As the owner of a pump-action .22LR, I'll disagree.

CTGilley said:

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JB93 said:

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Browning BPS is a sweet shotgun. Bottom eject good for righty or lefty. Bought my son a well loved 20ga for his first shotgun. I've since added a thicker pad to increase LOP and a 28" barrel for it to replace the 22". He's 18 now and loves that shotgun.

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This is what I ran until I inhereted my dad's Winchester. The Winchester just fits me better. No issues with the Browning. I like having it because like said above it can be shot left or right handed.

Sent my 870 express (~2003) to Remington 3 times with jamming issues they never fixed. I finally replaced it with the Browning. Full disclosure I went to buy a Winchester but it was the year they were discontinued.

I know at least 3 others with the same issues with the 870 express. It seems to only be an issue with the 3" mag the 3.5" runs well.

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The solution is to not put pressure on the action while firing. It's a feature, not a bug.

Please explain. I am not understanding.

I have an 870 I used to think had a problem with the action jamming.

Being a machine, I did what I could to recreate the issue. I couldn't get it to jam at all without discharging.

So I modified how I held it. I found that it would not jam if my hand was not on the foregrip. I started intentionally putting pressure on my shoulder with the foregrip. It "jammed" every single time. The remedy was to push the action forward to unlock it.

Which makes sense. If the action is allowed to cycle as soon as it fires, the action would blow open. After that I started consciously only pulling the gun to my shoulder with my trigger hand. No issues since.

That is interesting. I don't own one anymore to try but why would this only happen with the 3" express? I believe you but I also think Remington should have mentioned that one of the 3 times I sent it in with a spent shell in the chamber.

Ah. That sounds like the brass was swelling. I've had that happen, too. Nearly had to slide hammer the thing open. Never used those shells again.

3.5" shells might kick just enough to unlock the action where a 3" doesn't quite.

bam02 said:

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Still seems like a poorly functioning shotgun.

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It really isn't. The 870, especially the Wingmaster, is a proven shotgun. Just a solid, well-functioning gun that every bird hunter ought to have.

I don't know. I've shot plenty of old 870s that were great and I personally own a BPS and an old Winchester Model 12. Maybe I just hold them right but they have never malfunctioned no matter how I held them.

Careful with that model 12.

It's got no such lock. At least older ones don't.

Hold down the trigger and it'll fire as soon as the action closes.

Haven't shot it in 2 decades. Maybe I should bring it out to the field this year and test that out.

Good to know!

Ha! Right! I need to check it out!

TexasRebel said:

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I guess it was a handy feature in a trench.

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Think that's right. They made a trench gun and probably wanted that feature but kept in the sporting guns.

Side track. About 30 years ago, found a really nice Model12, 16 ga in a local pawn shop for $100

The cheaper Express guns were a rolled steel barrel. Almost imperceptable but there is a seam in the middle of the chamber. Once fired, the plastic of the shell swells just enough to hang up the shell and jam up the action.

The fix is to wrap a barell brush with steel wool, put it in a drill, and polish that chamber. You will not be able to feel the seam. Keep polishing and shooting till it's smooth action. Not a problem on the wingmasters.

And in case you want it for home defense, Dave Chapelle has a recommendation.

I just can't believe that thru this entire thread, nobody has brought up a Mossberg 500. It's a legend in its own mind.
And they are homegrown, to boot.

You'll never regret buying a Browning.

Gator92 I agree. Bought my full choke model12 2nd hand at Glen Slades in Houston. 62 or 63 don't remember how much. put a LOT of rounds through it.

Texas Rebel never had that happen.

I just pulled my Model 12 down for the first time in a long while and dry fired it (I don't have any 20ga dummies), confirming that while holding the trigger down it will fire upon cycling. (The case my grandfather put this gun in says 1953, but I haven't traced the S/N to get any other history on it)

One thing I hadn't noticed before is that when the trigger is pulled, the action must go forward first to unlock (there is an audible click), then cycle. I'm guessing the kick of a live round causes this to happen without effort.

Both my (2001) 12ga and (2016) 20ga 870 Expresses will lockup with pressure on the action until it is released, then they will cycle. They both have sear disconnects, so the trigger must be reset between rounds.

TexasRebel. MY model 12 is at my sons house. he got it out and tried to duplicate the trigger fire problem but was NOT able to duplicate the problem.
he checked S/N and it was Mfg i 1959. i thought gun was older. could not tell you how many rounds through that gun. Between me, my son, and grandson shooting it a lot. Probably shot several thousand. rounds

To be clear, it's not a problem.

It's by design. I've heard Ithacas were built the same, but I cannot confirm that.

What becomes dangerous is that what is "normal" for a slide-action shotgun has changed in the last century, and many people don't research older guns when they inherit them; they assume a Winchester Model 12 works just like the 870 Wingmaster or the Mossberg 500 they grew up with.

That's dangerous for both the user and the tool.

The user might damage themselves or someone around them.

The tool might get discarded for no reason.

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It's by design. I've heard Ithacas were built the same, but I cannot confirm that.

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consider it confirmed