870 Express Barrel/Receiver play

[isr2kba]

I am looking at a used 870 Express with a weaver scope mount, a scope and a scope. The gun is in fair condition and the price is cheap.

One problem that I observed (in fact with a number of the 870's I have handled) is that there is play between the barrel and the receiver right where they mate. It's a few thousandths but I can feel it. Grab the barrel with one hand and the receiver with the other. Now twist with some force and you can feel it.

Is this a sign of wear and tear?

Is it normal?

Is there a remedy for it?

 

[Dick]

I just now went downstairs and took my 870 Express out of the safe, and it has exactly the same type of movement you described. I takes a bit of force to feel it, and it's only a couple thousandths, but it's clearly there. This is my primary duck gun and has been carried, transported in wet canoes, and generally exposed to mud and weather far more than it's been shot (sadly), so I'll bet that slight movement has been there all along.

If the "nut" at the end of the magazine tube that holds the barrel to the receiver were loose I'm sure that would increase the play, but it's very tight on mine and the movement is still there. Fact is, I don't see how Remington could make an interchangeable barrel pump gun without some movement in that area, unless they wanted to sell it for a whole lot more money. Bottom line is I think it's perfectly normal and I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[KMM696]

Doesn't the bolt on the 870 lock into the barrel and not the receiver when the slide is forward? If that's the way it works, than the receiver is only there to align the bolt with the barrel, and provide somewhere to attach the rest of the shotgun to, not to withstand the pressure of firing a shotshell. A little movement shouldn't be a big deal. I don't have an 870, but my 11-87 is set up that way, IIRC.

 

[Dick]

Doesn't the bolt on the 870 lock into the barrel and not the receiver when the slide is forward? If that's the way it works, than the receiver is only there to align the bolt with the barrel, and provide somewhere to attach the rest of the shotgun to, not to withstand the pressure of firing a shotshell.

100% correct. There's a locking notch in the extension of the barrel (i.e., the part that fits inside the receiver), and a locking block that passes up through a large cutout in the bolt to engage the notch as the gun goes into battery.

 

[isr2kba]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the answers and it looks like I will find myself the new owner of a Remington 870 Express tomorrow!