Most Reliable Semi Auto Shotgun?

B.S. on the "fragile" 'O' ring on 1100s and 11-87s. Internet legend. They do not move in service - they are a static seal. 99.9999% of issues are caused by ham handed owners when they dis assemble the gun and cheapskates/don't know betters using hardware store plumbers 'O' rings that are not resistant to petroleum products. I have had 11 different ones, and still have my '63 bought new, and have never had an 'O' ring fail in use. I tore one on the 20 one time when I was talking when I was putting it back together, but it was still working when I changed it. The '63 has had the same one since I changed the metal 'V' ring to an 'O' ring in about 1967 so I wouldn't lose it.

Call B.S. if you must, but I own a LGS and we replace these o-rings regularly for our customers. The next most common repair is replacing a cracked bolt carrier on these Remington 1100 or 11-87 semis.

They still don't belong on a list of the most reliable semiauto shotguns.

They probably are the most popular, but thats a function of the low cost to own one compared to reliable shotguns.

I have sat in duck blinds with guys who have Remington's and when the o-ring failed they got to watch the rest of us hunt.

It's not B.S. these o-rings break to the point that even Walmart stocks them in the sporting goods department.

Haven't had an O-ring fail yet, but it sure could. Was taught a while back to put tape around the threads before pulling one off before cleaning, as to not cause any damage to the ring. I guess it works haven't replaced it yet after 15 dove seasons. Think I'll put a new one, after all this talk and tape the old in a baggie to my hunting vest.

Yes, I must call BS. I sold guns for 25 years myself, and I used to work on them. I do not call myself a gunsmith because I have not one artistic bone in my body and zero ability to speak of with wood. So I am familiar with the number of 'O' ring failures, and as I stated before the failures are owner caused. WalMart should sell 'O' rings, because the likelihood of someone experiencing a failure is high. All you have to do is drive in traffic for 10 minutes to understand why that is. As Gallagher said, we have a high percentage of people who are critically stupid. If we could test owners before we let them buy any semi, the failure rate for all semi would be under 0.1%.
I am not saying that an 1100/11-87 is perfect, or will run as long between cleanings as some newer designs. But in all the hundreds I have looked at I have never seen a cracked bolt carrier. Seen a couple with a broken link and a couple with broken action arms. But, I have seen lots of other guns with stuff broken too.
I cannot abide an inertia action, but I would be the first to defend them when people say they don't work in cold weather. If they don't work, it's because the shooter either used the wrong lube, or they had so many soft thick clothes on that they didn't back up the gun like one requires to function.
I have seen more than one Beretta with carrier issues, but the fix is known. So they should just fix it or shut up IMHO.

Another opinion

http://randywakeman.com/Most_Reliable_Autoloading_Shotgun.htm

From a Remington 1100. I had this happen twice to the same gun. When you order parts from Remington, and if you own an 1100 you certainly will, it's wise to order two spares. You will need them.

Browning A5

Been going for about a hundred years now.

Clarence

I can still say I have never seen one crack, but I guess I will have to admit I have seen a picture of one that did. I would suspect the bolt slot wasn't right on that one for some reason.

On my Remington Model 11 it has a piece of leather I think to act as a stop in the rear of the receiver, and its held in place with a rivet. Sounds kinda archaic but if the leather gets too hard or breaks off you lose the stop and some high power loads will cause a slam to the rear hard enough to crack it.

Mine GTG after I greased it and softened it up, its probably the same piece put in when the gun was made in 1933, however I am thinking of modifying something more modern like a piece of live rubber or a simple slice of a childs superball, something dense and oil proof. Actually I leftover pieces of sorbothane from a stock job, might try that.

FN SLP is the most reliable

I would put my FN SLP up against the Benelli M4 . I own both and the FN is much better then the M4 for reliability.

Besides O ring failure - I had an 1100 that didn't like those from the factory until I got some Viton ones from the auto store, mine went through firing pin return springs and the piece that held the bolt handle in place way too frequently for me.

As to not liking petroleum products, you are not supposed to use any on the mag tube anyway

BluedRevolver said:

I ended up buying a winchester super x3

Click to expand...

This model wasn't mentioned by any of the responses to your question.

The most reliable semi-auto shotgun I've personally owned is Benelli M-1. It has yet to have a failure to function after several thousand rounds. I've also owned a 20 gauge 1100 and a 12 gauge 11-87. The 1100 has been a good shotgun but not 100% like the Benelli. The 11-87 neither I nor Remington could make reliable enough to be usable in the duck blind. They had three chances at it and put two new trigger groups in it. After the last time it jammed, I cleared it and traded it in on the Benelli. And I keep my shotguns clean and know how to keep an O ring from being damaged in cleaning. I also know how to disassemble and reassemble the shotguns correctly.

I have a Rem 1100 20 GA and it is a great fun and soft shooting gun, but it is not 100% reliable. It is an old gun from the 60's or 70's. It does not bother me that it is not 100% reliable because I just shoot clays or small game with it.

Look at a newer Beretta. A lot of the dove shooting places in South America claim the Beretta holds up a lot better than any other autoloading shotgun for high volume shooting.

Me and two friends (one a trap and skeet shooter) have had a bit of bad luck with 1100s. The friends switched to Berettas. Mine couldn't run without hand cycling. Three 'smiths including a factory authorized rep couldn't get it to run, either. Fortunately the gunshop owner took it back and gave me another (like new) 1100 which I promptly traded for a Benelli M1 Super 90. Never looked back...

Good luck

M

I've owned a Benelli SBE since the mid-90s and couldn't speak more highly about it. I never had a problem with its recoil, though supposedly the SBE II has addressed that. 2 3/4" skeet loads - 3 1/2" magnum loads without a hitch after a minimal break-in period for the light loads. Simple and effective.

Skeet B 1100 has untold rounds thru it.Never, ever, had a problem.But, cleaned properly after every 100 or so shots and, no 2 3/4 mags either.Love and care folks, love and care.On the other hand I had a couple of 390's that either didn't like my reloads or were flawed from the factory.They replaced both after shipment to authorized dealer repair.The 1100 never hiccupped with the same reloads.Huh?

Beretta or Benelli.

I still have many super reliable semi-auto shotguns: in order of reliability.

1. Browning A5--I can't remember a single jam in several generations of use.
2. Beretta A303--served me well for years of clays and hunting.
3. Browning Gold Hunter 12ga.--has been shot infrequently since my collection has grown--but nary a hiccup. I always clean the gas system after shooting it.
4. Winchester M59 12ga.--it never liked ribbed plastic hulled shells i.e. Remingtons or Peters but with smooth paper hulled shells or smooth hulled Win. SuperXs it ran like a dream. As to why it was that way????

The old browning A5

All I can say is that, in 19 years of ownership, my Remington 11-87 has never jammed.

Switched to Benelli about 10 years agao after breaking my 1 year old 11-87 and have never looked back. I have 3 Benellis now. The only other gun that equals the Benelli is Beretta (IMHO)
Both great guns, both pricey, both well worth it.
Try them both, buy the one that feels/fits best.

I owned a Benelli M2 for a few years, I shoot clays so quite a lot of shells went through it, maybe 30000. But by that time it had started doing "light strikes", maybe 2 out of every 100 rounds, which wernt good enough. I took it back (it was still under warranty) they claimed to have fixed it but it was exactly the same, so I sold it.

I then bought an old early '80s Remington 1100, which was good fun, and frankly just as reliable as the M2, but in the end it began to fall apart from age, so I traded it in about 6 months ago for another Benelli, a SuperNova.

I'm using this gun all the time now, in an effort partly to save my other gun, a late '70s Wingmaster that I've had for quite a few years as well,, from quite so much use, but all in all these two pump action shotguns never light strike, and if they fail to feed thats user error, not gun error.

In short, in my opinion, if you want longivity, and reliabilty,you buy a pump action.


Oh, and having said that, I once owned a Mossberg 500 that used to drop the second shell straight out of the magazine onto the floor, which would be bad to say the least in a combat situation! However, it was a fault, and once fixed it never went wrong again.

Excluding home defense my Maxus and SX3 are amazing! From frigid cold Montana blizzards hunting geese to summer trap! They just flat cycle! They also reduce recoil very very very well. I know they all say that but compared to my old Beretta and Franchi they are great! Even my buddy shoots the Explorer, that thing is terrible! My Maxus shoots trap loads littarely like a 22!

However they don't make tacticool stuff for the SX3 and the Maxus doesn't accept an extended tube, obviously.

But for extreme goose hunting they have been a flawless!

In God and Glock we Trust