Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Question on an 870

I have a Remington 870 in 20 ga, it is the LW Magnum. It is the Wingmaster, not the new cheap ones they are building. Bought used , have not fired it yet. The gun seems to have been well used, action was slick and bore was clean so I bought it.

It seemed a little finicky about taking 2 shells into the magazine, so I removed the magazine spring and barrel to see how it was plugged (I could only get 2 shells to fit into the magazine). Turns out, it does not have a plug at all, but the magazine spring is severely kinked in about 4 or 5 places. Does a normal 870 have a straight mag. spring and a plastic plug to keep it down to 2 in the magazine, or am I witnesssing some bubba engineering here?

Thanks in advance for assistance!

Call me bubba. I once used a pencil as a plug. It got caught up in the spring and would only allow one shell in the mag. (It worked for years before jamming the spring)

I fabbed a plug for my Mossberg .410 out of a plastic clothes hanger piece, works fine!

"Normal" 870 has a straight spring and a green, plastic plug.

The time frame your 870 LW was built if your shotgun has mahogany wood the magazine plug would have been made of wood.

Just straighten out the kinks in the magazine spring if possible
then stretch out the spring and put it back in the mag tube.

Doc

This, The good Dr. is right as usual

The magazine spring s/b straight. Replacements are fairly cheap. A piece of 5/8 dowl rod about 5" long should work fine. I cut mine and then round the edges with sand paper to reduce the chances of catching on the spring. Seal it with some thompsons or shellac you have around and install it inside the tube. Mines been working since the mid 80's.

When you order a spring from Brownell's for about six bucks you can order the factory plug for about another six bucks. Or their "Fits All" Shotgun Magazine Plug if it comes to that.

Of course there are other places to order from. Brownell's is very helpful on the phone if you're not sure which part fits your model.

Thanks for the advice, guys!

Bic pen housings taped to a pencil broken off at the correct length make a great emergency plug, when you discover on your way to the field that you forgot to put the darn thing back in.

Willow branches or part of a milo stalk have worked for me in a pinch. My common 870/Ithaca 37 plug is a cut off plastic clothes hanger. For a Beretta 391 I use a wire clothes hanger cut to correct length, small wooden dowel rod also works.

I've got the correct plugs, I just always forget which 'safe' place I put them up in the last time I used them.

update: I tried to straighten out the severely bent spring, now it feeds 2 easily but will not shove the last round out far enough to work... I just ordered an "original" spring from Numrich, will do a wood or plastic plug later.

My gun is missing the spring retainer but I'm not sure all of the 870s had one.. I am fine w/o it, though.

Kid0917,

When you replace the spring retainer place the retainer upside down in the magazine tube....flat side down. This way you can make your own magazine plug using a 3/8 dowel rod with a small nail through the top to keep the plug from falling through the hole in the retainer clip. Now you can remove the plug with out having to remove the retainer clip in the magazine tube.

Doc

Thanks Doc but I am not following... it does not have a retainer, does that mean someone lost/removed it and did not replace, or were there some made without one?

edit: I think based on the barrel markings it is a 1977 year build...

If the screw on mag cap is the only thing keeping the spring in the gun, then someone has removed the retainer and it should be replaced.

Kid,

It appears you are missing the retainer that holds the spring in place. The retainer is shaped like the old style bottle caps with a slot cut into it to compress the retainer into the magazine tube.

Doc

OK, I can get one for a few bucks, I think. I should be able to compress the retainer by hand, and work it into the tube, yes?
Thanks again!

When compressing the spring, drop it in the mag tube and then compress a couple of coils at a time. Do not try and compress the spring from the end all at once, it will turn into a snake and go everywhere but where you want it.

Magazine spring, plug, and retainer installation is explained in the Owner's Manual. The retainer isn't essential, it's a safety device to prevent injury from the spring letting loose when people don't expect it. However don't trust it, the retainer has been known to unexpectedly slip loose. Rarely, but you don't want to be the guy that finds the exception with his head in the line of fire.

Just a portion of the "folk art" plugs I've pulled out of used shotguns we've purchased.

I like that giant Q-Tip looking one.

My 870 express from around 1990 or so has a plastic plug type retainer that you push down and turn 90 degrees. miles

There are two types, see owner's manual link above.

The plastic ones that engage a dimple in the mag tube are meant to be foolproof. Apparently people were having trouble with the springy type and I can understand that. But had a guy show up at 4-H trap looking for help with an 870 that had the plastic plug retainer. Before I could get there another guy decided to help and took off the mag cap and Ziiiiing! We did find the pieces and showed the guy how to install the retainer properly.

I went into Bob's Gun Shop, downtown Norfolk after work and they sold me a retainer for less than $6, spring is on order from Numrich. I had this 870 for sale a few weeks ago but when I went to take photos of it, I had a sudden change of heart. It's kind of ugly but I couldn't let it go all of a sudden.

Wingmasters will do that to a person.

Just read Elmer's review of the Wingmaster in "Shotguns by Keith." Apparently the first ones came with a weighted plug to make the shotgun more muzzle heavy. Elmer hated it, and wasn't shy about saying so. He gave the 870 a great review other than that, though. I've never seen one of those original heavy plugs...either wood, plastic, or missing on the Wingmasters I've used. When missing, I just cut a piece of dowel to correct length when I needed a plug. Just our of curiosity, would like to see one of the heavy ones. Does anyone know when that weighted plug was discontinued?

look up a few posts to Kaywoodie.... far left, that thing looks HEAVY!

I fabbed one yesterday out of 3/8 dowel and a hardwood furniture button, still waiting for the spring from Numrich.

Local Walmarts used to have them. Then we are close to Stuttgart and duck country. miles

I will...thanks, Kid0917. Man, that does look like a boat anchor.

Solid steel stock! May be one of the earlier mentioned heavy plugs. I did take it out of an 870! But I doubt it was an early one as I would have bought it if it was. I still have that plug on my bench!

update: I got the spring from Numrich, smaller diameter than what was in the gun, but pretty sure it is the right one.. installed with the dowel plug and retainer, it is good to go and will be used this weekend at a WMA in south Va.

Careful, as I've said, using an older Wingmaster can spoil you .

LOL wtf is a plug and why the hell would you want it in there crapping out your mag spring? Happy Holidays you guys. Magnum Man