Questions on Remington 1100

Any idea what I have?

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I am not sure specifically what information you are looking for.

The only 20ga 1100 I have is an LT version and it seemed years ago barrels were not as easily found for them as other versions.

What information are you looking for?

jmorris said:

I am not sure specifically what information you are looking for.

The only 20ga 1100 I have is an LT version and it seemed years ago barrels were not as easily found for them as other versions.

What information are you looking for?

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Yep, that LT 20 barrel caused some confusion.

You wont need to do much to it.
I would replace the oring on the magazine tube.
Full cleaning and lube, and you should be set to run it through its paces.

Yep, I keep spare o rings behind the butt plate so I always have one.

Your 1100 was made between 1968 and 1974. It is a standard frame 2-3/4" model built on the 12 gauge sized receiver, as told by the X serial number suffix. Barrels for it are rather hard to come by for reasonable money. The LT20 is still in production and barrels are easy.

My Rem 1100 20 ga. light weight was made on October 1997 by the date code of E R. The earlier R code was 1968, but I know I bought it in the late 1990's, NEW. So it must have been close to the end of the line for the light weight 20 gauge. I shoot it for Sporting Clays, and pheasants.

There are both LT and LW versions of the 20 gauge 1100. And the one on the 12 gauge frame. None of the barrels interchange. The L W barrels are scarce. One can machine a LT barrel to fit if needed.

Bill M. said:

There are both LT and LW versions of the 20 gauge 1100. And the one on the 12 gauge frame. None of the barrels interchange. The L W barrels are scarce. One can machine a LT barrel to fit if needed.

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I got a lot of grief on this site for not just getting a shorter barrel for my standard weight 1100 that was gifted me in 1973. They're just not available. So I had the one on the gun cut to my specs.

The current Sporting 20 guns are the same as the LT20s. They just do not say the same thing on them.

Just a word of advice. Keep it clean. I had one and liked it well enough. Used it on several dove hunts with good results. But, it would not cycle rounds properly if it wasn't taken down and cleaned about every 50 rounds. Got tired of that and sold it. All my other shotguns can be shot many, many rounds with minimal maintenance. I don't neglect them, but lose confidence when they malfunction.

Is yours the standard weigh STD or the LW or the LT ? The older standard 20 gauge had the same frame as the 12 gauge an therefore barrels would not swap. Also the O - ring sizes are different. I think your SN makes it a LW but at 3:00 am I am not going to look it up.

The easy way to tell if it's an LW is to check the length of the barrel "tang". If it's short it's most likely an LW.

There are three 20 gauge 1100s. The standard, on the 12 gauge sized receiver, the LW (which was the first Lightweight model) which has an 870 shaped ejection port and has the ejector riveted into the receiver, and the LT, which has the scalloped ejection port and the long barrel tang with the ejector button on that tang.
An LT set the WORLD Record going over 24,000 rounds with no malfunctions and no cleaning. I have never pushed any of mine past 350 rounds or so between cleanings, and many of those were very dirty Blue Dot reloads, and have had no problems.
During the transition from the LW to the LT they made quite a few "hybrids" that were neither pure LW or pure LT, and could be marked either way.

I just started having light primer strikes on reloaded 20 gauge shells on my 1100 LT last Friday. The LT ( I had to look up which one of the last 2- 1100's I had- scalloped port- long tang- marked LT ) I have was made in 1997 and I have never had light strikes, fail to eject, or fail to feed. All of the reloads were Winchester steel headed range once fired range pick up hulls, and Win 209 primers. I had 4 light strikes out of 75 shells, but they fired the second time.No problem with Rem Gun Club or STS hulls. I tore down the receiver, and blasted the bolt and trigger group with a can of Shotgun GUNK Cleaner. There was no amount of gunk or powder residue on either. I then sprayed a light spray of Otis dry lube on the bolt and trigger group, let it dry, and re assembled. I clean my shotgun every time after I shoot it, and completely tear it down 2 times a year. I reloaded more of my Rem STS hulls and will see this Friday when I shoot Sporting and Skeet. I also loaded a box of Win AA's to see if it was just the cheap steel headed hulls that were causing the problem.

I pushed the firing pin forward, and it seemed OK. I put my thumb nail on the spring and moved it back and forth, and I did not see any separation. This was before I asked the question, and the firing spring answer came back. I will shoot this Friday if it doesn't rain too hard. My other Rem 1100 in 12 gauge has a chipped plastic firing pin bushing, and I have to go to a gunsmith to have that replaced. I expected the 20 gauge to have the same firing pin bushing, but it has an all metal bolt. Luckily I have a Beretta Silver Pigeon Sporting that I just bought in early October. My other backup 12 gauge is a Rem 870 circa 1974 with a modified choke that I can use for Trap. There is a guy at my club that uses a 870 with the corn cob forend that I saw shoot skeet very well.

That plastic firing pin bushing is actually the buffer. The 20 gauge has a different buffer in the upper rear inside the receiver.

I knew bushing didn't sound right, when you wrote buffer it sounded correct. I will look at the receiver of the 20 gauge and look for its buffer. Could the worn 20 gauge buffer cause the light strikes ?

jmorris said:

Yep, I keep spare o rings behind the butt plate so I always have one.

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When I was a teenager, I kept mine in my wallet-not the usual ring imprint a teenager's wallet gets.....

Wis-Harpo said:

I knew bushing didn't sound right, when you wrote buffer it sounded correct. I will look at the receiver of the 20 gauge and look for its buffer. Could the worn 20 gauge buffer cause the light strikes ?

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If the buffer is sticking out the back of the bolt, yes. That's easy to see if you remove the bolt. As kudu said, it could be a broken firing pin spring, which could cause intermittent light strikes. I'd replace the other if you are replacing one.

A worn or broken 20 gauge buffer should have no effect on the firing pin functionality. I have seen several improperly installed 12 gauge buffers greatly impact the firing pin function - negatively. A broken firing pin spring of the old design or junk/crud in the firing pin channel is the most likely culprit.

I went to the shooting range today, and shot 50 rounds at the Sporting stations with my 1100 LT 20. NO light firing pin strikes , all Remington 20 gauge reloads went off. It must have been gunk where the firing pin travels in the bolt, or spring its self. Now I can trust it shooting Skeet when there are 4 other guys who may not be too gentle with their all in fun comments. I shoot bad enough without a deafening " click".