Remington 1100 failures

[Hook686]

I have a circa 1975 Remington 1100 with about 300 shots through it. Due to medical conditions, I did not shoot this from 1978 until recently. It was stored indoors in its original box.

I recently took it out, cleaned it, replaced the "O" ring, added a 5 shot tube extension, installed an 18 1/2" Remington barrel and took it to the range.

Wolf buckshot failed to extract and failed to feed an additional shell. Someone at the range told me Wolf ammunition does not function well in a remington Shotgun.

I bought Remington buckshot and after a full cleaning, I took it back to the range today. First I tried the Remington Buckshot ... same results. The round fires, but does not extract, eject and feed a new round. I pull back on the charge handle, the hull hangs in the ejection port, I manually remove the hull, push the slide release and chamber a new round.

This happens for all 8 rounds in the tube. Both with Remington, Wolf and Federal shells.

Any thoughts on what I might try next ?

 

[308win]

Are you sure you got the piston and seal installed correctly? Working backward from the muzzle in order: piston seal (tapered side toward muzzle), piston (the taper on the piston nests into the taper on the seal), barrel seal (O ring). The slots in the seal and piston should not line up.

If you get Shooting Times there is an article on the 1100 in the August 2008 issue (should still be on the news stands).

 

[Pete409]

I'd guess it is probably not assembled correctly.

My second guess is that the recoil spring in the buttstock is rusted or gummed up from lack of use thereby stopping the bolt from cycling.

My third guess is that the 18.5" barrel is too short to allow sufficient gas to enter the gas cylinder. If this is the problem, you could enlarge the gas ports, but do this only as a last resort.

Fourth, you probably need to replace the magazine spring since you extended the magazine tube. Without sufficient spring pressure, the bolt will lock back and the carrier will not lift the fresh round for feeding into the chamber.

Fifth, when all else fails, read the Owner's Manual.

 

[mnrivrat]

Failure to eject the fired round seems to indicate the action is not getting enough gas to operate. As stated, the first thing to look at is the gas system and wether it's assembled properly. You already replaced the seal so that shouldn't be the problem.

I also think the assy is most likely the issue here, but if you have to go further the next step is to remove that 18&1/2" barrel and put the standard barrel back on for a test fire with it. If that works well, then a good look the gas port of the shorter barrel will be needed. Opening them up is a last resort but can be done if one is very careful.

 

[sm]

Dwell Time.

18 1/2" bbl is the culprit I bet.
Put the original bbl on and I bet it runs.

More good 1100 were ruined, with whacked off barrels at 18 1/2 inches.
The sweet spot is 23" as evidenced by the factory Bird Guns, with straight stocks with these 23" barrels.

A 18.5 inch bbl "can" be made to run, but it will run only with that ammo, and if that ammo changes, it affects the gun.

Domino Theory kicks in, and after a bit, the short barrel affects the gun with the longer barrel.

This has to do with ports, gas system and the recoil curve needing to cycle.

Dwell Time gets goofy.

 

[Fred Fuller]

IIRC factory 1100 slug barrels were 21" with different sized gas ports from the longer barrels. When 3-gun was going strong a lot of folks whacked off longer 1100 barrels to 18" or so- and then found out their guns wouldn't run.

Local gun guy stayed busy for a long time adjusting gas ports on cut-down 1100s... me, I bought a factory slug barrel for mine and it's still running just fine with it.

Try a longer barrel, if that doesn't work recheck your assembly of the gas system.

lpl/nc

 

[spencerhut]

My 18" 1100 functions just fine. Federal Low Recoil LEO rounds function 100%. Buckshot and Slug. I use it for 3-Gun and normally run the Remington Nitro Sprting Clays type loads in it for knocking steel down. It will occasionally fail to cycle with junk ammo, the el cheapo Winchester Wally World type stuff.

I keep it clean and never let it sit for 30 years. I'd COMPLETELY tear that gun down and make darn sure it is in 100% working order. Might be gunked up, assembled incorrectly or have a broken part.

When i fist got my 1100 I was messing around with it to make it "better" and broke it. Fixed it, but I needed some THR help to figure out what was wrong with it.

 

[sm]

IIRC factory 1100 slug barrels were 21" with different sized gas ports from the longer barrels.

Correct!
I was not thinking slugs, so thanks for bringing that up.
21" for slugs, 23" for Bird

Arrggh!

There are some 1100 barrels (other mfg's too) that folks messed with the ports, and the guns will only run with the ammo the ports were messed with , to shoot that load.

<enter expletives about folks messing with ports, whacking off barrels and other wonderments of shade tree gun-messer-uppers>.

Before 3 gun we shot Two Gun.
I run most often a bone stock shotgun with a longer bbl.

(well we were having to run around barefoot and not get eaten by dinosaurs and not fall into tar pits...)

I mean I was a kid, like in the first grade [1961) , doing this stuff.
We used handgun, rifle and shotgun (we could not count, we called it "two gun" and shot all 3 platforms, maybe that is why math is not my strong suite.)

My real deal, get down and be in the competition gun:
1974 SX1 with the factory slug barrel - and the factory fixed mod choke 28" barrel.

You see, we wuz concerned, gun control might say civilians could not have shotguns with shorter barrels like the Police and Military.
Since we had always shot lessons , and trained with longer barrels, we ran serious games, with longer barrels too.

I and mine still do.
We did / do 20 gauge, guns, for the reason 12 ga might be gun controlled some day, and civilians cannot have 12 ga as Police and Military use them.

In that case, I ran Beretta 303s.
I ran Win 1400s too.

I still want another Beretta 303 in 20ga with a fixed IC barrel and fixed mod barrel.


Gunsmith , now dead, once had over Eighty 1100 barrels in his shop, that had been messed with, from being whacked down, and /or ports messed with.

Just one gunsmith, who knows how many other 1100 bbls were out there messed up due to The Great Equipment Race.

Not to mention other gun mfg barrels....

Best kept secret for a get down, be stealthy , run and gun shotgun-
Browning B-80.

I want another one of these "Bird Guns".

 

[1944jimh]

1100 hang-up

If you did your home work as to cleaning , your gun should function perfectly. I've got a pile of 1100's and I'd stake my life on em.

 

[PT92]

New Remington Shotguns are notorious for needing to have the chamber polished. I had the exact same problem with am 1187 and I polished the chamber and it cycles fine now.

-Cheers

 

[VARifleman]

I have an 1100 with a 28 in mod choke barrel and a 21" remchoke barrel and both run better than my old 870. Nothing seems to stand in the way of that 1100, while the 870 didn't like the cheap ammo.

 

[Hook686]

There are some smart folks on this site. Remington.com replied that:

1) the chamber may need polishing

2) the 2 metal rings and black "O" ring might be missing/damaged/backwards.

Nice replies guys. Now is the chamber in the barrel ? So does that mean the 1st three inches of the barrel are polished ? What would one polish this region with ?

 

[Virginian]

I have never heard of a 1970s era 1100 having a chamber that needed polishing. New guns yes, but not back then. How old was whoever you talked to?
Yes, the chamber will be the back few inches before it starts to taper down. You can take a 20 gauge bore brush, wrap it with a strip of cloth, apply some Brasso, chuck it in a variable speed drill, and polish for 3 minutes, and my bet is it'll gleam like nobodys business. But, still not work right.
Have you stripped and cleaned and lubricated the tube and spring in the stock?
Are you sure the piston rings and 'O' ring are on correctly?
Did you clean out the gas ports in the barrel?
Are you sure the extractor is okay and moves freely in it's little slot with good spring pressure?
Have you tried a different barrel?
After you run thru this list let us know where things stand and we'll take another crack at it if we have to.

 

[another okie]

+1 on assembly of the piston ring. Very easy to do it wrong. Also on the gas ports. Run a pipe cleaner with solvent through them. If they are corroded it may require something more vigorous, but be cautious with anything and don't let anyone "drill out the ports."

 

[PT92]

Exactly,

Remove the barrel and use a drill with a wire bore brush attached and run that in the first 3-4 inches of the chamber (right where the shell loads into). Then clean the gook out of the barrel and reattach it and I would almost be sure that your problem will disappear.

-Cheers

 

[PT92]

By the way, put some bore solvent on the brush prior to polishing the chamber. Let me know if you need a link and I will send it to you.

-Cheers

 

[X-Rap]

Is the barrel chambered for 3" and the gun a 2 3/4? The latter has 2 ports and the 3" has 1.

 

[kfinks]

I have a used 70's era 1100. Did not cycle as you described. Seal was on backward. Easy to check and fix. Hopefully that is it.