Remington Model 11 Receiver Crack

[Hambrabai]

Just recently I acquired a Remington Model 11, SN 332xx and after a good cleaning to remove the accumulation of several years of grime and dirt I noticed that a knick in the finish on the receiver was in all actuality a small crack in the receiver.

The crack is located on the upper rear corner of the breech and is about 1/16 of an inch long. I've been wondering what could have conceivably caused a crack in that location and how much it will affect the guns operation and if it's possible or even wise to have repairs attempted.

I hope this made sense to anyone who reads this and hope I get some insight into this matter.

 

[rbernie]

Pictures of the crack would be useful.

 

[fguffey]

The Model 11 has a buffer/disc riveted inside the rear of the receiver, the purpose of the disc is to dampen the effect the bolt has when it cycles, the Model 11 also has a friction system for different loads, light, medium and heavy, just a guess but the rear of the receiver could have gone through a large dose of heavy hammering adjusted for light loads.

The 33,000 could put your your receiver before 1928 meaning the safety will be in front of the trigger. push forward, push back, after 28 the safety shuttled right and left. the model 11 type shotgun was called the Auto Loader when production started in about 1905.

F. Guffey

http://www.remington.com/pages/our-company/company-history.aspx

http://armscollectors.com/sn/remdates.php

The last link requires codes stamped on the receiver.

 

[NCsmitty]

The crack in the receiver was probably caused by firing heavy loads with the friction rings set for light loads. The bolt has been hitting the rear of the action under heavy recoil, and it too may have sustained damage. You probably need to check the action spring and buffer plug to make sure it is not damaged.
The crack in the receiver should be looked at to see if will pose a danger down the road.

Here's a schematic from Numrich.

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Products.aspx?catid=5642

As fguffey mentioned, the rear fiber buffer is probably beat up.



NCsmitty

 

[fguffey]

....or missing.

F. Guffey

 

[Hambrabai]

As Obliged I have a picture of the crack in question, please excuse the low quality as I'm away from my normal camera and had to use my blasted phone.

http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad185/Hambrabai/RemingtonPre-11.jpg

I have good reason to believe the buffer has either been degraded severely or is simply missing in the gun, but luckily the rear of the receiver doesn't appear to be punched to pieces.

Edit: Called up Remington and they said it was produced in 1906 so it's had a long time to end up with this crack.

 

[NCsmitty]

That small crack in the corner of the ejection port should not prevent you from using it. I was expecting the defect in the back of the receiver. For what little I can see of the bolt, I'm not seeing a lot of wear. That's a good thing.
I would carefully remove the trigger ass'y, and inspect the buffer and clean the area in the back of the receiver, while you have it apart.




NCsmitty

 

[fguffey]

Not a good ideal to start remoiing screws, there are two in the rear, one holds a leaf spring the other will allow removal of the stock.

F. Guffey

 

[Jim K]

I also misunderstood about the location of the crack; a crack at the ejection port is fairly common while I have never seen the rear of the receiver crack. Still, the cause is likely the same as previously discussed, and the news is no better. I agree to a point with NC Smitty, you can continue to use the gun and keep an eye on the crack. But I would order a buffer and also use only light loads in the gun. Perhaps the crack will not lengthen, but if it does, time to retire that old gun.

I would not try to have the receiver welded or brazed; the result would probably just make it look worse and possibly even ruin it completely.

Jim

 

[Chawbaccer]

I would have a smith stop drill the crack, then fill the hole with some JB Weld or similar to take away a bit of the ugliness.

 

[Jim Watson]

I agree with Chaw.
The end of the crack could be drilled to stop propagation.
Replace the "fiber cushion." I would look into modern materials as used in buffers for other guns, once you have a fresh factory type to go by.
Be sure you understand the setup of the friction rings and use the right arrangement for your shells. There have been a lot of the old Brownings and similar beat up because people did not understand the rings and just left them in the light load position.

 

[Hambrabai]

I'm not particularily sure of what to do with the gun, it's not going to see a whole lot of usage but the idea of firing a gun with a cracked receiver is kind of spooky to me.

And I was already under the idea that welding receivers in any way was largely a bad idea would either have a chance to warp the receiver or burn out any heat-treating they did. So odds are the old girl will likely be put away.

 

[Silverado6x6]

The friction rings do most of the work and they can be either reversed or swapped around for different loads, I think I used a piece off of an old belt for my buffer or I just soaked it in oil, its been a long time since I had mine apart.

Frankly I think I may consider a better option of a more modern material for a shock buffer.

 

[Chawbaccer]

the idea of firing a gun with a cracked receiver is kind of spooky to me.

For what it is worth, neither the barrel nor the bolt locks to the receiver. When set up correctly all the force is directed to the base of the magazine tube via the recoil spring. I keep my 11's set up for heavy loads and only mess with the settings if I am having problems (rarely) with function.