Jamming shells

[Upland Idaho]

I shoot an older model pump. I have shot thousands of rounds and various shell brands through it. I have never had problems with shells jamming the gun until I purchased Fiocchi.

I'm not a gunsmith but I'd love some feedback as to why one brand of shell would cause jamming when others don't? Is there that much variation in the shell size and contruction?

[jerry]

Could be a slight tolerance issue with the FI. Your chamber might be tight. you could have gotten a bad lot of shells, too high of a pressure. Chamber could be a little dirty too.

[genwinters]

fiocchi did the same in my rossi

[Asphalt Cowboy]

Where in the feed cycle is your gun jamming?

If it's jamming at the crimp end of the cartridge then it may be too large, or out of round (not symetrical) which would indicate a poor crimp. If it's occuring farther down the cartridge the entire shell may be too big (fat) which may indicate that the factory used too much wad seating pressure.
It's also quite possible that those are the dimentions to which Fiocchi manufactures their ammo.
I would try a few in another gun known to be reliable. If the issue persists then contact your supplier or even Fiocchi too see how they might resolve the issue.

[Upland Idaho]

Cowboy...there is only minimal pump movement after the initial shot...1/4 to 1/2 inch...then it's stuck

[Mooseman684]

Most Likely it is the softness of the Brass casings .
Harder brass tends to not "Imbed itself" into chambers that may be rough, pitted,or have scratches, like softer Brass , which can "Imbed" during firing. Pump moving 1/4 to 1/2 inch is just unlocking the bolt, without extracting, indicating a stuck case. Different Companies use different Brass Compositions for casings, so Fiocchi Brass may be softer causing the problem . Fiocchi has had some quality control issues lately, a while back it was Hard primers in 9mm Handgun ammo... I got 1/2 a case of it.
Your chamber may need polishing to be able to shoot it reliably and extract properly.
Rich

[Asphalt Cowboy]

Failure to extract, OK.

Mooseman covered it there, inspect the chamber to see if it's rough.
If it isn't too excessive you could likely handle it yourself. If it's really rough I'ld have a professional do it with the proper hones.

Also check the hulls to see if the brass might be extruding into the extractor cut at the breech, this might indicate an exssesive headspace condition.

Inspect the chamber and hulls first and then we can go from there.

[samuel]

Shotgun shells dont use brass.The metal is steel.Nobody uses brass. sam.

I looked Fiocchi up and couldnt see any reason they wouldnt work.They did say one .20ga load wasnt intended for auto,s but that was all. sam.

[Upland Idaho]

Ok, if shotgun shells don't use brass then I may be looking at the other issue mentioned by Moose and Cowboy...just a serious polish?

[Mooseman684]

I call it "Brass" because it is brass colored steel in most cases, some shells the bases are chrome looking...
I was Referring to the lower section of the shell as well as rifle and pistol cartridge Cases ...
A smooth chamber ,not polished Bright, works best.
A piece of 600 grit wet dry sandpaper worked lightly with your finger should suffice .
Rich

[tommy]

you have tried shooting other shells through the gun too sinse the problem arose?? if not it could be the lip on the extractor finally wore down enough to where it's not grabbing the lip of the shells like it should. and those shells wouldn't be 2-3/4 i always had problems with them short loads when shooting them out of my grampas old j,c higgins .

[samuel]

When shotgun cartridges first came to be in the latter 1800,s the whole casing was brass.Before the second world war they used a paper body and brass base.They had high brass and low brass.Field loads and target loads.During the war they went to copper coated steel bases and have used steel every since.I can remember in the 40,s and early 50,s seeing casings that had brass bases but cant remember much about them.As MM said,a little polishing is probably all thats needed.You state an older model pump,that doesnt tell me too much but I have seen on lower dollar pumps where the casing dropped down when being extracted and caused the gun to jam or work hard.Changing extractors was the cure for this.Usually that calls for a gunsmith like MM. sam.

[tommy]

if your gonna take it to a gunsmith and have them replace the extractor i would try a dremel tool and see if you could make the hook part of the extrator alittle more pronounced if you know what i'm talkin about. maybe it might just need to be cleaned or bumped with a dremel.if you have another shotgun maybe you could compare the two extractors.

[nathangdad]

Your chamber might not be to industry specifications. A good machine shop will have the instruments to measure it. Sometimes they come to the buyer slightly undersized. Also, some foreign ammunition can be oversized. I stick with ammunition from the major American manufacturers as they are very good on quality control.

[Asphalt Cowboy]

Samuel brought up a point I had not considered.

Without knowing the model or age of your gun,,,

I ran into a pre-war Rem. 870 which would hang the hull rim on the ejector frame.

If yours is an 870, retract the bolt and look at the left receiver wall, there you will find the ejector rail. It's that thing that looks to be riveted into place. If the front of it is squared rather than rounded, it may well be the problem. A light hand with a dremel tool will fix it.

[ArkansasHunter]

Can you chuck a brass brush in a "varible speed" drill and clean the chamber ???

[Upland Idaho]

I'm shooting an Sear's and Roebuk Ted Williams M-200. I think they were made by Winchester. I love the gun...well most days, yesterday was 3 covey flushes with 2 doubles and a triple...today was 4 covey flushes with just a scotch double...of course the change is due to the gun!! ;o) But I shot Winchester shells and didn't have any hang up issues.

It seems from all your great comments my first step is to do some polishing in the extractor.
The second option seems to just stick with "known" shells that don't hang up.

I had posted this question on several forums and this is the only one to come up with a variety of logical comments and answers.

[Mooseman684]

You have a Winchester 1200 model ! This has a rotating Bolt and locking lugs . Make sure to clean the ways right behind the breech, you can check the spring pressure on the extractor with your finger with the bolt open 3/4 of the way. Make sure it springs freely.and there is no buildup of crud behind it. Make sure the Rotating front part is lubed and clean!
Rich