Rimfire Guy

Thanks Patrick and Kyle. I am going to try the weaker magazine spring. I never would have thought of that one. The '3 inch carrier asembly' is certainly a new one on me. Does this part work as a parts interchange to the 11-87? I know what is happening I just don't know why it is happening. I have spent a bunch of time working on it. I admit it, I am wierd, these little mysteries fascinate me. The strange thing is that my 11-87 works 90% of the time but two other 11-87s don't. I know of two 1100s that work, two that don't and wierder still other 1100s that works properly every other shell. Sometimes yup, sometimes nope. Same ammo, same technique. JP did tell me what I suspected was true. Both the 11-87 and the 1100 are designed to load the chamber and NOT pause with a round on the lifter. So did they not work when delivered and the customers just never knew it was broken to begin with, or did they wear out and the customers never noticed the change? Both explinations seem strange, but as I said many owners are not even aware of it till I point it out. Then they look at me like I cursed their gun. Ha. Not the best way to make friends. 'Hey, can I look at that . . . ' As common as it appears to be, someone must have noticed and cured this by now.

OK I have been checking every Remington shotgun I can lay my hands on and function testing them. More than half I have checked have been BROKEN. Even the owners often times don't know this. Here is what you should check. 1. Load the magazine tube. 2. Rack the charging handle. If the gun is working the round should load into the CHAMBER. More than half the guns I have checked will leave the loaded round on the 'interceptor latch' or more commonly known as the 'shell lifter' I have talked to JP. He told me that this has three possible sources. 1. The gun is dirty and needs a REALLY good cleaning. 2. The gun has worn parts, and needs replacements. 3. Ammo issues. The problem shows up in a stage that requires a slug late in the course of fire after the magazine has been shot. Often times the fastest way to load the slug is to load the slug when it is needed, rack the handle, then fire the slug. If you need to push the 'lifter release' it adds motion and time. Now come on guys. The Remington shotguns are bent sheet metal parts. If they have become worn from use this type of out of spec part can usually be brought back into spec with a little bending. So rather than buying a bunch of parts to see which one is worn how about a little help? JP warned me that a shotgun that is doing this when it is manually cycled is on its way to doing it with live ammo, probably DURING A MATCH. While so far the guns I have inspected do work when firing ammo it indicates that a problem does exist. The way the gun works. When a round is fired the bolt moves to the rear. In the process the magazine releases a round from the magazine. The magazine spring forces the round to the rear. The inertia of the round impacts a lever on top of the lifter. When this happens the lever 'over centers' and trips the lifter. The lifter can now raise the shotgun shell up (the bolt is fully to the rear now) and the bolt can move forward pushing the shell into the chamber. For some reason the shotguns that are malfunctioning are not releasing the lifter. Either the lever is not being hit hard enough by the shell (I've tried stronger magazine springs) or the lever is not going 'over center' properly. THe frustrating thing is that on the bench everything checks out OK. Sooooooooooooo what's the solution? I am guessing that by now I have a few readers that now realize that their gun is broken too. Bummer huh.

I experienced this too. Ordered a Choate tube and could only fit 9 rounds in the tube. I called Choate to see what was up. The Choate gal explained that the description was somewhat confusing but that the tube provided a TOTAL of 10 rounds. Nine in the tube plus one in the chamber. I returned it and ordered a 10 rounder from Daves Metal Works, since my DMW tube for my Benelli actually holds 10 rounds. Imagine that. More money for sure, but I won't have plastic plugs flying out the end of the tube (like Singlestack witnessed) at inopportune times either. More money for a better product, that sounds fair!