Keeping a Remington 11-87 running smoothly

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Tony k

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I just got a 12 guage remington 11-87 premier left handed. I think it was made sometime between 2000 and 2007, and it had never been fired when I got it. I just got back from using it on a pheasant hunting trip in South Dakota. I REALLY enjoyed using it, and I think it's going to be my new primary pheasant/ upland bird shotgun.

The gun seems to have a lot of parts (this is my first autoloader shotgun), and I'm concerned that one will fail at the wrong time.

Are there any parts that I should keep on hand? O-rings? Seals? Springs?Thingamabobs?

Any other tips for owning/maintaining an 11-87? Between hunting and clay practice, I'll probably put between 100 and 1000 rounds through it per year typically.
 
I have been owning Remington 1100 and 11-87 semi autos for 52 years, and the only part that has ever failed on any on any of mine was one 1100 extractor in 1982. The 11-87 got a wider extractor to address that potential problem. But, I have replaced about every part on other people's. Parts are easy to get, and anything you get, it won't be the one you need when you need it. I would save my money and just keep it clean and lightly oiled. After shooting, one shot or 500, I always pull the fore end and barrel and give the gas system parts a quick spray and wipe off. Don't wait until before the next outing.
I would get some spare O rings. I have never had one fail, and the one on my 1963 1100 has been there since about 1967, but they are too cheap not to have a spare if you tear one during cleaning/disassembly. I think like $6 for 4, delivered, on ebay. If you don't have an owner's manual, go to www.remington.com and download one.
 
Thanks Virginian.

anything you get, it won't be the one you need when you need it.
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Isn't that one of Murphy's Laws? :)

I'm usually pretty good about cleaning guns after use, so that shouldn't be an issue. I'll probably pick up some o-rings. It has really fancy high gloss stock and forend that I don't want to trash, so I think I'll also get an aftermarket synthetic stock and forend set.
 
Honestly, I consider that a relatively inexpensive shotgun and if you are really enthusiastic about upland hunting you owe it to yourself to get a backup 11-87 or 1100.

Part serious part tongue in cheek there but that is the only way to make sure you will not be leeching off your hunting buddies if your 11-87 breaks down.

Ive only ever heard of o rings going on them but have never had first hand experience with that happening. Around the time all of my hunting buddies were really getting their 1100s broken in they all switched to the lightweight recoil operated guns. Some vintage Browning Light 12 and 20s and some went with the Franchis. I bought a Light 12 to add along with my AL48 20 ga just recently so I may never go back to gas guns.

Then again, now there are friction rings to worry about. Nothing is maintenance free I guess.
 
i shoot a thousand rounds some months with a 11-87 trap with reloads and have not had any problems at all, zip-nada. it may be a little heavy but that helps on long runs of shooting. eastbank
 

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I sold the only Browning Auto 5 I ever intend to own many moons ago, and the only Franchi that might interest me is a 48AL in 20 or 28 gauge. All of my brothers-in-law and a ton of other people had Auto 5s, and they all switched to 1100s.
Properly maintained, most guns work. Personal preference has little to do with reliability.
 
Rem. 1100 Part Failure - Why?

@ Virginian - I have six Rem. 1100s and my experience (1974 to date) on parts failures mostly mirrors yours with one exception.

My most used 1100, a 12 gauge SA Skeet - circa 1989, has had a nagging problem with busting a “wing” off the forend support assembly - usually one a year. These are now stamped parts where they used to be machined. My oldest 12 gauge, circa 1974, has the machined part and has been used as much as the 1989 gun without any failures. I have other 1100s with the stamped part that have not had failures, but they are not used nearly as much as the 1974 and 1989 guns.

Do you have an explanation or experienced guess on why this is happening? Also, Why is this part only found on the 12 gauge 1100 guns?
 
Honestly, I consider that a relatively inexpensive shotgun and if you are really enthusiastic about upland hunting you owe it to yourself to get a backup 11-87 or 1100.

Part serious part tongue in cheek there but that is the only way to make sure you will not be leeching off your hunting buddies if your 11-87 breaks down.
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Agreed. The remington autoloaders are relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of offerings by benelli, francini, ect. I could go out and spend big bucks on a top end shotgun, a super pedigree hunting dog, and a bunch of high end upland gear. But I won't. I'll use my low/ middle end shotguns, my blue healer and Australian shepherd dogs , and my regular outdoor gear. I don't need anything fancy to enjoy bird hunting, or be enthusiastic about it. It's just not my style. I got a good deal on the 1187 and I like the way it handles. I'll use my mossberg 535 or my escort o/u as backups. If the 1187 proves to be unreliable, I'll go back to using the 535 as my primary. No big deal.

11-87 is about half pound heavier than a mossberg 535 IIRC. I'm a medium sized person. I thought I'd notice the weight difference, but after four days of slogging through cattails, tall grass, cane, and corn, I didn't notice it being heavy or unwieldy. Now that I'm back in NE Oregon, we'll see if I notice a difference in my normal hunting areas in the Hells Canyon Country.
 
I have probably around 30,000 rounds through my late 80's 11-87. I have replaced the O-ring twice. Once it broke, and the second time it was starting to separate and split. Many times it was close to 600-800 rounds before a thorough cleaning. I tried to wipe the gas tube off where the O-ring rides with some solvent at least every couple hundred rounds. 99% of my shells were of the light target variety for skeet and sporting clays, probably less than 75 3" magnum shells through that gun.

Always ran very consistantly. Keep the lube down to a minimum in very cold weather and pull the trigger group about every thousand rounds or so and blow the gunk out of it.

Also had three barrels with the gun, 30" VR with chokes that I used the most, 26" VR with chokes and a 21" cantilever rifled slug barrel that would group the Copper Solids in 3" at 100 yards.
 
The original fore end supports were a piece of stamped metal with a machined block spot welded to it. Weld started to crack on my '63 1100, so I replaced it with a stamped one. '66 Magnum is still original and still trucking. My '63 has over 115,000 rounds through it.
I have no explanation for the wing breaking off, unless you do not have a good fit where the fore end meets the receiver and it is flexing.
Only the 12s and 16s and Standard weight 20s have the fore end supports. On the smaller LT sized receiver gauges I guess they didn't feel it was needed, and on the two I have owned I would agree with them.
On my long distance hunts, I do take a spare gun, but have never needed it. Did swap bolts one time when my buddy's 1100 broke a firing pin spring - that was before they redesigned it. Actually, I usually take my Wingmaster just because sometimes I like to use it to shoot ducks, too.
 
Kinda sounds like I'm worried for no good reason. Lots O' parts compared to most of my other guns. Sometimes they break. Most of the time they don't. I think I'll just shoot it, clean it, and enjoy it.

I like the way it absorbs the recoil of stout field loads. I use Kent 2 3/4", 1 3/8 oz Max Dram shells. Recoil is on the higher end, but it's noticeably lighter with the 11-87 than with the mossy or the O/U. Not sure if that's the gas operation, the weight of the gun, or what, but I like it.
 
@ Virginian - Thanks for the reply. If there was a knowledgeable gunsmith that was reasonably close, I’d have it looked at.

The part is inexpensive and easy enough to replace, so I’ll continue to keep a couple on hand and not worry about it.
 
I have a 12ga 1100 that my dad bought in the late 70's early 80's used. Between the 2 of us this gun has close to 200,000 rounds of mostly 1-1/8oz target loads. In all that time it has never had the forend support. Honestly we didn't even know there was supposed to be anything there for the first few years, then figured why bother if it works without it. As for broken parts, here is the list. (Not sure what the proper terms for some of the parts are and really not that concerned about it)

2 broken "pickle forks" goes between the bolt and action spring.
6 total sets of rings. Usually only one of them will break. sometimes you don't even know untill you clean the gun.
Unknown amounts of o rings. Only 1 has been during a competition, the rest were during careless assembly/disassembly.
1 front bead
1 mag spring that for some reason rusted really bad.
The action bar sleeve has a hole worn in the top but still works fine.

Enjoy your gun and don't worry about breaking anything.
 
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I bought a new 11-87 about 18 months ago, and have shot at least 100 rounds through it every week. The only problem I've had was with a defective case of shells.

Previously I had an 1100 skeet that had had a hard life dating from the '70s, and the only problem I had was the wishbone (or whatever you call it!) breaking. Even over here in gun unfriendly England, my local gunshop had the part in stock .

Previously I've had among others a Benelli M2, and would count the Remingtons as equally as reliable and - for me - superior guns. It's not all about the price :)

Either way, I hope you enjoy your new gun!
 
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