870 Express ejector spring replacement

[Lee]

I've a Remington 870 Express 2 3/4" - 3" which has a broken/bent ejector spring.
Upon inspection the ejector seems to be in OK condition. The spring, well, it's bent out at a 45 degree angle, the end obviously broken off.
I can get the parts from Midway, for a song.
What I haven't done is replace a rivet this small before. ( 1/2" rivet on a rail tie, no problemo. But this sucker is way smaller than that)
Can someone help with a step by step method to remove the existing rivet w/o damaging the receiver, etc???
I've checked and searched, just not sure how the best way to do it.
(Gunsmith not an easy option.......)
Looking for opinions.... Thanks ..... Lee

[Frank46]

I have a 870 wingmaster that the ejector spring broke. Since it was almost new it was sent back to remington. They did the repair and reblued the receiver. You can see where the rivit was
removed and replaced on the outside of the receiver. I believe the rivit is essentially placed into a blind hole. And then expanded over the spring. Frank

[Mk42gunner]

If you are extremely lucky you can take the ejector out and install the new one by using the original rivets. For people like me on the other hand, they sell new rivets that have a long head. I believe the rivets have two steps, set into the receiver and then the ejector is peened in place, but it has been a lot of years since Armorers school.

Once the new rivets are set in place the excess length needs to be milled down flush with the receiver. I have never had to replace an ejector on an 870, and don't really want to.

I have seen an 870 (police issue) that had the ejector replaced, and the heads of the rivets spun in a drill press to round them off. It looked....different with two round protrusions on the left side. Okay for a working gun, but I would have at least filed the rivets flat if it were mine.

Robert

[Patrick L]

I did one once. I dressed the rivet heads down with a file until they were flush with the receiver and then blued them. You can see the line (actually circles) but at least its flush. Of course, that was on a blued gun. I'm not sure what kind of finish you would use to match that parkerized type finish on the Express models.

Frank is right, what Remington does is just rivet the thing in, then polish the rivets and receiver together prior to finishing. The rivets virtually dissappear then.

[nicholst55]

The 870 Express shotguns aren't actually parkerized - it's some type of black oxide or some such ****, and it is a totally worthless finish. If you look cross-eyed at one, it will immediately start to rust! A good parkerized finish would actually be an improvement - at least park will retain oil!

[Lee]

Epilogue:

Did a lot of Googling. Found that the ejector really "isn't needed" depending on orientation of the gun while ejecting. Ejecting straight up --- not so good. Sideways or down --- works w/o the spring, tho it don't throw the hulls very far. Loaded shells, even less.
Searched prices+shipping. Midway won the battle. Ordered parts, including the "rivet tool" that can allow reuse of the existing rivit. I advise this to be a 2 person job if going this route, one to hold the receiver, one to operate the drill press. Any movement and the rivit is trash. So I ended up replacing the rivit, a few gentle whacks and it popped right out of the receiver.
When staking the new ejector spring in place, in spite of resting the outside of the receiver/rivit on an anvil, the peening process on the spring caused the rivit to back out (fatten out???) slightly on the outside of the receiver.
As this is a beater gun, (and not mine) I decided to let sleeping dogs lie.
Blued the rivit head, touched up other scuff marks on the receiver. Voila!
Although the rivit head sticks up about 0.010" above the receiver, it really does not look bad at all for a utilitarian shotgun.
Touched up the stock gouges with stain, rubbed down the metal with gun oil, it does not present badly at all.

Thanks to all who responded. It motivated me to search deeper, resulting in an inexpensive solution to an aggravating problem ..... Lee

[bowfin]

I have an 870 16 gauge youth model. The ejector spring didn't last 100 rounds before the end broke off and jammed the gun.

Once the gun was disassembled and the broken piece fished out, the gun has worked okay so far.

This is why I am an Ithaca M37 fan...

[bowfin]

We now have a second 870 Express that broke an ejector with less than 500 rounds through it. My niece's husband lost his last week.

I don't understand how Remington used to be able to make a pump gun that won rave reviews, and now all they sell are do it yourself kits that require pop rivets and chamber polishing.

I have heard that the full fledged 870 Wingmasters don't have near the problems, but that might have more to do with owner embarassment than actual experience. Some might be loathe to admit they are having Express type problems at Wingmaster prices.

[rem870com]

bowfin, it is strange that your 870's ejector broke after just 500 rounds. My friend had the same problem after about 1000 rounds and hours of dry fire training. Ejector on my Remington 870 is still alive after about 3000 of rounds.

Here is my post with instructions and video of the Remington 870 Ejector Spring Replacement

Hope this helps...

[gunshot98]

Brownells has a rivet cutter that cuts the braded part of the old rivet. Take a pin punch and drive out the old rivet. save it. Install the new spring and be sure to check the rail that holds it. they have a tendency to break the part that holds the barrel. push the old rivet through the hole and rebrad the old rivet. It helps to make a anvil that fits through the ejector port. Part # 080-000-040

[rem870com]

Brownells has a rivet cutter that cuts the braded part of the old rivet. Take a pin punch and drive out the old rivet. save it. Install the new spring and be sure to check the rail that holds it. they have a tendency to break the part that holds the barrel. push the old rivet through the hole and rebrad the old rivet. It helps to make a anvil that fits through the ejector port. Part # 080-000-040

gunshot98, yes, that's exactly what I did in the video.

[lmcollins]

OK. So, give us some help. Anyone with a lathe should be able to make the tools out of some drill rod ASAP.

The OD of the cutter need to be just large enough to fit into the recess. We can measure that, but what is the ID hole for the rivit shank (after the peened head is cut off.)

Also, which staking tool is used first: The blunt one or the recessed one. And what is the ID of recessed staking punch? I'd think to start with light taps of the blunt punch to spread out the rivit. The recess in the other punch is only window dressing to make things look niece. I'd think to peen the new spring "tight and solid." The peening should then be dressed to be smooth enough not to catch case head if it is hit.

Sorry, I don't have an 870 to look at, and haven't articulated one in years. I'm an Ithaca 37 man myself.

[bowfin]

bowfin, it is strange that your 870's ejector broke after just 500 rounds

Stranger yet to have another 870 in the family prematurely break in the same manner . But I guess 870s are strange guns these days...

[shotman]

bet all were shooting steel headed reloads . It will do it everytime

[bowfin]

bet all were shooting steel headed reloads . It will do it everytime

That's good information to know. I'm going to go home and check my 16 gauge ammunition and see if I have any.

[Goatwhiskers]

IMColllins, the tool with the deep hole is used to set the inner part of the rivit when replacing the entire ejector group. Then the tool with the shallow depression is used to set the remainder of the rivit to hold the spring. What most people don't know nowadays is that you don't tap-tap-tap to set a rivit, the setting tool should be rapped smartly--in proportion to rivit size--to swell the stem of the rivit in the hole. That is where a major part of the strength of a rivited joint is found. The peened outer end is more "window dressing" and using the excess material, altho it does furnish some of the joint strength. Goat

[Jeff Michel]

+1 for the rivet cutter from Brownells. That and the rivet set are or was sold as a pair. Do this operation in a drill press or turret mill for best results. You will have just enough rivet left to set your new ejector. If you can't save the rivet, new ones are real inexpensive but the receiver will have to be reblued after the new one is fitted. Kunhausen's repair manual on the 870 covers the repair in great detail. Good luck