I've had this 870 Express SuperMag for around 13 years now, and in the last 5 or so years, it's started "jamming" for lack of a better term. After firing a high-brass round (have no use for low brass), sometimes the action will get jammed up with the spent case still in the chamber. To get the action broke open when this happens, I need to beat the butt on the ground while holding onto the forearm. I've taken it to a 'smith in the past, who polished the chamber. This didn't fix the problem and I gave up on him fixing it. I've got a replacement Volquartsen non-MIM extractor coming in the mail and hopefully can get it in before this weekend for testing.

Has anyone else had this issue? If so, did you find a fix? If the new extractor doesn't do the trick, I'll try polishing the chamber fairly aggressively myself, and if that still doesn't do the trick, this hunk-o-junk is going down the road.

Polishing the chamber and replacing the extractor are the only two things an 870 could ever need. Hold on to it, you'll regret it if you let it go!

I have the same gun and it did the exact same thing when I first got it in 2000. Its worst moment was when I shot a gobbler at about ten paces, hitting him in the chest with a lump of lead and simply knocking him over. My buddy was jumping up and down yelling "Shoot him! Shoot him!" while the stunned bird flopped around and then regained his strength and eventually flew off. Meanwhile I had been flopping around with the gun, trying to get it to cycle and reload another shell so I could indeed shoot him. I sent it to Remington and they returned it, and although I prefer to hunt with SxS shotguns and occasionally a Ruger Red Label OU 20 gauge, the fact is that this 870 is the go-to gun for ducks, geese, turkey, and even deer in shotgun-only areas. I just drop in a rifled barrel and dang dang dang is it ever accurate out to 100 yards.
So just get it fixed right and definitely do not let it go.

Chuck a piece of dowel rod in a cordless drill wrap other end of dowel with steel wool. Use that to polish chamber area of barrel. Very commom problem on Expresses.

Do you know what Remington did to fix yours? Any repair note from them?

I'm starting to think my 'smith at the time wasn't aggressive enough with the polish....

I think the chamber concern still having a burr is a possibility. But if it was my gun I would take the fire control out, pull out the fore end-slide bar-breech bolt assembly and inspect and clean everything. Also check out the locking block notch in the barrel extension to make sure it does not have built up dirt or burnt powder which can affect the locking/unlocking of the action. If the extractor is still holding on to the case rim while your banging it on the ground its doing the job it was designed to do. Something is holding the case in the chamber or preventing the locking block from unlocking.

Found quite a few that have done that and not only Remington but Winchester, Benellie, Stoger. Polishing the chamber and a tiny little bit of lube in the chamber where the “ Brass” would be when in battery will help.
I first noticed the problem with some Remington promo bulls that I reloaded to heavy feild spec.
Long story short the gun isn’t the problem sometimes. Sometimes its the ammunition! Take a file to the “Brass “
on one of your spent hulls and you might find that it is actually brass plated Steel. The manufacturer switched to steel to cut costs but steel doesn’t spring back like brass so the stuck cases are the result. By the way the proper term for your particular malfunction is “failure to extract.”
The easy fix is polish and grease. With a brass mandrel to tap the spent hull out from the inside as a backup
The real solution is to pay $25-30box for premium “High Brass” shells with genuine brass heads.
Slamming the butt of your gun on the ground is just stupid. By the way unless the factory extractor is sliding
past the hull’s rim a new custom extractor probably ain’t going to help

The gun, with a hard case and three boxes of steel shot cost me $100 in college so the kid could get some groceries and beer money. Slamming it on the ground isn't all that stupid, because I don't really care if something breaks in/on it at this point, and it didn't cost me much. Heck, maybe I'll just peel the barrel and make a kayak anchor out of the whole thing. Or it would make a nice paddle. If an 870 can't shoot anything but $25-$30 dollar ammo, in my opinion, it belongs at the bottom of the lake. An 870 in my mind should be able to cycle whatever you want to put through it. They're certainly no hi-performance firearm. If you'd like to take it off my hands, feel free to show up on my doorstep with an M2 for trade

Don’t need another 870, got one. I stand by my original statement, regardless of the price of the gun.
Slamming a gun on the ground because it won’t function is stupid. As I said in the beginning of my post I have seen several different brands of pump shotguns with the same problem not just 870 express 3togo hit the nail on the head about the breach bolt lock and grime in addition to polishing the chamber. Sounds like you need to just sell it before it gets any further under your skin.

The key word here is “EXPRESS”....the later models of the 870 express were cheapened.
Had the same issues with mine....happened twice even after seeing gunsmith each time.
Sold it

That's what I've been thinking the case is. Want to get my hands on an older Wingmaster, or maybe another Win. 11 Sportsman.

I'll double check the breach bolt lock this evening, thanks for the tips fellas.

sounds like the extractor jumps the rim

we have seen some issues in shells also , the primer backing out can cause a lock up , had the brass start to pull off also and it jams the gun

we use a fiberglass fence post the type you would put a rat trap on , slide that down the barrel so that the end is against the back of the hull and push it pushes the brass back into the bolt face and the shell ejects.


clean very well
lube the chamber with a little dry lube
try other brand of ammo
polish chamber
replace the extractor


a search turns up a pile of videos on the issue with express 870s having a rough chamber and a less than ideal extractor

I have a Mag Express that I have shot more shells out of than you can haul in a one ton pickup. The only time it has done what you describe is when I shot some 3" winchester 1 3/8 oz loads or some Kent Teal steel. It is the shells causing the problem I will bet. If the shells are loaded to too hot it will cause the brass to swell in the chamber and not want to extract. If the chamber is rusted it will cause the same problem. They load some of those steel shot shell up to over 1700 FPS. It has to cause more chamber pressure than a shot gun should stand. As far as the M-2. That's a $1500 gun that does not function with out being modified. I shot 1000 of shells out of one of those too with it jaming about every fifth shot. Try a different brand of shell is what I would suggest.

X2. Same issue and I got a 1983 3" Magnum after and then no issue. The old 870's are hard to find but worth looking for.

I had this same issue with one purchased around 2000.
After a couple years of overlooking the shoddy build quality I sold it, bought a Mossberg and never looked back.
I had a Remington semi auto in .308 that was also a huge disappointment and was traded in for a BLR in .270....also a decision I've not regretted.

I don’t recall. It was done soon after I bought it. I recall it was all bound up, jammed up, and I don’t think I helped it any. I recall having the steel slides hanging in my hands. It was returned to Remington in pieces.

Here's a thought. Get another barrel.

Never had that problem with Remington shotguns and 870 and 1187 is all I’ve ever hunted with, 30+ years

Been contemplating that too