Converting my remington 1100 to a magnum

[budman8]

I was wondering if it would be possible to convert my rem 1100 2 3/4 inch barrel and reciever to a magnum reciever I have read several posts that talked about buying just the barrell and my papa said that the 1100 mag isnt's made anymore??

 

[PA4476]

You should NOT shoot 3" ammo out of a 2 3/4" 1100. Thats one of the main reasons Remington started making the 11-87 in 1987. The 11-87 is a stronger built frame and made to handle 3" shells. You cannot just add a 3" chambered bbl to your 1100 receiver and be safe to shoot 3" shells. Just trade for a 11-87 or shoot 2 3/4" ammo.

 

[Virginian]

Old wives' tales aside, the ONLY differences between a 2-3/4" 1100 and a 3" model is the barrel, and the action sleeve. The receivers are exactly the same except for the rollmarking, and in fact so is an 11-87 receiver.
The barrel of course has a longer chamber on the 3" gun, and it has only one gas port, and the ejector button is a little farther back on the barrel tang so the 3" hulls clear the port. An 870 is the same way, but the ejector is not on the shorter barrel tang. The action sleeve is heavier on the 3" gun in that parts of it are not turned down as on the regular one. The gas pressure peak pulse with a 3" load would be longer, so you would need less area to admit the gas, and you could get the heavier sleeve moving to where it would complete the autoloading cycle without battering the receiver. I got this from Wayne Leek, the guy who designed the 1100, many years ago on an airplane. It is a 'balanced' design. The 11-87 merely used the "bigger" gas system and incorporated a method to bleed off excess gas with heavier loads so you can shoot almost any 2-3/4" or 3" load.
Remington sold/sells a 3" Magnum barrel that they advise only using with steel shot on a 2-3/4" receiver. They do not sell the Magnum action sleeve, so one cannot truly 'convert' a 2-3/4" gun. I do not know about all of them, but some of the early 3" steel barrels needed the gas port opened up one drill bit size (advised by Remington) to function reliably with the heaviest steel loads at the time. I am not advising anyone else to do it, but I used my 3" barrel on my 2-3/4" 1100 receiver with lead, steel, Hevi-Shot, and anything and everything else for 20 years with zero ill effects, but I did keep a very close watch on the recoil buffer.

P.S. - Tell your Popa that in fact Remington does still sell some 1100s that are 3". In fact they are made to shoot almost all 2-3/4" and 3" loads interchangably. Could be there's a little 11-87 hiding under that 1100 skin.
P.P.S. - Oops. Just remembered. An acquaintance who owned his own machine shop built up a regular action sleeve so the weight was the same as a Magnum one, so I guess he did fully 'convert' an 1100 to 3".

 

[MAX100]

Virginian Good info...


GC

 

[budman8]

Well I did some more research yesterday and found out that my barrel has two gas ports and thanks for all the help. You are correct the 1100 G-3 is that mag version.

 

[Jasper86]

bumping an older thread, but it's somewhat relevent.

i'm considering purchasing (locally) an older remington 1100, 3" magnum.

it's going for SHORT money (hence my interest), but will be almost 100% 3gun/HD duty (moreso 3gun, less so HD). can the 3" magnum barrel gas port(s?) be drilled/enlarged to accommodate light target loads (the 3gun matches ive done are primarily birdshot, with a few scattered slugs here and there)

...or is it even worth doing? (IE, think i could find someone to trade me a standard 3" barrel for my 3" magnum barrel?)

 

[Virginian]

There is no such thing as a "standard" 3" barrel. 3" is Magnum.
There used to be an outfit that would drill a second gas port and install a little Allen socket threaded plug for said gas port, so you could switch back and forth. Sorry, I cannot remember who it was.
If you do get a second gas port drilled, I would also buy a standard action sleeve so that Magnum sleeve isn't slamming into the receiver. Keep a close watch on the buffer.
I would not just enlarge the existing gas port. That seems to work well for correcting erratic operation with heavy steel or 2-3/4" shells, but it doesn't seem to really get it for shooting lighter 2-3/4" loads, which you would probably want to use for practice to save a ton of money.
Oh yeah, You could probably sell the 3" barrel and buy a standard 2-3/4" barrel and come out ahead, particularly if you can use a non ventilated rib barrel in your application.