What are the high failure rate parts in rem 1100

[GentlemanJim]

Hi guys!

what fails in rem1100 shotguns?

The spaghetti sauce shotgun crowd keeps dissing my remmys.

I need to know what fails so I can keep an eye on those parts...and have a good spares kit on hand.

Thanks for any info!!

Jim

[tightloop]

Hi guys!

what fails in rem1100 shotguns?

The spaghetti sauce shotgun crowd keeps dissing my remmys.

I need to know what fails so I can keep an eye on those parts...and have a good spares kit on hand.

Thanks for any info!!

Jim

I don't know much about autoloaders but the current wisdom is to keep a handful of O rings handy...sure others more knowledgable will advise you further..

[XRe]

Burkett's DVD - Volume 8: Shotgun Mastery - features John Paul from JP Rifles discussing the 1100 in a lot of detail. One of the things he covers extensively is maintenance and common failures (and how to assemble a box of spares for the gun). I'm not real familiar w/ 1100s, so I can't rattle the parts off for you - but it seemed like there were a few parts in particular that he felt were worth keeping on hand... O-rings were definitely one of them

[kurtm]

A complete spare gun is in order! In no particular order

Extractor and all related parts

Firing pin and all related parts

"C" clip for the interceptor

interceptor

speed-feed pin

full set of gas rings

"O" rings

main spring plunger...commonly called the pickle fork

locking block

action slide ( the whole darn thing )

bolt handle

shell cut off and stakeing tool

ejector and rivit

both trigger group retaining pins and clips

There maybe a bit more, but this is the stuff I see with regularity

Now just so you don't feel picked on here is a list for the M1/M2 Super 90

trigger group retaining pin clip.

Cam pin ( I,ve seen 2 break )

disconector and related parts ( I have seen one break )

firing pin ( never seen one break..but just because )

Trigger ( never seen one break, but in case disconector breaks it on its way out )

can of oil ( I can only assume olive ), but that goes for everything KURTM

[LadyinBlue]

Olive oil....garlic....oregano...

[Chris]

Kurt,

Who has benelli parts right now? Specifically a loading gate?

Thanks

[mjbine]

Never mind the spare parts kit, just get another 1100 as a back up and have it ready to go. I am always thinking why I need more guns well there are always logical reasons. At least I keep telling myself that.

[benny hill]

For the Benelli you need a wipe down rag to clean the Remmy broken parts puke off of them when the Remmys crap out for the shooter next to you at the match.....

[kimel]

For the Benelli you need a wipe down rag to clean the Remmy broken parts puke off of them when the Remmys crap out for the shooter next to you at the match.....

And that, ladies and gents, is why I own a Benny Benelli now! :D

For 1100 o-rings get 'em from EricW if he is still selling them. Way cheaper than the original Remmy part and just as good at least for the short term. I just replaced mine every time I did a tear-down.

[adiksaputok]

O ring, O ring, O ring always have extra O rings and keep it well lubricated and clean it every after match you can buy 5 orings at ebay for $4.50 same size and specs. http://cgi.ebay.com/Remington-1100-11-87-1...1QQcmdZViewItem

[Larry White]

When you are shooting a remmy spices and condiments are a must cause you have to eat so much crow.-------Larry

[GentlemanJim]

Thanks for the info!!! I want to know as much about failures in 1100s as I can find!..(knowledge is power)

Just today I sent out an 1100 reciever that I modified to be nickel plated.

All of my small stamped parts are on the bench getting deburred and all stress risers removed before I polish them.

IF ANYONE HAS THE WORST MOST UNDEPENDABLE 1100 ON THE PLANET I want to buy it!

I have been told that some 1100s just will not run ..no matter what!!! and I just HAVE to know why!!!

This has become my new obcession

I know the Benelli is a fine firearm..and Benny can make them sing opus and opera

But I just want to make my old remmys run with the big dogs

Jim

Edited September 13, 2007 by GentlemanJim

[shooting for M]

For the original question I would suggest O rings and extractor and pring to start with then

Quote:

"Extractor and all related parts

Firing pin and all related parts

"C" clip for the interceptor

interceptor

speed-feed pin

full set of gas rings

"O" rings

main spring plunger...commonly called the pickle fork

locking block

action slide ( the whole darn thing )

bolt handle

shell cut off and stakeing tool

ejector and rivit

both trigger group retaining pins and clips"

Maybe a spare gun, Heck you can buy two 1100's and have some money left over for the price of a Benelli.

I've got quite a few rounds through mine and all I've replaced is the extractor spring and a few O-rings.

Jason

[Merlin Orr]

IF ANYONE HAS THE WORST MOST UNDEPENDABLE 1100 ON THE PLANET I want to buy it!

I have been told that some 1100s just will not run ..no matter what!!! and I just HAVE to know why!!!

This has become my new obcession

JIm

I would think that would be Nanci's gun.....? You could go back to Raton and find all the pieces her's puked out the bottom into the grass...?

[GentlemanJim]

IF ANYONE HAS THE WORST MOST UNDEPENDABLE 1100 ON THE PLANET I want to buy it!

I have been told that some 1100s just will not run ..no matter what!!! and I just HAVE to know why!!!

This has become my new obcession

JIm

I would think that would be Nanci's gun.....? You could go back to Raton and find all the pieces her's puked out the bottom into the grass...?

SEE the spaghetti sauce guys are on me like white on rice

Have to admit I did spend some time searching in the grass for lost bent and broken parts

But in my best terminator voice..(Ill Be Back)

Jim

[DaG]

For the Benelli you need a wipe down rag to clean the Remmy broken parts puke off of them when the Remmys crap out for the shooter next to you at the match.....

Ohhhh.......that hurts.

DaG

[kurtm]

Jason is right!!! My list is just the stuff over the last 15 years of 3-gunning I have seen break. My Brother runs Remmy and his never breaks!!....except for the time............UH....well,...he has needed.....EVERY PART I LISTED...My Benelli bought in 1997 has needed...um.....er.......CLEANING!, and a recoil spring!

There are two types of Remington 1100/1187s those that have spit parts durring a stage, and those that are GOING TO spit parts on a stage, I hope all the parts you guys break are in practice, not when it counts like soooo many others. Jerry had Benny build him a Benelli because of ALL the failures durring the NATIONALS of his 1100! YMMV, but not by much!!!

( Disclaimer...Benelli DOES NOT SUPPORT OUR SPORT IN ANY WAY!! As one of 4 U.S. shooters to represent AMERICA at the European Shotgun Championships last year we needed parts and Benelli told us that we would have to go through Brownells and if they didn't have it TOO BAD!! We did America proud, but SCREW Benelli!.....they just don't break! If anyone offered a GOOD shotgun I would be shooting it RIGHT NOW.....but noone does!)! KURTM

[J-Ho]

Jim,

I paid $175 for a POS remmington, that was pitted inside and out. I replaced the button on the loading gate. That's about it (as far as internals go) Well except for taking apart every last stinking bit of the gun and polishing the heck out of it. I polished the inside and outside of the mag tube, I poished everything that wasn't wood, then I polished the wood. I did a little bit of work to the uh damn forgot what it's called ( the shell hits it as it leaves the magazine, there by closin' the damn thing back up.) I shortend that up a little smothed the hell out of it. I put a very tight spring in the magazine. It is a 9 round tube I get 8 in it. This seemed to help a lot. The gun runs great, not a sigle hiccup at the Johnson match, As long as I keep it oiled so much that King Saud sent me a thank you note. It was even personalized!

I think the 550 er I mean 1100 is a fine gun, just really high maintanece. But that's ok with me, you should meet my wife. (If she ever reads this, well it's been nice meeting you all).

If all else fails, here's another method that I used and had great luck with.

1. Find a Voodoo witch doctor

2. Buy some rum

3. Drink rum

4. Get a goat

5. Sacrifice said goat, draining the blood into a large bucket

6. Drink more rum

7. Get the witch doctor to do some dancin' chantin' and such.

8. Soak the shotgun parts in the goats blood

9. Drink more rum. Rinse the parts off with the rum. Save some for yourself.

10. Light gun on fire. (you should have already made sure it's unloaded)

11. Beat the witch doctor over the head with the gun until the flames are extinguished (This serves no real purpose but the bastard drank the rest of my rum)

12. Reassemble the gun. Oil it like a madman.

13. Sober up

14. Load and shoot gun. Voila a working 1100!

Good luck on your quest to perfect the 1100. You'll need it.

Jason Hosaka

[GentlemanJim]

LMAO

Jim

[Gregory_k]

Not my words, just something I've saved from another form, Can't rember where maybe battlerifles.

"I've been shooting 1100s mainly for competition trap since 1981.

It is the best of the semiauto shotguns by far. The trick is you need to get

an OLDER one, not a newer one because QC is non-existent at Remington these days. And you need to take certain proactive maintenance steps

to keep it running.

I've owned six 1100s in my life and have three currently. The first one

I bought lasted 17 years of continual, 10,000 -20,000 rounds per year

before the mag tube finally broke off of the receiver. It's barrel then lasted an additional three years before it developed a hairline crack near the locking lug extension and had to be scrapped. The bolt from that original 1100 then lasted an additional two years beyond the barrel and receiver in another gun before it developed a crack near the extractor cutout.

I will post the details of "dos" and "don'ts" that found to have worked over

the years. What to look for, what and how to lube and parts life. Gotta scoot for now!

1100 PM Tips:

- Replace firing pin spring at 5,000 rds (the pin itself rarely, if ever breaks)

- Replace extractor at 10,000 rds

- Replace barrel seal (rubber "O" ring at 5,000 rds)

- Lube rails where link ("tuning fork") rides

- Inspect link for wear, stress, burrs, etc. (the new ones are made of powdered metal and are NOT durable) The old ones were carbon steel

and lasted longer if you lubed them and dressed any burrs.

(IMPORTANT: NEVER explore the inside of the receiver with your fingers!

You WILL get sliced open BADLY even with rags wrapped around your hand) Use a toothbrush, needle nose pliers, etc.)

If possible, replace "forend support" (the little part that slides on the action bars and forms a "bushing" between the bottom underside of the bbl near the chamber and the mag tube) with an old fashioned MACHINED

steel (flat one). These NEVER break. The stamped ones break as soon as

2-3000 rds and usually break off on one side, causing jams and gouged

magazine tubes

NEVER use abrasive cleaners on the magazine tube to clean carbon buildup. This is thin sheet metal, you WILL eventually wear away the O.D.

of the tube causing irrepairable gas loss and functioning problems

NEVER use plumber "O" rings as substitutes for the original Remington part. The original is designed to withstand hot gasses. Plumber rings are not.

Replace the action spring (inside the stock about every 10,000 rounds) or

once per year if you shoot actively with less than that (some people even suggest 5,000) I've gotten by with 10,000 for 22 years.

The action spring should be at least 14-1/2" long once it has been sitting

inside the gun. Springs shorter than that are losing their tension and RESISTANCE, which would allow the back of the bolt to impact the rear of

the receiver HARD accelerating irrepairable wear.

Inspect the trigger (fire control). Replace worn, bent carrier latch, carrier

dog and pin. This will insure good functioning.

Buy a feed latch stake (from either Brownells or from Shotgunsports.com

-there is an advertiser in there) and if you are going to beat the guts of the gun up, or if the feed latch pops out or protrudes from one corner; it

is time to re-stake the feed latch in the receiver. Four staking whacks; two above and two below the latch's width done alternately (1 top, 1 bottom and so forth) will stake that latch into place for the lifetime of the receiver.

Ensure the mag tube cap is tight. This helps keep vibration down and reduces the impact of the top of the barrel extension from contacting the

inside of the receiver during recoil.

LUBE the top, exterior surface of the barrel extension with a gel like grease. It does three things: 1. makes for easier insertion and removal.

2. it forms a "gel pac" barrier between the top, outside surface of the barrel extension and the top, inner underside of the receiver - again reducing wear. (you'll notice very little bluing ever comes off the top

of the barrel extension when you do this - indicating little or no metal to metal contact.

DO NOT get grease or lube inside the chamber area (obviously)

At about 100,000 rounds some less, some more, replace the locking lug

(the floppy piece that rides on top of the bolt that engages a recess in the barrel extension) with one marked "L". This is a longer locking lug that will

buy the barrel another 50,000 o so rounds. As the locking lug recess and lug itself wears away, you're getting more movement, less secure lockup

and a "peening" effect inside the locking lug recess (that will accelerate barrel cracking)

Heavily used and/or poorly maintained barrels may be cracked. Usually

it is a hairline crack near the front edge of the locking lug recess. Older

barrels have obvious stress relief curved shape cuts in this area to prevent that. Newer barrels have less obvious cuts (apart from being pot

luck on shooting straight and having poorly honed bores and chambers that hold dirt in grooves for years)

As receiver rails wear down, this allows the link more slop in in its travel and contributes to link breakage (usually at the rear most legs that get squeezed together into the retaining cup at the back of the receiver).

That's why it's important to lube rails and inspect links.

Rings Piston/Piston seal. If you can find a nice set of old ones (carbon steel) from the 60s and 70s USE it. Lube to prevent rust. Also, inspect the gas cylinder area inside barrel for "ridges". These need to be dressed

out to prevent the rings from "snagging" on them which can "derail" the whole action bar "train" moving forward.

The ridges are caused by: Using steel wool and/or other abrasives on the magazine tube noted above which allows the rings to "wobble" in their travel. Or, just heavy use with no replacement.

If you are considering combat matches with an 1100; replace the cheesy

factory follower with a solid aftermarket part - like the one from Choate

Industries, or if you're really lucky: use a 1960s 1100/870 steel beveled cup magazine spring follower. They prevent binding. Just lube it to prevent rust.

NOTE: recent 1100's have a different magazine cap assembly (it's the 11-87 version) and there are grooves inside the magazine tube that accomodate "lugs" or ears on the sides of the new followers.

Again, use the old ones if you can find them.

The 11-87 is 92% interchangeable with the 1100. You should NOT open up the extractor notch in the bolt and barrel of an 1100 to accomodate the newer 11-87 style extractor (which is 30/1000ths thicker) but lasts no

more than the old one. Remington made that change to justify making a whole new gun, not to enhance reliability. NEW 1100s are actually 1100/11-87 "HYBRIDS" using the '87s thicker extractor, mag tube and cap system and forend. Barrels are NOT interchangeable between the two from the factory, but many have been "bubb-ad" to fit. Not recommended

There were over Three million of the old 1100s made. Field guns with light

use are plentiful and cheap to make a base line "platform"

The 1100, properly maintained as outlined above will outlast the fancier, prettier, aluminum alloy receiver guns, like Berettas - all of which are nice

guns, but meant strictly for field carry. These guns kick harder (and more

upwards) between follow up shots. The Remington stays on target.

Hope that helps

Many of the tips were compiled through years of association with old Remington 'smiths and reps back when DuPont owned the company and were shared with me and other shooters over the years.

Trust me, those guys knew their stuff!

Here's a rough way to guage when your 1100 was made:

Serial # first letter prefix: L, M, N, (I haven't seen "O") P (haven't seen a

"Q" ) and most recently: R

very early 1960s guns had no letter prefix

L prefix roughly early to mid 70s; M; late 70's early 80s N; early 1980s;

P: mid 80s to about 1986/87

R: current (or really recently made)

late 80s (after 87) 1100 dropped except for small guage guns when 11-87

was introduced.

Suffix letter at end of serial # denotes guage : V =12 guage; M = 12 ga 3" magnum

receiver details:

earlier 1100s have a small part of the receiver roll mark "artwork"

located just above the stress relief cut out in the back of the receiver.

(the right hand side of the receiver)

post 1977 models (the year Remington introduced LT-20 frames for 20 ga)

they compressed "shrunk" the roll mark on the receiver on the left hand "clean" side of the receiver.

The earliest 1100s have wooden magazine plugs; beveled carbon steel

mag spring followers; flat machined barrel supports and a different bolt

handle. The earlier bolt handles have a recess for a ball bearing on the flat

underside of the "stem". The "newer" bolt handles have a square notch cut into the back of the stem, but also have the ball bearing recess, too (in case the handle is used in an action bar assembly from an older 1100)

Post 1987 firing pin springs are "pre compressed" in the middle to last longer. When firing pin springs do break, they usually break right in the middle and the coils look like interlaced fingers. Put a drop of oil on the middle of the spring during cleaning.

Current generation 1100s are 11-87 hybrids.

Trap barrels from 1990-2000 are overbored to .740" and must use choke tubes expressly meant for those barrels (these tubes are marked: "trap full; trap extra full and trap super full)

Beginning in 2000, new trap barrels went to a .727" bore diameter and choke tubes were changed to: "singles: .027; light handicap: .034" and long handicap: .041" (relates to degrees of choke constriction)

"

eta: Found the link,

Edited September 14, 2007 by Gregory_k

[LadyinBlue]

Dang...it will take me a month to digest all of that!

Anyway...no prefix letter on mine so according to your data it's 40-50 years old.

But the letter at the end is X....hmmm

Thanks for all the info Gregory...we needed that and appreciate it.

~Nanci~

[Gregory_k]

Dang...it will take me a month to digest all of that!

Anyway...no prefix letter on mine so according to your data it's 40-50 years old.

But the letter at the end is X....hmmm

Thanks for all the info Gregory...we needed that and appreciate it.

~Nanci~

That info I saved from 2004 Jul 29 15:35 from another place.

All I know is for how little I use the 1100 (2 matches a year max now) and Small game hunting (50 to 100 rounds) I'm still watting for a part to break Since I bought the gun used some 20-22 years ago.

[kurtm]

Im closing in on 35,000 rounds and once again...cleaned it and replaced a main spring. Jeff Cramblit has probably about 75,000 and had to have all the springs replaced and cleaned it. This is a much smaller list than the one just posted, and I notice he is changing A LOT of parts. Now I won't lie, you do need special tools to work on Benellies a bic pen cap to push out the trigger group pin, a Phillips head screw driver to take off the butt pad, and a 12mm deep well socket to remove the stock, and finally a cresent wrench to loosen the main spring cap. P.S. It,s OKAY to use abrasives to clean the Benelli gas system as you will never wear it down KURTM

[Jaxshooter]

I have a Remington 1100 that I have owned since 1972 that has 350,000 rounds thru it. It was my doubles gun when I shot skeet. It has been used for dove hunitng and duck hunting after I quit shooting skeet. I have replaced the main action spring at about 200,000 rounds and other than O rings that is it. It does have an aftermarket Timney trigger in it that was put in in 1975.

I also have an M-1 Benelli. The mainspring in it had to be replaced at 50,000 rounds. No other repairs have been done.

[GentlemanJim]

I guess I should tell everyone just exactly what happened to Nancis 1187 20 ga.

While shootin at the steel on a stage...the extended bolt handle came out (this is pretty common)

At the finish she was trying to show clear...she had NO glasses and could not see to replace the handle.

An impatient bystander tryed to force the bolt handle back in the gun....upsidedown....he beat on it until it went in.

the handle pushed the detent ball retaining plate out of its dovetail and crunched it into the reciever ...the ball and spring also came out and were in the reciever.

Nanci was holding the gun during this.... but the force applyed was enough to split the wood forearm end to end.

The oversized bolt handle was the culprit that started the problem...its incresed mass overcame the detent.

Upon tearing down the gun I found the clear marks of the detent plate being forced up against the inside of the reciever...and the handle in upsidedown.

The spring ,plate and ball fell out into the grass when I pulled the trigger group out.

I found all but the spring.

The gun is back together ...New spring and retainer...I glued the forestock.

Jim