thinking about rescueing a 70's Remington 1100...

Great gun!

Keep the original barrel as is, they do not make barrels like that anymore.

Leave as bone stock as can. Only mess with gun fit. If you choose to use a recoil pad, choose according to gun fit. This gun really does not need one, and if it does not now, adding one might mean too long of LOP for you.
Gun fit has to taken into consideration here.
A Competent, Quality Gunsmith, that knows gun fit is what you want.
Besides LOP, there are Pitch, Cast , Drop at comb to consider, these all change by just adding a Recoil pad, even a slip on one.

Pachmyer Decelerator is the recoil pad, and works very very well on 1100s.

The gun was designed for the loads of that day. Skeet target loads were 2 3/4 dr of 1 1/8 oz shot at 1200 fps.
Trap loads differed only in being 3 dr loads.

1oz loads were not used all that much, only in O/U and 7/8 oz loads were only in recipes, and again, only used for testing that recipe, and in single shot guns, or two barrel guns [SxS and O/U.

At that time, with the loadings, guns, targets,- we wanted , I wanted everyone one of them pellets in a 1 1/8 oz Skeet load.

Some 1100s will run 1 oz loads...some. Reliability comes into play.

This is when more 1100s and other gas guns were ruined.
Folks started messing with drill bits and ports to run 1oz and 7/8 oz loads AND Gamers wanted to whack barrels and run buckshot, #6 shot and slugs.

Dwell time is affected , and these whacked off barrels, ruining untold numbers of barrels they do not make any more, better barrels than made today were ruined.
Add the port messing...

Now what was a reliable quality gun, running loads it was designed for would NOT run anything buy a few select loads - some times.

I played the game, I played it before 3 gun even came to be.
Bone stock 1100 Bird gun with 23" barrel and running slugs, # 6 shot and buckshot...and any other loading of the day .

Finding a barrel. Just keep eyes and ears open. Post on a cork board at a range, ask here on Buy forum.

Great gun, thank you for preserving it.

I still want to break fingers, take away cutting tools, drill bits from all the hundreds of guns I have seen Ruined by some knucklehead messing with it.

18.5 grains of 452AA, AA wad, in a Blue Magic, Original AA compression formed hull or Rem with a Win 209 primer -add 1 1/8 oz of hard #8 shot, and I assure you a 1100 will run, every damn time the trigger is pulled, it will fell doves and quail too.

I know, I was there shooting that load in SX1s, 1100s, Beretta 303s.
WE only had 200k rounds loaded up once, waiting for season to start.

All the guns ran, including the 1100s, and all of the 200k rds were shot up.
With monies won - we bought what needed and geared up to do it again...

If the 1100 was the set-up the way you wanted it then $258 would be a great price...

You should be able to pick up a 28" VR Rem-choke barrel on eBay for $100 - $150, add that to the $260 for the gun and you're pushing $400. You should be able to get a good used 1100, the way you want, for $325-$350.

If it is a older 1100 it will probably be a 2-3/4" chamber, in which case you should have no problems with light loads, that is, if the gun is in as good a condition as described.

See if he'll take $235, give him a sob story about all the work that you'll have to do rebuilding it, new barrel, new o-rings, yada, yada...

I have a 1971-vintage 1100 Magnum with a 28" ribless Modified 2 3/4" barrel I stuck on it.

I just loaded some low-recoil target loads as a test. My wife shot a box of them through the 1100. They all cycled perfectly.

These loads are 1 oz. @ 1125 fps, maybe a hair less.

If the gun's receiver and moving parts are kept somewhat clean and somewhat lubed (Rem Oil, CLP, whatever) and you have a good O-ring, it'll feed target loads just fine.

The older guns are pretty smooth, unless they've been abused.

$258 would be a REALLY good price around here.

It doesn't really need a Limbsaver. My 1100 has a plastic butt plate and it's fine. The action really does absorb a lot of recoil; for skeet, it absorbs essentially all of it.

Chances of finding a fixed 28" Skeet barrel are very low. 26" yes. eBay among other places. Expect to pay more for a fixed Skeet barrel than other barrels. They're nicer barrels, though.

Wanna buy a skeet piston set? I bought it, but found that I have no real use for it. It's sitting New in Bag in my toolbox. I think it makes even lighter loads reliable in the gun; the piston and seal are larger than standard.

Buy it....

Wow, $258. I salute you, sir. I just got mine for $400, and I thought that was a steal.

Hi all,

I'm looking to purchase my first Remington 1100 to be used primarily for informal skeet shooting and maybe a little sporting clays. Right now I use my 870 Police. A small local gun shop has a mid-70's 1100 12 gauge model with 28" fixed modified choke barrel (no vent rib).

It's in very good shape, the bluing is still nice, the wood is decent, and just needs to be cleaned a bit. The price is $258. The history of the gun is known. Used to be owned by a local guy who's fallen to ill health and is selling off his collection. He was a trap shooter mostly, so this gun hasn't seen much use, yet it seems nciely broken in

I figure all I'll need is a new Limbsaver pad, a new 28" barrel with skeet or IC choke (preferably with a vent rib), and replace a few parts.

A few questions:

1. Does $258 seem like a good price?
2. Should this gun be able to reliably cycle light target loads?
3. Where can I find a 28" barrel with fixed skeet or IC choke?

Any other comments or suggestions? Thanks!

Chris

Click to expand...

Chris,

Where is the 1100 for $258?????
I can be in York tomorrow morning!

My wife and I have friends in Scranton. I can stop by York and then on to Scranton.

Seriously. . . buy the 1100!!!!!!!! You won't regret it!

I stumbled onto a 1972 1100 for $100.00!

They don't make 'em like they used to.

O rings and the big springs,Chris. Enjoy....

Sounds like a decent gun at a good price.

One word of caution though~ When a guy says that he is a target shooter (read skeet, trap, sporting clays, etc.) make sure to check out the inards of the gun real good. Target shooters don't put much exterior wear on their guns because all they do is uncase it, shoot it on a clean field, and then case it. They are not dragging them through mud, briars, over rocks, etc. BUT when they are at the range, they put 100's of rounds through the gun and very often.
Keep in mind, target shooters don't abuse guns with weather conditions and the like, but they wear guns out through shooting them. Hunters abuse the exterior of guns, but rarely wear out the workings because they don't shoot them as much. Of course the exceptions are high volume dove hunters in Argentina get both down sides and some hardcore duck hunters will do the same with bad weather and lots of heavy loads.

I have a first-year (1963) Remington 1100 that was purchased brand new by my Great-grandfather. He bought it originally with a 30" full (fixed) choke barrel and a 26" modified (fixed) choke barrel. The gun went from my Great-grandfather, to my Grandfather, to my Uncle and, finally, to me. Along with the two original barrels, I have a 26" Rem-choke barrel with vent-rib that I bought at a local gun show for $90.

My 1100 is in pretty awesome shape considering its age and the amount of use it's seen (upland game and birds for 44 years). All I did when I got it was detail strip it, cleaned everything and replaced the o-rings. It's run flawlessly for me ever since, mostly with target (1200-ish fps) loads.

As for the original question about the gun being worth the money... I just bought another 1100 of the same vintage and condition that you just described. This one has a 26" modified (fixed) choke barrel, but it is a vent-rib. I paid $275 for it (albeit, that was $275 shipped to my FFL). So, yes. I think the gun you mentioned is worth the price they're asking.

That's a great price IMHO. My '70's Magnum was more than that. I put a 2.75" barrel on it and, thanks to byf43, newer seals and lifter. It cycles light loads just fine with all three of my barrels, 28", 20" & 19ish".

Chris17404,

I don't think you should buy the gun. I think you should send me the address of the gun shop immediately so I can investigate and possibly remove this gun for the public's safety. I will take it to the nearest trap range and make sure nothing is a foul.

seriously, I paid $350 for a similar year and thought I got a steal even tho I had to make modifications to the stock. Good luck!

Calli