1100/11-87

[ratgunner]

I bought a used 11-87 Premier,this is my first autoloading shotgun.I took it apart and cleaned everything real well.I also got a new gas ring[seal].What I'm wondering is how do I know when to replace the old one ? Should I wait 'till it breaks or what.It seems to cycle a bit slow to me.But then again I never owned or shot one before.My 1300 pump seems just as fast or faster. I'm not worried about the speed so much,I got it to soften recoil and because it swings and balances so well. Also the action handle or whatever it is on the bolt,should I buy a spare one ? I've heard they fly off on some autos.Thanks.

[Graybeard]

Mechanically pumps are in theory faster than a semiauto if absolute maximum rate of fire is an important criteria. You'll likely get off faster accurate fire with the semiauto.

You'll likely never need to replace the o-ring seal unless you are a competition shooter or grossly neglect your gun. I think I've replaced one in my entire shooting career and it was on a grossly abused used gun I bought. As to the handle forget it I've lost one of those also in my shooting career and suspect I had just failed to fully insert it at the last cleaning. On Remington guns they don't break and you shouldn't lose one.

[ratgunner]

Thanks Bill.That puts my mind at ease.I suspect most of the bad things I've heard about the Remingtons is from people trying to justify the price they paid for their pasta shooters.LOL.

[daddywpb]

What GB said. I've had my 11/87 SP for 18 years - still the same o-ring.

[RaySendero]

I bought a used 11-87 Premier,this is my first autoloading shotgun.I took it apart and cleaned everything real well.I also got a new gas ring[seal].What I'm wondering is how do I know when to replace the old one ? Should I wait 'till it breaks or what.It seems to cycle a bit slow to me.But then again I never owned or shot one before.My 1300 pump seems just as fast or faster. I'm not worried about the speed so much,I got it to soften recoil and because it swings and balances so well. Also the action handle or whatever it is on the bolt,should I buy a spare one ? I've heard they fly off on some autos.Thanks.

rg,

I got one the first year (1987) the came out - Still have the gun.   Its been the best shotgun I've ever owned!  I can shed some light on the O-ring failure rumor:

I did experience problems with the original O-rings!  Seams every time I hunted in extreme cold, 10 - 20 F duck huniting, the O-ring would harden and crack.  Remington was very good to replace these O-rings but the failures still happened - But again only in the cold.  Went through several O-rings till I put 2 and 2 together regarding the cold weather.   Changed to a "vitron" brand O-ring and haven't even though of this problem in almost 20 yrs til now you mentioned it!

The O-rings Remington first used in these guns were black with a silver tint to them. - These were the ones that failed on me.  I noticed that Remington changed the O-ring to a dark black material shortly after introducing the gun and the problem went away.  So unless your O-ring has a silver tint and you use it in real cold weather, I would expect it to last a long time.

[ratgunner]

Thanks Ray,I'm glad I asked because the old ring is black and the new one is silver.They claim it is Teflon coated.I'll just keep the old ring in for now.

[JoeG52]

I bought my 1100 in 1976, still on the original O-ring.
I have a spare "just in case".

[kenscot]

I regards to the o rings my gun came with a black one it did fail. When I went to the dealer he gave me another black one. a year later I was back in the shop and figured I would pick up a spare . It was one of the silver ones. When I asked the dealer about this he said that remington changed to this one which is  made of a tougher material due to the others failing   
A couple of weeks ago my gun started malfunctioning during a round of skeet (still managed 25 )
when I broke it down I found that the firing pin retracting spring was broken.
I ordered parts directly from Ilion and asked for another backup seal again it was a silver one. So I believe these are the newer seals and yes the gun is back to running flawlessly.   

[Big]

My 11-87 is a great gun.  The O-ring has never failed, but the feed latch has broken several times while shooting 3 inch steel BBs or #2s.  I called Remington and was told not to shoot larger than #4 steel, because the larger pellets create too much back pressure.  They had no reason why this information isn't in the owner's manual.

So, I bought a Benelli SBE II for trips away from home.  I still shoot #2 steel through the 11-87, but always through an IC choke (not sure if it was a mod choke that was in when the feed latch was breaking).

[RaySendero]

My 11-87 is a great gun.  The O-ring has never failed, but the feed latch has broken several times while shooting 3 inch steel BBs or #2s.  I called Remington and was told not to shoot larger than #4 steel, because the larger pellets create too much back pressure.  They had no reason why this information isn't in the owner's manual.

So, I bought a Benelli SBE II for trips away from home.  I still shoot #2 steel through the 11-87, but always through an IC choke (not sure if it was a mod choke that was in when the feed latch was breaking).

WOW! - First time I've ever heard of a #4 steel shot size limit!

My 1187 is a 1987!

I've shot 3" steel in #4, #2, BB and BBB thru it using both the IC and M chokes for over 20 years with no problem.