Remington 11-87

[evan1395]

So, the Marine Magnum is a bit much at my local sporting good stores. They want close to a $1,000.00 for this shotgun.
So now i'm looking at the 11-87 Semi Automatic
I heard alot of semi automatic sotgun do not like to spit out low brass shells, or some lower recoil bird shot shells.
 
Has anyone known of any problems with this shotgun? I'm really digging it. It's even cheaper than the Marine Magnum. Which is what makes me speculate it's quality...even for a being a Remington.
 

[Graybeard]

The 11-87 digests target loads to 3" magnum ammo just fine. Even the one ounce field loads so commonly sold these days operate just fine. The 11-87 has become my go to semiauto shotgun after many long years of using the 1100.

[james]

Have a 11-87 supermag that I bought used and it is my go to duck gun.  I've run a bunch of 3 and 3.5" shells thru it but never shot light shells until this year.  Saw some sharptail grouse set down in a field so I filled it with 2&3/4 AA target 7.5s and it never missed a beat.    It has always functioned even after hitting the muddy bottom of a flooded rice field.   I have a lot of confidence in the gun.  I've had to replace the O-ring when I pinched it putting the barrel back on and I put a limbsaver pad on the shortened stock.

[evan1395]

Excellent to hear. So far the 11-87 is #1 on my list.
 
Now what about the Mossberg 930 series?
 
Anyone have any experience with that?
 
Good? Bad?

[JPShelton]

I bought my dad the 11-87 "Premier" when they first came out. It shoots every kind of commercial 2 3/4" or 3" shell without a fart, hiccup, belch, or burble from the gun.  That was it's selling point back in the day, and back in the day, I'd have to say that Remington got it right.  They got that one right, that's for sure.  Personally, I'd rather have that particular 11-87 than any Beretta 391 I've shot.  I haven't shot a new one, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if I wanted an autoloader for field use.
 

[eastbank]

i own and shoot two 11-87,s and they eat any thing i feed them,including  low brass cheap wally world shells and a boat load of my own reloads of 1-1/8oz #7.5 or #8 with 17.5 red dot.,my favorite turkey load is the federal tight wad 2oz #6 copper with buffer. the only thing that will not feed is the low brass loads in my short turkey barrel and it is listed as not for low base shells. eastbank.

[BUGEYE]

A friend inherited an 11-87 16ga and brought it to me to clean up the barrel and stock and then told me to hang on to it, since he lived in a rough neighborhood.
since home invasions have become more common, I took out the plug and keep it in the den stoked with buckshot.

[evan1395]

This is all excellent info guys! Really diggin' to hear that this shotgun loves to eject all type of spent casings. I was geivin the idea by close friends that semi autos aren't worth the time or money unless you pay for a real top of the line one.
 
Now, i'd like to stick with 12 gauge. How many different trim packages or versions of this 1187 are available. Someone just mentioned a Premier Model. What are those all about.
I have yet to pricecheck the 11-87 anywhere locally yet. I am waiting for HR to obtain our W2's at work to see what my EXACT budget is. Mind you I have bushings, U-Joints and a new differential carrer to install on the Jeep. So i'm really hoping I will have enough leftover to get this 11-87.
If I wanted to go with a shorter barrel for this 1187, are they easy to come by?
 
 

[JPShelton]

This is all excellent info guys! Really diggin' to hear that this shotgun loves to eject all type of spent casings. I was geivin the idea by close friends that semi autos aren't worth the time or money unless you pay for a real top of the line one.
 
Now, i'd like to stick with 12 gauge. How many different trim packages or versions of this 1187 are available. Someone just mentioned a Premier Model. What are those all about.
I have yet to pricecheck the 11-87 anywhere locally yet. I am waiting for HR to obtain our W2's at work to see what my EXACT budget is. Mind you I have bushings, U-Joints and a new differential carrer to install on the Jeep. So i'm really hoping I will have enough leftover to get this 11-87.
If I wanted to go with a shorter barrel for this 1187, are they easy to come by?

I'm the guy who mentioned "Premier" in his response.  That's what the gun I bought was called -the 11-87 Premier.  It has the word "Premier" rollmark engraved on one side of the receiver.  It was called that because back in 1987, that gun WAS "a real top of the line one" at least as far as gas operated autoloading shotguns went.  And I think the "Premier" moniker was very fitting, because the gun I bought my dad that wears it is a fantastic example of American quality gunmaking.  In terms of fit and finish, it is flawless in every respect.  It is everything great about the 1100, with the added benefit (to some) of being able to digest the wide range of 2 3/4" and 3" shells reliably.  When I bought it, the only 11-87 you could get was the "Premier" one in 12 gauge, but you could have a 28" or 26" vent rib RemChoke barrel.
 
I cannot advise on short barrels.  "Tacti-Cool" ain't my thing.  I have no idea how many variants of the 11-87 Remington currently makes. That should be easy enough to find out on Remington's website. I do know that the walnut / blued model I saw at Academy Sports a couple of days ago is nowhere near as aesthetically appealing to me as my dad's gun is.  My dad's gun has a very high metal polish and deep, lusterous bluing, and a "semi-gloss" wood finish that is more "gloss" than "semi."  It wasn't cheap to buy back then and the attention to detail and fit and finish of it were befitting its price tag.
 
JP
 

[evan1395]

I figure if i'm gonna be using this 1187 for skeet/trap style shooting, I may as well just keep the 28" on it.
 
I think i'm looking at the Wood trim one. Not much into the black synthetic looks on shotguns.

[JPShelton]

I figure if i'm gonna be using this 1187 for skeet/trap style shooting, I may as well just keep the 28" on it.
 
I think i'm looking at the Wood trim one. Not much into the black synthetic looks on shotguns.

My significant other asked me to respond to the O.P. above thusly, and I quote: "WHAT IN THE HECK ARE YOU WAITIN' FOR !!!"
She doesn't own an 11-87, but "borrowed" my dad's from 1998 until 2007.  During that time, we shot sporting clays at least three days a month, going through the course twice together with her doing the third without me shooting.  She typically shoots in the 80% to 85% range.  She doesn't shoot registered targets, and says she won't until she can break 90% regularly on every course she shoots.  Uh.....  Whatever.....
Her suggestion was that the O.P. buy the gun from a seller versed in shotgun fit.  She's a firm believer in that, thanks to John Markowitz at Pacific Sporting Arms in Azusa, CA, who went through the whole rigamorole with her once when we were shopping for a gun for her. Through that, she found out why she shoots the 11-87 so well....  It fits her better than just about anything off the rack.  The fit, coupled with the very soft-shooting nature of the gun, is what she credits with being able to shoot as well as she does.  All she has to focus on is grinding orange discs into black powder.  And she is very, very focused on that when on a sporting course.
She also thinks that if the O.P. is going to shoot clay, he should get the 28" barrel.  She couldn't explain why very well but what I gather is that she finds the gun too "whippy" with the shorter barrel and tends to "poke" at the target rather than use proper form to break it.
She also said that she thinks the current matte-finish is "ugly as sin" but "highly desireable" and when I asked her why, she mentioned how when we shoot at our old home course out in California, most of the stations have the sun in your eyes in the afternoon.  He quote: "Less glint off the barrel is just one less distraction"
Makes sense to me.....
And she's shouting at me now to re-empisize that the O.P. should buy the gun from a shop that knows about gun fit and if the gun doesn't fit, he should have a couple of alternatives in mind to chose from, asked me to emphisize that in her view, "fit is everything in breaking clay."
So there you go.....   She's shot an 11-87 a heck of a lot more than I have.  She figures at least 50, 000 rounds during the time she borrowed my dad's gun.  She was doing 600-1,000 rounds a month outside of quail and chuckar season for nine years, so her estimate probably isn't too far off the mark.
Oh, and now she's shouting about shooting 200 rounds of crummy Walmart ammo and never having a single malfunction even with a very dirty gun.
For a person who doesn't own one, my dulcet darling is quite the "fan girl."
JP
 
 
 

[cjclemens]

I picked up a well- used 11-87 premier in 12 ga several years ago. Most of its mileage, these days, happens on the sporting clays range. It handles the 100 round front course without a hiccup, every time. I usually use the cheap 1 1/8 ounce Diana trap loads there, and it cycles them just fine. During dove season, I switch up to the 1 oz light field loads. During deer season, I slap the rifled barrel on it and run slugs through it. The only time I ever recall it failing to cycle, was when the o-ring finally failed (who knows how old it was), but a 50 cent replacement had it back up and running.

The 11-87 has a pressure compensating gas system that handles a wide range of loads very well. The 1100's, on the other hand, are set up to handle a specific load and don't tolerate much variation.

[evan1395]

Unfortunately i'm waiting on my W2 to come int he mail so I can file my tax return
 
My hands are itching to get on this gun!!!

[BUGEYE]

I'm confused here.  so one of you experts can clue me in.  I am keeping a semi-auto remington 16ga for a friend that says 11-87 on it, but it has a recoiling barrel like a browning used to have.
what's going on here?  is gas operating the barrel and bolt??
I just sat the butt on the floor in front of me and pulled the barrel back and it pushed the bolt back.
I've always had single shots and double barrels, so I'm ignorant on anything else.

OOPS.  edited to add.  while handling it after I pulled the barrel back, I noticed that the 11-87 on it had mysteriously changed to 11-48.  sometimes we do dumb things.

[evan1395]

"I've always had single shots and double barrels, so I'm ignorant on anything else."
 
Me and you both man

[cjclemens]

The 11-48's are the old spring loaded, recoil operated shotguns. I have one in 20ga. It's fun to shoot, but the recoil really jabs ya - it's not a soft, smooth thump on your shoulder, like the gas guns give ya. It's still fun to pop the occasional rabbit with it.

[ejpaul1]

Took my wife (and myself) on a guided goose/duck hunt. I was shooting my Benelli M2 and she was shooting a rossi single shot 20Gage. I was shooting 3" BBB's and she was shooting 3" no 2's. I shot and cleanly dropped the first goose I aimed at, she didnt, I then followed up with another solid hit (these were greater canadian geese, 15LBS or so) She aims at another and it shakes it off. THen at a duck, just sitting on the water at 20 yards, duck shakes it off flys away. She then insists we get her a 12 gage. Im scratching my head cause she dont like how my benelli recoils. So, I took a chance and bought her a brand new 11-87 right after Christmas, got it for like 515. Cut the stock to fit her, took her out to shoot some 3" inch shells at passing ducks and she said its a peach to shoot. I took it out on squirrel with some low brass cheap loads, works like a charm, nary a skip or hiccup. IN all honesty, if I had to replace my benelli (if it were missing for some horrible reason) i'd just get one of these. You simply cannot beat them for the price.

[ejpaul1]

heres the evidence

[charles p]

I suspect that 16ga is an older 11-48 and not an 11-87.