Spare parts for Remington 870

General Firearms Shotguns
1

What are the recommended spare parts for a Remington 870? I will be shooting this a good amount…classes/training/competition/home defense

Thanks

2

I’ll probably get flamed for this but as inexpensive as the Express models are another one might be the best option. Where do you stop with spare parts. The 870 is very reliable but the failure of any one part might render it useless. The cost of everything that could break will cost much more than another gun! I’d get another magazine spring and metal follower and quit worrying about it. GH

3

What GH said–a spare magazine spring would be a good idea, but there isn’t a whole lot else you could keep on hand as a spare w/o spending a significant chunk of cash…

4

A shell stop maybe. Not much else.

5

When I got my 870 HD back in '05, I figured there was maybe a chance of the trigger plate assembly having a hiccup, since it has the most parts in it. Went ahead and got a new complete assembly on eBay for $35 and a bolt assembly for $20. Along with a spare magazine spring, that pretty much covered it. Most likely I’ll never have to use them, except for the spring.

6

The only part I’ve ever broken on my 870 is the firing pin return spring. It broke after about 13k rounds, and rendered the gun completely unusable. I’m glad I didn’t try and defend myself with it…

I now change the firing pin and magazine spring every year as preventative maintenance.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2

7

In order of increasing expense:

  1. Upgrade to longer LE mag spring, and make sure I have the newest gen firing pin spring and extractor. I would definitely verify that the extractor is NOT the MIM that is found on Express/commercial guns

  2. Spare bolt and trigger group. Short of the ejector and shell latches, these are assemblies that can experiences problems if worn significantly, but unlike the ejector and latches, these assemblies can be changed on the spot easily

2a) Barrel assembly. Depending on your type of sights and your degree of usage, sights (mostly front) can be broken or lost with little difficulty.

  1. As stated, a secondary gun. It didn’t cost me much to supplement my Police Magnum with a properly upgraded (see above) Express.
8

replaced my Express extractor (MIM) with a Police version, easy upgrade.

9

Get a spare extractor spring and plunger too. If the extractor takes a dump, the spring and plunger may disappear. You’ll be SOL if you lose those even if you have a spare extractor.

10

If you have a newer Express, take the extractor out and compare it to the Police version. I did and the only thing that was different was that the other extractor was smoothed down on the top so that it does not grind up against the receiver.

All the pictures of the MIM extractors did not match the stock one in my 870, it looked like the one out of my 1100 as well. I concluded it must be the normal steel extractor, I could be wrong, but I changed it out with the steel one I bought- I think it was for the Police model- because of how it was smoothed out.

Other than magazine spring, and metal follower, I’d say spare parts would be extra springs, etc.

Also, if you have a problem with it rusting, I would always Remoil or CLP it. Or you can sand it down and paint it, that is what I did.

11

We have 25 or 26 range 870’s, I’d say the average one gets 2 to3,000 skeet loads and about 1000 buck/slugs through them a year.

We have a couple that have done that for over 15 years at this point.

We do complete service takedowns on them semi-annually and this is usually when you’ll find a firing pin retractor spring broken - new springs don’t wind up on each end like the old ones did, I cant recall ever seeing a broken new spring not function the firing pin - but that is just my recollection.

A lot of the stuff that will be a game stopper on an 870 requires some degree of armorer service beyond putting in a new spring or part - as an example, a shell latch needs to be swedged to the receiver. One commonly broken spring is the action lock spring. Replacement of the action lock spring requires the spring, a new ‘hollow ended rivet’ a washer and a special tool to mushroom the rivet head.

Parts -

  1. An extra law enforcement magazine tube spring (F92447) and a METAL magazine tube spring follower - replace the ones currently in the shotgun if it doesn’t already have them;

  2. A magazine tube end cap and a magazine tube spring retainer -may not be absolutely essential if you are running an extended tube with a clamp, but I would still have one on hand - gun won’t function without the barrel locked into place :);

  3. Front and rear trigger plate pins - they break, they fall out, and even though sidesaddle ammo carriers don’t use them, if your side saddle mount strips out they are nice to have - save you from knarling your hand up on the ends of the machine bolts used for the side saddles;

  4. Extra circlips (trigger plate pin bushing springs) - these are the little half clip looking things that go on the bushings that the trigger plate pins go through - they hold the pins in place - they are often missing on agency/personal guns I’ve done service on;

  5. Firing pin, firing pin retractor spring;

  6. Extractor, spring and plunger;

  7. Sear spring - this is one part on the trigger plate you can replace easily - get the LE one, it gives you about a 5lb trigger;

  8. Action bar assembly - if you break one action bar, the gun may still function, but it will not be smooth. The problem with this is that it requires a forend wrench to take the nut off and remove the forearm to place it on the new assembly - or you can also buy another forearm and maintain a complete assembly;

  9. Complete trigger plate - get the LE one, it has a heavier sear spring and a heavier carrier dog spring - which ensures that the shell carrier positively lifts heavier shells such as slugs and buckshot.

I listed the complete trigger plate last, because unless I didn’t have the LE one in the weapon, it would be the last thing I bought.

Sights - a screw in bead is as far as I’d go, if you are running ghost rings and you lose the front sight, it probably isn’t going to be a range replacement - you could take the ghost ring off, screw in the bead be semi-good to go.

I also make sure when I’m shooting a lot of shotgun I alsways have the proper screwdrivers and/or sockets to remove the recoil pad and tighten the stock - this is also somewhat dependent on the type of stock you are using - I don’t use pistolgrip stocks on shotguns.

Quite frankly, other than an EOTWAWKI scenario, this may be a little overkill. At a match you could probably borrow another gun.

JMO