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11-87


sleipnir

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I've been shooting SC and Skeet for some time with my Browning O/U. No problems there, but recently I've gotton an itch to purchase an automatic. Local store has a used Remington 11-87 with three chokes, 12 guage, at lot of superfluous engraving. Question I have is will it stand up to 5-6 rounds of skeet at a time? Never a problem with the O/U and I'm a little queasy about the moving parts of an auto. More things to break and go wrong.

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I have an 11-87 and a Browning Gold. The Browning Gold just runs and runs with no problems at all. It has fewer parts and no O rings to replace. I wouldn't recommend the 11-87 because of its complexity and the O rings which have to be replaced on a regular basis. Hope this helps.

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There are probably literaly millions of 1100/1187's in use, I've shot them a bunch. Replaced the o ring very few times. I pull the forend off and spray them down with Remoil and run it wet. Get done shooting wipe it off and spray it down for next time.

Check the spring in the stock every year or so, change it if it gets rusty and clean everything up. Keep an eye on the bolt buffer and I have broken a couple of firing pins but they are cheap, I keep one and a buffer in my tool box. If you leave off extended tubes and don't mess with them too much they run well. They fit most everyone ok. The 1187 is a 1100 with some minor changes, the best is the stainless mag tube. Take reasonable care of it and 5 or 6 or more rounds of skeet is no problem at all. The main consideration is if it fits you or not and if you shoot it well. Not high tech but have won a lot of clay events of all kinds.

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I purchased a used 11-87 about month ago for 3-gun. It is the 21" Special Purpose. It has been a little picky on low power ammo (it won't shoot the Wal-Mart Winchester 100 round packs) but it has cycled every round of Remington target I have fired through it. I put a +4 Nordic extension on it and my last range secessions were 9 in the gun as fast as I could pull the trigger to test function. 100 rounds and it never gave me any trouble.

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I have several 11-87s. One of which I made into a 3 gun gun. That said the only problem I see is if you reload you are going to have to chase your empties.

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For clay targets, I'd look at the 1100 and Beretta also.

Chances are, the auto's will break more than the Browning, but I think you'll need to be in the "tens of thousands" of rounds to experience that...if you perform proper maintenance IMO.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Renee uses her 3-gun 11-87 (sans optic and long mag tube) for Team Challenge Flurry and Flush, 5-stand, sporting, and skeet... Before she and I got our O/Us, we used our 11/87 and 1100 for literally thousands of rounds...

We keep ring sets and o-rings for both guns in the bag, but haven't had to use them. We shoot with mag tubes DRY... Clean the tubes, rings, etc with 0000 steel wool and flush with carb cleaner to get the wool remnants off. Sometimes I use a dry lube I have (NOT the REMINGTON ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!)... just a very light coat. The ring set should drop free down the tube. Lube has a tendency to gum up...

I prefer the 1100... It seems to be some bit lighter. Mine was a used gun from a police department bulk purchase that was scraped clean and re-blued. I shot it so much that it started spitting out pieces of stamped metal, but it keeps on running. The nipple in the receiver that engages the barrel extension wore down such that the barrel began to rotate in the receiver and the empties woulf hang on the ejection port... Jerry Micalek told me a tip to fix it with a weld bead in the right place to tighten/index it properly.... Jim Clark tigged a small bead, we took the bead down as needed with a swipe or two of the file... Voila, instantly fitted barrel... never another problem. :) Less than $400 in that gun including the AnglePort (Ballistic Specialties) Custom Chokes and the special threading of the non-ckoked barrel it came with... Love my ugly old 1100! :)

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  • 5 months later...

I have beaten the crap out of my 11-87, it is primarily my 3-gun toy, but i drag it outto the trap an skeet fields from time to time, I've trashed 3 scopes on that gun(not the gun's faultthey cant handle the recoil) the only part i have broken was a gas ring...

will it go 5-6 rounds of trap or skeet??? hehehe one time a friend of mine and I tag teamed that gun at a steel challenge match using shotguns....we both wentthru roughly 300 rds apiece in a single afternoon without a single hiccup....

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  • 1 month later...

The 11-87 is an evolution that started with the 11-58, then evolved to the 1100 and became the 11-87 in 1987. The 11-87's are great guns if you know what to look out for (O-rings and keeping them lubed)and I think they are the softest shooting of all the auto loaders and I've owned most of them - Benellis, Beretta 390's and 391's, Winchester Super X-1, Browning Gold, etc.

There are a lot of great guns on the market and I would not shy away from an 11-87 but they may not be first on my list either.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have a question, since some of you seem to be in the know, I was wondering if you could pass that knowledge to me. I saw a Remington 1100 (3" chamber)for sale on gun broker and asked this of the seller:

I wrote:

"Your description for this item says the shotgun only shoots 3" shells. It

was my understanding that an 1100 chambered for 3" could shoot all shells

3" or less. I was wondering if you could clarify that for me. Thank you."

He wrote:

"No, the mag 1100 only shoots 3" shells. It might shoot the 2 3/4 heavy loads but not guaranteed. The 1187 shoots both."

Then a different person from the same email address wrote:

"It may or may not cycle the 2.75" shells.

Regards, ****"

Can someone please clear me up on the capabilities of both the 1100 and the 1187. I'm a huge Remington Fan, while I don't have the kind of money to put on a Remington Premier STS O/U competition shotgun for skeet, I was thinking that either the 1100 or the 1187 would be a good compromise for now. I currently shoot a Remington 870 Express (I have no trouble hitting the doubles, it's the crossing shots from stations 3,4, and 5 that give me the most trouble) so it's not the pump, it's me. :D

Also, while we're on the topic, could someone link me to some references that show the 870 winning skeet competitions. I may just stick with it and show up all the O/U and Auto guys

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Remington made the ports on the barrel smaller on the Mag guns. You can buy a field or target barrel for it that has larger ports or you can buy the gun and see if it works with the loads you want to use, and if not take a drill and enlarge the gas ports slightly until its 100% reliable. The 11-87 has two ports in the barrel and a heavy duty gas system designed for anything you can load in it.

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Sounds like 11-87 is the way to go. I'm definitely not comfortable drilling into a barrel myself and I don't want the hassle of finding a gunsmith I trust, nor the price tag that comes with using a gunsmith.

Thank you GISMap for the clarification!

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  • 4 months later...

Go with a beretta if you are looking for an auto. Honestly you will not have to clean it as much and they will flat out function. You will def be cleaning more than you clean your o/u, I can shoot a few thousand rounds through my Browning o/u with barely any cleaning.

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  • 4 weeks later...

With the 1187 target guns the gas system concerns of the field models doesn't apply. Saying a Remington 1100/1187 is not a good shotgun for trap,skeet, or even sporting clays is like saying the 1911 is useless for USPSA. I'd say the 1100 has still won more trap and skeet tournaments than all the rest put together.

You don't see as many at the sporting clays range because many prefer the light weight aluminum receivers the Berettas and others have. And of course the sporting clay shooters who don't believe the 1100\1187's are reliable, which is total BS. Pick out the shotgun that fits you and you like.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Which model 1187 is it, they made a 1187 sporting clays gun that was a 4 shot gun(3 round mag), 2 3/4 only and had extended chokes with it. I Had one that I shot the heck out of and it was very reliable. I just wiped the mag tube down after shooting it which took about 1 min to do and it was good to go. With the O rings they wear out but not that often if you use a proper Oring either the factory one or if your get a non factory one make sure it is VITON. They can be had for dirt cheap if you buy in any quantity. I bought like 125 of them for like 15 bucks shipped. Kept some and sold some to people so I came out ahead lol. ANy gun is going to break parts but the good thing is with the 1100/1187 parts are cheap and plentiful and are very easy guns to fix

Edited by EkuJustice
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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I shoot an 1187 for trap/sporting clays. Usually a couple hundred rounds a week. I have ran approximately 3000+ rounds with no problems less 1 FTE. I think it is a phenominal gun with a ton of aftermarket stuff that I can pimp it out for 3 gun. Everything is relatively cheap since the model has been around seemingly forever. Gladly recommend. As I am doing more trap and less 3 gun, I will gladly trade you my 11-87 for your browning o/u. :roflol:

Never-the-less, I think I will always have an 1100 or 11-87. Don't mind the little extra cleaning. One of the best for the money and one of the softest shooting on the market.

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