and easy.

IMHO all new firearms should be field stripped and cleaned before use as a matter of course. You don't know what the manufacturer used as a preservative. It may not lubricate well, it may thicken in the cold, it may have oxidized sticky sitting on the dealer's shelf a long time. You just don't know.

(Yes, I'm having a particularly crabby day.)

I much prefer Wingmasters, either old or new, to the Express line.