Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing 870 shell latch on the loose

The problem: Saturday, I picked up a used 870 Wingmaster at a gun show. Stripped it yesterday to clean. Took the trigger assembly out (possibly for the first time since leaving the factory). And the left hand shell latch fell out.

It had been staked to the receiver, both sides, toward the back end, at the factory, and the stakes had failed. I immediately set to work putting both assembly and shell latch back into the receiver so the front pin would line up with the hole in the shell latch. After some swearing and fiddling, I worked out how to do that. It was now bedtime, and I put everything aside. Tonight, I'll reassemble and cycle some shells through the action.

Now to the question: If it cycles shells okay, should I leave it alone? I have no way of knowing if the trigger assembly is adequately pressing the back end of the shell latch into its receiver recess.

If nobody thinks there's a problem, I'll leave it alone. If anybody sees a problem I haven't anticipated, do you recommend I have Remington repair it?

Thanks.

- Tom

I'm no gunsmith, but own several 870's and 11-87's. Both have the same shell latch and that is a common problem with these shotguns. By now you would have thought Remington would have come up with a better way of holding the shell latch in place. I've found if you can get the latch to stay in place while you insert the trigger group that things will generally work. Of course the next time you take the trigger group out for cleaning you'll have the same problem again. Sometimes the latch becomes so loose it won't stay in place long enough for you to insert the trigger group. If this happens you need a special tool (Brownells sells them) to restake the latch. I've just sent my receiver and the latch back to Remington for the repair when things didn't work correctly.

Pin, screw or stake, they can all fail. And they do. When I re-stake these, I use a little loctite to help secure it. Problem solved.

Tim10025, I would recommend getting it fixed. The clearance hole for the trigger plate pin is large enough to allow a loose latch to move laterally which could eventually cause feed issues. You don't need to send it to Remington, a reputable gunsmith can take care of it for you.

Thanks, guys. I'll take it to a local gunsmith who works on shotguns.