I was at youth shotgun last night and one of the kids youth 870 was very dry , very gritty , gritty harder tan it should be trigger pull and everything just seemed to take more force than it should.

I know the kids father and he teaches Hunters Ed I asked him if he could strip it and clean it before the next practice and get some lube in it.
He said , like just spray some oil in the side.
I said , like field strip it and get some dry lube or Hoppe's or something in the trigger group.

that is when I realized , just because you hunt and teach hunters ED , you might not clean your own guns.

I am sure he is capable of it he has just never done it.

time for a good video so I found this one , thought I would share it here also as it is one of the best most detailed 870 field strip and re-assembly videos I saw.

yes the guy seems to have a zombie thing but at least he uses the correct names for things and doesn't tell you that you need some very specific tool you will need for 2 seconds and 5 other things will work.
I have probably had 870s apart hundreds of times and I even picked up something to make the re-assembly easier.

Thanks for sharing that video, never too old to learn a few things.

For you folks that have a Remington 1100 or 1187 the procedure is almost identical. Just remember to put the gas ring assembly back on the tube correctly and install the o'ring.

Good post Pete. I personally believe the plastic magazine spring retainer is the best upgrade to the factory 870 they ever did! I’ve seen 870 minus both spring and retainer! Lol

I have been looking for a good 500 video , found some not half bad videos and realized I might be the only person who takes the mag tube off regularly for cleaning.

hazards of hunting in the rain , I guess if I didn't hunt in the rain I wouldn't take it off as much.

a day hunting in the rain and I clean the tube and oil the spring

I have mixed feelings on the plastic wave magazine spring retainer end cap detent combo

I get were it cut out machine operations , sped up the production and reduced the number of parts.

great if you run plugged at 2 or factory at 4 in the tube.

if you want to use a round extender end cap on the tube the dimples that keep the plastic spring retainer in get in the way and require a bunch work to get them out , then there is no easy way to go back to it because you had to remove the dimples.