[MugShot60]

other than the shell limit of 2 3/4 is there any issue with the older models compared to the 11-87 abilities?

[Badger Arms]

Nope. Depends on what you want done with it. Sometimes, really light loads in guns designed for the field, not for targets, will hicup in the gun. That's not a really bad thing as they usually hicup at the range... no worries. Just shoot factory loads through it and it should digest everything from field/hunting loads to high-brass buckshot and slugs if you so choose.

[MugShot60]

ok, so what to look for when buying a used one, anything visual other than the gas system parts?

[Virginian]

Generally speaking, if it looks good, it is good. If it looks abused, it probably was. There are so many out there, if it looks in the least abused you should get a huge price break. Every single part is available new or used, so you can look at a parts list and see what it will cost you, so unless the receiver is messed up you can fix it.

[scratcherky]

I have put thousands of rounds thru an 1100 shooting trap without a problem. One hint I can pass on is keep the piston slide area clean. Use alcohol to clean it and do not use gun oil. If you can hear the piston slide back and forth when you move the gun up and down vertically it will not malfunction. Many people that have trouble with them use lubricant on the piston slide area and they just gum up.

[chas08]

Many people that have trouble with them use lubricant on the piston slide area and they just gum up.

I found the oposite to be true with the one I owned from 1972 - 1998. I always ran mine wet. But I am anal about keeping the gas end clean. I cleaned it after every shooting session regardless of round count. I was always worried that running it dry may gall the magazine tube, and allow rust to get a foothold.

[Virginian]

For 20 years all I ever did was spray the parts with WD-40 and wipe them off. Now I use RemOil. Can't really see much difference. Works every time.

[hometheaterman]

My buddy has a Remington 1100 3" magnum version with the 30" barrel and I can honestly say this is the only Remington gun I've handled that I think is worth a **** at all. I really have been pretty impressed with it but then again I've never taken it apart to clean it so I might find out the insides have quality control issues like I did with another Remington. Who knows. From the outside though I can't say much bad about it.

[ArmedBear]

The insides are fine... Unless they break, in which case, good luck getting some of the parts back unless you have a large hydraulic press.

They're sharp, though. Be careful.

What I don't like about the 1100 is the excessive trigger reach, the blah trigger pull, and the sharp trigger that bloodies my finger if my skin is dry (like it usually is in the high desert Autumn).

All of this can be fixed with a nice custom stock, a trigger shoe and a little gunsmithing. Of course, that stuff isn't free, and suggests that a Beretta, which already has better geometry and trigger design, is worth the extra few bucks.

OTOH the 1100 has the neat bolt release that makes loading require no contortions, and the Beretta's magazine tube cap is ridiculously complex -- meaning that adding front sling swivel costs 70 bucks!

[hometheaterman]

Wow I didn't know the front swivels were that much. Like I said I really like my buddies 3" version of the 1100. I didn't mention though another buddy has a 2 3/4" one with a synthetic stock and while it shoots okay. I've not seen it jam and it shoots fine I don't like it all that much to be honest. I'm not that accurate with it as I just don't think the stock fits me great. Nor do I like the fact that it only shoots 2 3/4" shells but that doesn't bother some and for the skeet shooting we were doing with it it was fine. The synthetic stock just didn't look or feel great.

It was a decent gun though and functioned like it should. However, no way I'd pay very much for one like that. However, like I said I love the 3" 1100 that my buddy has with the wood stock and the 30" barrel.

[Virginian]

My experience is that the Berettas and Remingtons feel very different, and that if you like one you won't like the other all that much. I suspect Beretta did this on purpose, and it was a smart move, since there were already millions of Remingtons on the scene when they started playing seriously in the same game.
They both work pretty darned good absent a bad nut on the back of the stock.

[1KPerDay]

a bad nut on the back of the stock.
:D lol

[ArmedBear]

WRT Beretta vs. Remington fit, I can shoot either one. There are guns that don't fit me, but both of these do. The 1100 is a bit odd. I have an old one -- my recent 870 is just a hair different, but it's a difference that makes a difference and the 870 fits better. A recent 1100 stock would probably be a better fit, for me.

The trigger reach on the Remington, though, is a measurable value. It is very long, for a gun that has a short LOP like my 1100 (i.e. it seems to be made for a guy who's 5'6" with 6" index fingers -- a rare individual, indeed. Maybe they're made for a 6' guy wearing several layers of heavy clothing -- also a bit of a mismatch, given that the 1100 doesn't work well in very cold weather.

[Virginian]

Bear, I think it's you man. It don't like you. I have shot everything from a Mossberg bolt action to a single shot H&R and a Winchester 37, thru all the repeaters on up to a K-80 Crown set, and just about everything in between, and a Remington 1100 feels as good to me as anything I have ever shot. I am not saying there is anything wrong with you; just that guns do feel different to different people. I am 6'-2" tall, and past semi-fat now, and I have been shooting them so long I can look at a target at 25 yards, close my eyes, and throw up the gun and hit it. (I know this isn't great gun fit in the normal sense.) And my index finger is only 4-1/4" ( I never measured that before ! :D ).
And, since 1963, thru 20 years of WD-40 as the primary lube, then G-66, and recently RemOil, down to minus 11 degrees F, I have never had a bit of a problem with cold weather operation. And that includes one day where the freezing rain and spray was so bad one of my buddy's Auto 5s wouldn't cycle because the barrel had so much hard ice on it, it couldn't recoil into the receiver. He had to single load by hand. Proves nothing, but boy did I love that ! :evil:

[DammitBoy]

I have a sidebar question regarding the 1100, which is my all time favorite semi-auto shotgun.

I was at a gun show many years ago and saw a converted 1100 - made into a sawed off a.o.w. shorty.

Which puzzled the heck out of me, because I knew the 1100 needs the stock tube spring to work properly. Every gun smith I've ever talked to says that a pistol grip 1100 is impossible.

The 1100 I saw had no visible tube spring. Anybody have a clue how this thing worked?

[ArmedBear]

Interestingly, I've used my 8 lb. 1100 Magnum for high-desert Valley Quail in brush-filled boulder piles, about the fastest shooting there is, with a Modified choke, and dropped a bunch of birds.

The gun actually shoots okay for me. I just have to be careful not to stick my thumb in my eye when mounting it; the buttstock geometry is funky.:D

Like I said, the more recent versions (straight butt) are just a bit different from the version I have (curved butt).

[UnclePete]

They're sharp, though. Be careful.


That's the truth! I have shed blood finding that out.