Disassembly and Reassembly Of the Remington 887 Shotgun

Around the beginning of the Korean War, Remington introduced anew shotgun that would turn out to be the most successful model the company ever produced. In fact, it would become the bestselling pump-action in the history of firearms. Some of you might remember it—the 870 Wingmaster. Work on the design of the 870 had begun a few years earlier, with the intention of using it to replace the well established but somewhat obsolete Model 31.

Remington’s development engineering team of Crittendon, Haskell, Hailston, and Pinckney couldn’t have possibly imagined the eventual success of their collective efforts. It was only 16 years after its 1950 intro that the millionth 870 shotgun was produced. Production of the two millionth was completed in 1974, the three millionth in 1978, and the four millionth in 1984. By 1996, Remington had produced over 7 million, and production reached 10 million in 2009.

So why mess with a winner by replacing it with anew pump gun? True, the new Remington Model 887 Nitro Mag is new in many ways, but there’s no way its appearance will mean the end of the Model 870. (The Model 870 may remain in the Remington lineup until 20 or 30 million have rolled off the line.) In designing the 887, did Remington’s engineering team change the 870 some? Yes. Did they simplify its servicing? Yes. Did they make it more rugged than ever? Yes. Did they make it easier on the shooter’s shoulder? Yes.

Did they weatherproof and armor it? Yes. Did all their improvements and modifications make the 887 heavier than the 870 Express Super Mag Waterfowler Camo? No. The 887 Nitro Mag is a waterfowler’s dream come true, and yet it weighs the same or less than the 7-1/2-pound Super Mag.

As tempted as you might be to tackle the you’re used to working on the 870, I have to say "hold on a minute." The similarities within the trigger-plate assembly are slight, and there appears to be a slim-to-no chance of parts interchangeability between the firing sys- Top of page: The re-engineered Remington Model 887, a waterfowler’s dream come true, is available in camo dress as shown here or all-over flat black. Both feature Remington’s Armorlokt coating. tems of the two shotguns.

This also holds true of the bolt. Unlike the 870, the bolt head of the 887 is a rotary design with no separate sideplate. The 887 has no external surfaces that can rust. The Armorlokt™ coating shrouds its barrel and receiver in an impenetrable shell of Remington’s proprietary polymer material. In the barrel over-molding process, the same material is used to form an integral rib for consistent alignment. Additionally, the buttstock, magazine cap, and trigger assembly get the same synthetic armor treatment.

And finally, at the rear of the package, is a Remington Super Cell™ buttpad that can reduce felt recoil by about half. But enough about how much I like this shotgun and how much I wish that Remington would let me keep it. Let’s get down to business. Field Stripping Put on your safety glasses and then place the safety "on," and visually check the chamber, the carrier, and the magazine. Then slide the forend

approximately halfway forward. Remove the magazine-cap (counterclockwise), grasp the barrel where it interfaces with the barrel ring, and remove it forward from the receiver. The front and rear trigger-assembly retaining pins are the same. Drift them both out right to left. Pull downward on the assembly to separate it from the receiver. The bolt assembly is removed by riding the forend forward. Lift the bolt from the action bars.

The port cover (unique to the 887 as this is written) slides off its guide pin and is lifted off the bolt. One of Remington’s major design changes may have escaped your notice in the field stripping. Look again at the trigger assembly. Both shell latches are still attached. They didn’t used to be on the 870 and aren’t as far as I know on any other pump gun.

With the 870, sometimes the latches remained in their receiver ways, but more often than not, one or both fell out and required re-staking in the receiver to hold them in place. Over the course of several takedowns— especially with a combination of poor technique and improper tools—those receiver ways could be beaten into uselessness. With this new latch setup, Remington has eliminated that risk on the 887. The arrow indicates the stud which rides in the cover’s slot and helps retain it on the carrier.

Apiece of drill rod .055-inch in diameter spans it, but has to be modified and hardened for use as a drift. make one from scratch) to drift it out. Once it’s out, the extractor (#38) is freed along with its spring (#40). Now move to the firing-pin retaining pin (#42) at the rear of the bolt carrier (#35). Drift it right to left to free the firing pin (#41) and its spring (#43). They can be taken out (or tapped out) the back of the bolt carrier.

A 5/32-inch punch can now be applied to drift the bolt-carrier pin (#34) from right to left. (Reassembly note: The bolt-carrier pin is staked in on its left end. Don’t forget to lightly re-stake it after reinstallation.) Pull forward on the bolt head (#36) to remove it and the bolt-head spring Detailed Disassembly I’ll begin with the bolt. Its ejector-port cover (#6) should have been removed in the field stripping. If not, remove the cover now. The extractor-retaining pin (#30) is a very small roll pin.

You might have to grind a cup shape in the end of a starter punch (or

15 Lite Pipe Key Pump-Action Shotgun 16 Magazine Cap (Specifications subject to 17 Follower change without notice) 18 Magazine Plug Remington Model 887 Nitro Mag 43 Firing Pin Spring 1 Action Bar, left 44 Action Bar Lock 2 Action Bar, right 45 Action Bar Lock Rel.

Button 3 Barrel 46 Action Bar Lock Release 4 Bolt Assembly 47 Action Bar Lock Spring 5 Stock 48 Carrier 6 Ejection Port Cover 49 Carrier Dog 7 Ejector 50 Carrier Dog Follower 8 Ejector Retaining Pin 51 Carrier Dog Follower Spring 9 Ejector Spring 52 Carrier Dog Pin 10 Forend 53 Carrier Dog Washer 11 Forend Tube Assembly 54 Connector Pin 12 Front Sight Base 55 Disconnector 13 Front Sight 56 Front Trigger Plate Bushing 14 Lite Pipe 19 Magazine Spring 20 Magazine Spring Retainer 21 Magazine Tube 22 Receiver 23 Receiver Plugs 24 Recoil Pad 25 Recoil Pad Screw 26 Stock Attachment Bolt 27 Stock Attachment Washer 28 Trigger Plate Assembly 29 Front Trigger Plate Pin 30 Rear Trigger Plate Pin 31 Tube Nut 32 Stock Lock Washer 33 Mid Bead 34 Bolt Cam Pin 35 Bolt Carrier 36 Bolt Head 37 Bolt Head Bias Spring 38 Extractor 39 Extractor Retaining Pin 40 Extractor Spring 41 Firing Pin 42 Firing Pin Retaining Pin 57 Hammer 58 Hammer Pivot Pin 59 Hammer Plunger 60 Hammer Spring 61 Latch, left 62 Latch, right 63 Rear Trigger Plate Bushing 64 Right Connector 65 Safety Button 66 Safety Detent Ball 67 Safety Spring 68 Safety Spring Retaining Pin 69 Sear 70 Sear Pin 71 Sear Spring 72 Trigger 73 Trigger Pivot Pin 74 Trigger Plate 75 Trigger Plate Detent Spring

The right shell latch (arrow) comes with it. The same is true of the left latch. Benefit: No more re-staking latches in the receiver. (#37). There’s a concave recess in the bolt head. This is to allow passage for the bolt-cam pin and must be aligned with the pin’s hole in the carrier for reassembly. The forend (#10) is fitted with the same type of tube nut (#31) as the 870, so the same nut wrench can be used to loosen it.

The action bars (#1 and 2) sit on metal studs and are trapped against the forend tube by the forend itself. When the tube is separated from the polymer, the bars will drop out. The ejector (#7) is under pressure from its spring (#9) and rests in a keyed receiver slot with its retaining pin (#8). Compress the ejector and spring with a small tool. Pull out the retaining pin with long-nose pliers and capture the two trailing pieces as they move forward.

What follows concerns the trigger assembly and is for gunsmiths only. (As far as Remington is concerned, it isn’t to be touched by the customer.) That’s because parts are not made available for replacement. There is some talk about making some of them available in the future, but at this time the factory insists that a complete new trigger assembly be installed to correct a malfunction.

Nevertheless, both you and I know there’ll be more than one 887 owner who is convinced he can strip down this firing mechanism and "make it better." If all the parts are present when he comes in asking you to put it back together, you should be able to do it, but you are not to give the owner the details on proper disassembly or reassembly.

If all the parts are not provided, it will be your unpleasant duty (at least for the near future) to inform the owner that the purchase of an entire new assembly is the only way the shotgun can be returned to service. So here we go. Begin disassembly on the right-hand side by slipping off both the front and rear plate-detent springs (#75). Push the front triggerplate bushing (#56) and the rear bushing (#63) ever so slightly below flush with the right shell latch.

Eventually, both these pins are moved out from right to left. The rear bushing gives you no option with regard to direction. It has ahead on its left end. Remove the right shell latch. Push the front plate bushing all the way out, and you’ve freed the carrier (#50), carrier-dog plunger (#48) and the carrier-dog plunger spring (#51).

Now take a breath and avoid the temptation to forge ahead and push out the rear plate bushing before you Below top: This is a close up of the carrier assembly as it should appear after reassembly. Below bottom: This is how the rear bushing/actionbar lock area should look after reinstallation.

The rear bushing (B) runs through the spring coil, also positioned upward. know what you’re up against—which happens to be the action-bar lock spring (#47). You’re certain to lose it if you fail to keep it under control. The rear plate bushing holds the spring, the action-bar lock (#44), the disconnector (#55), and the left shell latch (#61) either together inside the trigger assembly or, as with the latch, firmly against the left side of the trigger housing.

After the latch is taken off, remove the sear spring (#71). The hammer (#57), its spring (#60), and plunger (#59) are addressed in what should be a familiar manner if you’ve disassembled other Remington pump guns. Compress the spring with the hammer, drift out the hammer-pivot pin (#58), and ease the hammer out. It will now be under some pressure from its spring. Lift out the plunger, the hammer spring, and searspring (#71). The sear (#69) is not removable. Its pin only goes in.

Not out. (Don’t ask how they get it there at the factory; they wouldn’t tell me.) Some Reassembly Tips If you looked before you leaped, so to speak, and studied how the individual components related to each other prior to disassembly, you probably