Remington 870 - Trouble Loading 6th Shell in Tube

[Captains1911]

This is a brand new 870 Express Synthetic with a factory 2 round mag extension. When loading 2 3/4" shells, often the final (6th) shell will not load, because the entire 5 round stack is "stuck", meaning I can't push them into the tube any further, as if something is catching or binding. After taking it apart and studying it closely, I'm almost positive that the forward end of the follower is catching on the joint between the mag tube and the extension tube, as if the two don't fit together exactly perfect and therefore create a lip for the follower to snag on. The instructions that came with the mag extension indicate not to over tighten the extension tube, which I am not, but I don't think that matters.

Is this a common problem? I was considering upgrading the follower and spring to this:
http://shopwilsoncombat.com/Spring-F...info/SGSFK-EX/

Will this likely solve the problem, or is there a better solution?

[Creeky73]

I had this problem for a very small amount of time when I first got mine a few weeks ago. I took the entire magazine extension apart, put it back together and just kept filling the tube and cycling them out until it worked itself out. It feeds all 6 with no problem now.

From what I have READ, a lot of people consider the follower and spring upgrades to be unnecessary, but I have no real-world experience to call on. I will admit, the stock follower feels really, really cheap and flimsy and the Wilson unit looks good, but I have no idea how much stress is really on this part. I would think that if you constantly keep 6 in the tube, there would be some decent stress on it, but again I am not sure.

Have you taken the gun out for a workout yet? I wouldn't be too concerned about that 6th round issue until you put her through some paces and see if the problem persists.

[Captains1911]

I received the answer to my problem on another forum. Apparently, when installing the mag extension, just before tightening it down all the way you need to firmly tap on the coupler a few times. This will ensure that the spring doesn't get caught up in the threads and tightened down on. If you do tighten the extension down on the spring, it will likely later pop out, and a gap will then exist at the junction of the tubes, creating a lip for the follower to sang on. This seems to have solved my problem.

It's explained better here: http://www.aiptactical.com/Page_2.html

[Orygun]

I just had the same problem. There's a reason its a good idea to upgrade your follower on your 870 -- they are cheap and easily bind on the seam of magazine and extension tube. The thin plasitic material of the follower is knife sharp on the leading edge. Any space left between the end of the mag and the end of the follower is a perfect place to catch the follower. The minute you put pressure on the spring and follower when loading causes the follower to torque sideways a little. Now it drags that knife edge up the tube like a shovel blade waiting to snag on the slightest obstruction, burr or most usually the gap left between tube and extension.

When it snags, the last round will not load. Mine did this right out of the box. Not every time, but some of the time. My answer was to dremel a bevel on the lip of the extension tube and the follower then polish both. Problem fixed. Alternately you can worry about whether or not you left a space the last time you reattached the extension tube -- or just replace the follower with one of the dozen or so manufacturerers who have upgrades.

I called Remington service after the fix and asked them how to fix the problem without telling them I had fixed it. I was not surprized when the service tech told me he had never heard of the problem. This problem must be why there is such an industry around making replacement/upgrade followers for the Rem 870. So the fact that they don't know about this issue is probably horse*&^%. I said I thought I knew what the problem was and how to fix it. He say "OK".

My guess is that they will never, ever fix this not uncommon issue.

[WarriorArms]

For what its worth, a common problem on the Remington extensions occurs when the extension is screwed into the magazine cap before installation. The magazine cap needs to be installed and tightened before inserting the spring and the extension tube. Once the magazine cap is tight, drop in the follower and spring then tighten the extension tube by hand. If the tube is threaded too far into the magazine cap before installation, when you tighten the cap, it causes the edge of the extension tube to roll inwards and makes a "Pinch Point" in the tube either restricting the number of rounds that can be inserted or holding the rounds or spring in the top of the magazine causing a feed issue. My guys at the SO used to do it all the time and couldn't figure why their guns had issues.

[scrunt]

Thanks John.
That was it for me. I was under the impression the factory 870 mag ext tube was a single unit. Now I know better. I installed and adjusted just like you said and problem solved.
Now the mag ext tube is a wee bit loose, at the correct thread depth - but it is held in place by the barrel clamp anyway.