Remington 1100 Questions

[Technosavant]

I seem to have recently come into possession of an older Remington 1100. It (as far as I can tell) was made in May 1971, was chambered in 12 gauge for 2 3/4" shells, and was purchased by my step-grandfather. He died in 1995, and my father took possession of the shotgun. I have "liberated" it (with his permission, and I doubt he will be asking for it back), and plan to learn shotgunning with it. I have read through the 101 threads (Dave, you get that book written yet?) and have Brister ordered via Amazon, and a guy on another board has graciously offered to help me learn clay shooting (looking forward to that).

I do have a few questions about it:

1) It has a 24" fixed choke (Improved Cylinder). I will be using this thing for home defense and clay gaming. Hunting does not look to be something I will use it for (but if I ever begin hunting, it might get used for that). Is there any reason to either have the barrel tapped for a removable choke (it seems to be possible) or purchase a new barrel already set up for such things?

2) It is limited to the 2 3/4" shells. Is this a major limitation, and if I buy a new barrel, would I be able to shoot 3" shells (assuming the barrel allows it), or is that limited by the receiver?

3) I tore it down and cleaned it, and it looks to be in good shape. It has not been fired for 10 years, and probably not for at least 10 years before that. The gas system looked OK, but short of visibly rotten O rings, is there any way to check that short of firing it and seeing how it cycles?

If anybody has any other useful info about use of an 1100, I'd love to hear it.

 

[lycanthrope]

Your receiver dictates if you can shoot 3" shells. If you decide on a new barrel get the 2 3/4 barrels...they have two gas ports. The 3" magnum barrels only have one. 1100 barrels are pretty cheap, I'd just get another if you want chokes.....usually quite few on E bay, but you should never pay over $200 for new.

If you play clay games besides Skeet you may want another barrel for tighter patterns with other chokes. Some people like the longer sight radius of a longer barrel. My 1100 is a 22" model and I find that great for Skeet. I put on the 30" for Sporting Clays and longer shots.

As long as the O rings and gas rings are good, it should run.

 

[kudu]

1) It has a 24" fixed choke (Improved Cylinder).

That should be great for skeet and most sporting clay courses, a bit open for trap though, but a good all around choke. You could have it fit with choke tubes, or probably be cheaper to buy a new barrel, I prefer longer, 28" or 30" for target shooting.

2) It is limited to the 2 3/4" shells.

No limitation there unless you want to hunt waterfowl, even thenm the new hevi-shot loads are more than adequate unless you want a dedicated goose gun. Andt the receiver is what dictates the size shell, so it's only 2 3/4 for your gun.

3) I tore it down and cleaned it, and it looks to be in good shape

Unless this gun was used for lots of clay shooting, you would be a hard pressed to wear it out with normal use. Being an I/C barrel, it wasn't a specialty target gun, and should have many tens of thousands of shots left in it. The O-rings get replaced on my 1100's when they break in half or get burned up so bad they turn brittle. Make sure the gas rings are in the right order and it should be a good shooting gun. I hope it means something to you that it was your step-grandpa's gun if you were at all close to him. Tkae care of it and pass it on to your own grand son.

 

[Technosavant]

Thanks for the opinions. I'll probably leave it more or less as is (a 3 shell magazine extention is a very likely addition) and shoot it a bit. When I feel like my skill level has caught up to the capabilities of the gun, I'll look into a longer barrel.

I was never particularly close to my step-grandfather (was my father's stepfather), so I can't say that the shotgun holds a great deal of personal meaning (however, the guns still owned by my father that were originally purchased by my father's father hold a GREAT amount of personal significance, like the pre-model 29 .44 Magnum). Long story, but there was never really much connection there. I think the thing to do is to use the shotgun and make sure it has some meaning for my kids.

No gun should ever be handed down devoid of personal meaning. It doesn't seem fair.