Feeding problems on an 870 Express

[mmmTang]

Howdy y'all! I've searched for an answer for several days, but must be using the wrong keywords or something. I'm having a problem with a brand new 870 Express with a factory mag extension. I took it out for the first time and ran about 75 shells of birdshot, buckshot, and slugs with about 50 of the shells being cheap birdshot from Wal-Mart. This was my first time with a pump shotgun and the first time with this gun.

What happens is after a shell is fired I pump the forend to the rear and the spent shell ejects without any problem, but when I pump the forend forward the next shell is ejected through the loading port by the carrier. This happened ~15-20 times. It did not seem to matter how forcefully I cycled the gun. It happened when I was really putting some muscle behind pumping the gun and it happened when I was putting much less force behind it. It also happened to my bro-in-law who had used a pump before. Also, sometimes the carrier would get hung up on the next shell before the forward stroke. As in, the tip of the carrier would be pressing into the rear of the next shell, and I would have to press down on the carrier to get the next shell on top of it.

Is this a result of short-stroking? I'm very new to pump shotguns, so any help is appreciated!

This is my first post, so I'm putting a banana here :banana:

[9mmMike]

That's an odd one.

I have a gaggle of 870's and I have not seen that behavior before.
If you do not find the answer here, try

http://www.thehighroad.org/forumdisplay.php?f=7

or

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2

There is a ton of 870 expertise on both of those forums.

Don't forget to post your resolution.

Good luck,

Mike

[BUCKMARK]

If this gun is new and everything is factory, I would lean towards the shell latch.

Have someone that owns a 870 shoot it. Or at least someone with years of pump gun ownership. I wouldn't rule out short stroking it...but I doubt it...since you worked it hard and easy with poor results.

Sometimes a follower from a mag extension will interfere with a shell latch allowing rounds from the tube to be release at the wrong time or not at all. I guess the factory could mess one up from time to time also.

Let us know what you find out.