Clemson
Member
Saturday was a great day -- I met with my men-of-the-church group at the local sporting clays range. We got about a dozen folks together for the outing giving us all some fun and fellowship.
I took my 1100 LT 20 and a "new" old 12 gauge 1100 that I had picked up in a pawn shop for peanuts. I had not shot the 12 and thought I ought to at least test-fire the gun. I had just replaced a broken extractor on the 20 gauge gun, so I knew it was good to go.
First shot was a rabbit. I dusted it, but the LT20 did not load a second shell. Try again -- same result. I was toting a single-shot 20 gauge. Fortunately, I had a backup plan. I borrowed an SKB O/U that one of the other shooters was using and finished up that station, then I trudged back to the truck and got the old, modified choke 12 gauge. I had fished two boxes of 12 gauge shells out of the closet earlier that day. Both were 25 years old: one box of AA "Heavy Trap Loads" 1 1/8 oz, and one box of Remington 7/8 oz loads. I had some reservations about the light loads, but the old gun shot everything just great. I finished the round out with the 12 gauge, and other than the tighter-than-optimal choke, it was fine for the clays.
Sunday afternoon I decided to diagnose the problem with the little gun. Shells cycled fine by hand, but the truth would be in shooting. I took the LT20 back to the range to try to figure what had gone wrong. I fired several shots, and the gun still would not eject anything. In fact, the bolt was not even coming back. I took the forearm off, and low and behold, for the first time in 30 years of 1100 ownership, I had installed the piston seal upside down! Man, I felt like an idiot! I flipped it back the way it should be, and all was well with the next dozen shots.
It is usually the simplest of things that gum up the works in a simple gun.
Clemson
I took my 1100 LT 20 and a "new" old 12 gauge 1100 that I had picked up in a pawn shop for peanuts. I had not shot the 12 and thought I ought to at least test-fire the gun. I had just replaced a broken extractor on the 20 gauge gun, so I knew it was good to go.
First shot was a rabbit. I dusted it, but the LT20 did not load a second shell. Try again -- same result. I was toting a single-shot 20 gauge. Fortunately, I had a backup plan. I borrowed an SKB O/U that one of the other shooters was using and finished up that station, then I trudged back to the truck and got the old, modified choke 12 gauge. I had fished two boxes of 12 gauge shells out of the closet earlier that day. Both were 25 years old: one box of AA "Heavy Trap Loads" 1 1/8 oz, and one box of Remington 7/8 oz loads. I had some reservations about the light loads, but the old gun shot everything just great. I finished the round out with the 12 gauge, and other than the tighter-than-optimal choke, it was fine for the clays.
Sunday afternoon I decided to diagnose the problem with the little gun. Shells cycled fine by hand, but the truth would be in shooting. I took the LT20 back to the range to try to figure what had gone wrong. I fired several shots, and the gun still would not eject anything. In fact, the bolt was not even coming back. I took the forearm off, and low and behold, for the first time in 30 years of 1100 ownership, I had installed the piston seal upside down! Man, I felt like an idiot! I flipped it back the way it should be, and all was well with the next dozen shots.
It is usually the simplest of things that gum up the works in a simple gun.
Clemson
I swear it never happened to me. 
sm