1100 Gas Ports

[George]

Allrightythen, the best way to clean a mag tube is with a big shotgun bore mop on a shotgun cleaning rod, or a clean Tico Tool dedicated to the task (you just hafta have one of these babies if you have shotguns). A shotgun copper brush will also help if there is rust and other swarf in the mag tube. If I found lotsa rust in mine, I would replace it as it's now pitted and will never be the same.

The followers I use were bought at the 01 US3G from a vendor that said they were factory replacment metal followers. They are made from a dull gray sintered metal that polishes up to a nice bright aluminum type finish and look like cylindrical thimbles. The spring rides up inside and they add almost no length to the spring. I just re-placed one after 4 years because the spring I had in place had a sharp end up-turned and wore it thin in a circle. I now have the sharp end of a new spring turned under to prevent this happening again soon.

Billski is definitely speaking well heeded words of caution as the extra o-rings are indeed for partially unlocking the bolt. It is indeed a fine tuning thing that is only to be used with low recoil shells and an understanding of the fact that it still needs to lock, just not as much as usual ;-)

[GuildSF4]

GuildSF4... when you're testing, it's not the first box of shells where you might run into problems, it's after it gets a little dirty.  After a 10-15 slugs (Rangers) and a box of cheap federals... then it would start having problems.

I'm at .105 now (both ports).. it's 98%+, I'll play wih the oil now.  But it's almost there.

My 1100 probably has about 600 rounds through it

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank you, useful information.

Thanks for all the info from the other guys also. Definitely will test this one out some more before I adjust anything. I am running a 10 round tube, and a aftermarket follower, don't remember whose, but it is flouresent(sp?).

[EricW]

I gotta look at my follower closer. It seems pretty cheap, red thin plastic..

EricW..  maybe another item for you to sell?

(I have the TruGrip, have the 1100 rings...)

Not yet. For now, everyone has to invent their own. The next time I have my gun torn down, I'll try to remember to post a pic of mine.

[Patrick Sweeney]

A few things I've learned about 1100s:

Cleaning the mag tube is easy: tie a length of 550 cord to a red shop rag. Drop the free end of the 550 through the tube, and pull the cloth through.

The tiny gas ports on 1100s act as pressure metering valves. If you open the ports too much, you end up with a gas system that is not just over-pressured, but the buildup happens a lot faster. I can understand wanting a system that works without an o ring, but when you put the o ring in, you're really working the system hard.

I found that marginal 1100s worked a lot better after I'd cleaned up the ports (a tiny drilling chip in the hole can cause problems) then buffed the outside of the mag tube with a wire wheel. Then I kept the outside lubed.

lengthened forcing cones did more for recoil reduction than trying to find the softest 3-dram load.

Cheap-o soft 3-dram loads varied a great deal in gas port pressure. Even after finding something that worked, the next production lot of the same stuff might not be as reliable. I gave up and used only my reloads or 3-1/4 dram loads.

[wsimpso1]

Thanks for weighing in Pat (It has more authority when you say it). Sometime when I am at LGC, I will meet you and shake your hand.

Billski

[SGDM]

One other thing to check about every 500 rounds or so is the sides of the load gate. Be sure to check the sides, they get peened especially around the hump. Drop your trigger group and if the sides are rough, take ya a fine file and knock off the edges and polish em up. This will insure everything is slicked up and will run like a King Ranch colt.