Remington 11-87

I've got an 11-87 Trap Edition with many thousands of shells through it. I've been using it for about 5 years. It's a great shooter, dependable with no problems. You have to keep it clean though... It's not the most expensive trap gun I have but it is my favorite and I can hit more birds with it than the more costly ones.

I think the 11-87 is one of the most under rated autos out there. They work just fine, but I no longer own one and don't really want to go back. There are just a few quirks that I don't like. Not that they are bad guns, I just prefer the Benelli or Beretta. If someone owns and likes the 11-87, you could do much worse.

I've owned for 15 years. Never had a problem.

I have the 11-87 in the police model (3" or 2 3/4" shells with an extended tube and 18.5" barrel). While I love the shotgun it almost refuses to reliably shoot birdshot through it. If I am shooting slugs or buck it does just fine with cycling. Accuracy is spot on and I personally can hit targets with slugs at ranges up to 100 yards.

Do I like my shotgun? Hell yes!

I've had an 11-87 Premier 12ga for the past 20 years. I've never had a problem with mine. I've used it for mostly upland bird & some trap. It helps to keep the rubber barrel seal clean, oiled and in good shape, but I have to admit I've let mine go to pot on occasion.

Fine gun. Had one for the past five years. Shot trap, skeet (won the skeet half of the club championship with it) and hunted deer, dove and turkey with it.

Sold it to my son's best friend for his son. Wouldn't sell a friend a gun I didn't trust or like.

Special K,

Any 11-87 with barrels shorter than 26" are not designed for light loads. They are designed to only shoot heavy 2.75" or 3" magnums. Your gun is working as designed.

The 11-87 got off to a bad start because it was introduced with the early RemChoke barrels, and it did not handle like the beloved 1100. I got one and sold it in the duck blind that first year. After it killed a double with the first two shots ever fired out of it. It worked fine, looked good, but felt muzzle heavy to me, who had been shooting 1100s for 24 years by then. The newer ones - since sometime in the first half of the 90s, feel much more like the old fixed choke barrels, but unfortunately they no longer make the premiers, which had a really good polish and blue, which I prefer.

It's a great gun. I bought me a Remington 1100 when I was in college, and it's worked great. Love that gun. My eldest is a senior in college this year and he bought an 11-87 as his first shotgun.

He brought it home over Thanksgiving and we got to shoot it in the backyard. Oustanding shotgun and he'll probably still be using it when HIS kid is graduating college.

Here's a picture of us with our respective shotguns:



Anyway, I highly recommend it and, for the price, it's unbeatable, imvho.

Oh, well I guess I did not know that it was designed for heavy loads only.
That makes sense now knowing its gas operated.

Thank you

I think it's just a couple of springs in the trigger group. If you wanted to use your police 11-87 for competition with lighter loads, the easiest thing might be to get a spare trigger group from a sporting 11-87 and swap the trigger group depending on your activity. Or just replace the heavy springs with lighter ones on the trigger group you have and use it for everything -- as you would with a regular sporting 11-87.

It is not the springs, but the size of the holes in the gas ports in the barrel. Remington figures that hunters using 26" or longer barrels will use a variety of loads and need the versatility. Shorter barrels are specialty barrels designed for either deer, turkey, or self defense. Most folks using shorter barrels will be using heavier loads.

I have read that it is possible to drill the gas ports larger and make the short barrels work with light loads, but this would probably beat up the gun if used with heavy loads. With longer barrels the shot stays in the barrel long enough for pressure to build up enough to cycle the action. With the shorter barrels the shot leaves the barrel before enough pressure is built up.

This is usually not a big deal with most folks, but is one quirk of the 11-87 that other designs don't have a problem with.

Yes, the GAS PORTS! Thanks for the correction. On that tack, another question...

If you were to saw off a gas-operated semi-auto barrel for HD, might the gas ports need to be drilled larger? Would the size be known, or trial and error? FWIW, I've read that the typical charge for a gunsmith to drill gas ports is $40.

Great gun never jams

get a parts breakdown/operators manual and learn how to strip it down and keep it clean/lubed.find out what parts wear the most,pick up spares.this way,it should last you for years.find a good synthetic lube that does not retain moisture.avoin penetrants like wd 40,kills primers.

btg3,

I'm not sure. Just a guess, but I'd think a longer barrel cut down would work ok with heavy loads. Just not function reliably with light loads. That is just my guess however and I could be wrong. I'd welcome anyone else that may know for sure to answer.

Ditto on the 11-87 Police Model 12 gauge. Mine would not cycle properly with #4 buck when I first tried it, but 00 buck works just fine. Tried to save money by shooting the cheap stuff but it's only reliable with hot loads.

Found out that this model is specifically tuned for the heavier loads. Tweeking it is not just a matter of changing the size of the two gas ports, but the length of the barrel and the strength of the recoil spring are factors as well. I would not recommend making any changes that you can't undo.

The only differences between the 1100 standards, the 1100 3" guns, and the 11-87 is the barrels, gas cylinder collar on wood 11-87s, the gas bleed ports, and the primary port sizes on the 11-87, and the wider extractor on the 11-87. The action springs, trigger groups, and everything else is exactly the same. Just look at the parts list.

I have the 11-87 SP and its a great gun. Lota ducks and geese have succumbed to it.

I have an original 11-87 Sporting Clays gun and it has been flawless. It does have the thin wall barrel so you only shoot target loads, but it goes bang every time you pull the trigger.

It does not have a thin wall barrel that limits it to target loads, it has larger gas ports. The Target Contour barrels are the same as the magnum chambered Light Contour barrels, except for the gas ports. The pressure standard for all less than 3-1/2" 12 gauge loads is the same, but the pressure pulse lasts longer with heavier loads.

Mine was junk and broke before I got halfway through the first box of shells. That's when I learned about Remington's non-existent customer service. I no longer buy any Remington centerfire autoloaders.

It also rusted just from being looked at, without ever getting wet or worn, just new and uncased.

I've had one for almost 10 years its the 12 Gauge special purpose or what ever its called. Ive never had a problem with it in that whole time and for several years i would hunt duck without ever cleaning the gun besides a wipe down when it was raining. Great gun.

Great gun

I've got a Remington 1187 and I bought it back in September of 2010. I have fired hundreds of rounds on it and only cleaned it once after firing maybe twenty. Since thanksgiving of 2010, I have shot countless rounds without cleaning the gun. It has only jammed once since then. I checked the gun and it was completely filthy and I was impressed it had continued to fire correctly when it was that dirty.

I bought it to be a rough and tumble hunting gun. I think its supposed to be the replacement to the 1100. My dad has an 1100 and it was such a good gun I decided that that was what I wanted. The 1187 is a worthy successor to the 1100. Its also a good bit lighter which is nice if your hunting birds or shooting skeet and your swinging it around a lot.

I say go for it.