1974 remington 1100 magnum with 2 3/4 barrel

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webs86

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Hey guys,

I have a nice older shotgun that works great. Owned it a couple years and put a couple hundred rounds through it shooting clays - no problems.

Now the action is labelled magnum and the barrel is labelled 2 3/4 only (fixed mod). Google tells me it's not a great combo, although this gun has never jammed or had ejection issues. Just works. I have only used 2 3/4" shells.

What do you guys think? Worth grabbing a 3" barrel? Pro's, con's?

Thanks.
 
That shotgun will do everything you want it to do, other than chamber 3 inch magnums.

I have a Remington 1100 with the same barrel set up on it, even though it's roll stamped "magnum."

When I first got the shotgun, it wore the original 3 inch magnum barrel. I had ejection issues with 3inch magnum cases, and had to open the ejection port to get it to function reliably. Once that issue was addressed, never had a case fail to eject or get stove piped.

I switched out the barrel to shoot 2 3/4 inch cartridges for trap shooting, which was the main purpose for purchasing the shotgun.

It's a very reliable and comfortable gun to shoot. It's got over 25K rounds through it, and the only thing I've had to replace from wear is the brass bushing under the barrel.

I also replaced the stock. The conditions I was hunting, were brutal, and often very wet. I put an 11/87 synthetic stock onto it, and no more worries.

It's possible the recoil spring was replaced in your shotgun, but I doubt it. My 1100 digests everything it's fed, from trap loads to heavy field loads with nary a hiccup.

It's a great design, and it's still in production.

Keep it clean, lubricate with graphite spray, and it will treat you right for as long as you need it. If you insist on shooting 3 inch, get the chamber recut or have the present forcing cone opened up, which will clean up the old chamber, and safely allow you to shoot magnums.

My barrel has the forcing cone recut and it handles 3 in magnums easily.
 
webs86 said:
Ok great to hear. Works great so I don't plan on changing anything. Bought it to trap shoot for fun.
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Keep it lubed, or the recoil control bushing on the gas tube, under the barrel, will wear out. Also, that bushing has to be put on with the proper end towards the receiver, so the 2 3/4 inch shells eject properly.

I used to flip it over when I was shooting my hand loads with high brass bases through mine on hunting trips. It seemed like a good idea at the time, as the shot loads were heavy and the powder charge was hot.

I eventually just left it set up for 2 3/4" cases, and went to a Ruger Red Label OU. Which I also liked a lot.

Once I got away from contract hunting around the poultry farms, I was only trap shooting and hunting whatever game birds were open, so the two shots from the Red Label were as much as I needed. Not only that, but it was a joy to shoot.

After some of the "cull" shoots, my shoulder would often be bruised for a week.
 
Lots of 1100 Magnums were sold over the years and I think some where along the line the previous owner of your gun swapped out the 3 inch chambered barrel for a 2 3/4 in chamber. Probably sold the other barrel separately.

The 3 inch chambered barrels have small gas ports so that the 3 inch shells won't batter the action to death but the problem is that they won't cycle light loads reliably. A barrel chambered 2 3/4 inch will have larger gas ports to allow more gas to operate the action so that there are no cycling issues with the lighter shells eliminating the need for expensive shells every time you want to take your gun out for a round of skeet. Also, 3 inch chambered barrels tended to be choked tight in the days before changeable choke tubes whereas the 2 3/4 inch chambered barrels generally came with more open chokes.

Two barrel sets were quite common before manufacturers figured out how to make a semi auto shotgun run with all sorts of loads. One of my first shotguns was a Browning 2000 with a 3 inch/full choke barrel and a 2 3/4/mod choke barrel.
I wouldn't bother looking for a 3 inch chambered barrel for your gun unless you want to use it for water fowl but then you can't put steel through a full choke barrel. I guess you could hunt upland birds with it but it's grossly overkill for grouse and pheasants.
 
bearhunter said:
That shotgun will do everything you want it to do, other than chamber 3 inch magnums.

I have a Remington 1100 with the same barrel set up on it, even though it's roll stamped "magnum."

When I first got the shotgun, it wore the original 3 inch magnum barrel. I had ejection issues with 3inch magnum cases, and had to open the ejection port to get it to function reliably. Once that issue was addressed, never had a case fail to eject or get stove piped.

I switched out the barrel to shoot 2 3/4 inch cartridges for trap shooting, which was the main purpose for purchasing the shotgun.

It's a very reliable and comfortable gun to shoot. It's got over 25K rounds through it, and the only thing I've had to replace from wear is the brass bushing under the barrel.

I also replaced the stock. The conditions I was hunting, were brutal, and often very wet. I put an 11/87 synthetic stock onto it, and no more worries.

It's possible the recoil spring was replaced in your shotgun, but I doubt it. My 1100 digests everything it's fed, from trap loads to heavy field loads with nary a hiccup.

It's a great design, and it's still in production.

Keep it clean, lubricate with graphite spray, and it will treat you right for as long as you need it. If you insist on shooting 3 inch, get the chamber recut or have the present forcing cone opened up, which will clean up the old chamber, and safely allow you to shoot magnums.

My barrel has the forcing cone recut and it handles 3 in magnums easily.
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What exactly is the brass bushing under the barrel?? Ive owned dozens in all gauges and both 3" and 2 3/4' in trap
,skeet and hunting configurations with wood and synthetic and the 11/87 versions and I have never seen any brass bushing on any of them. Is it the piston and piston seal ring your speaking of?
 
I believe it's only something to do with 3" Magnum model 1100s.

There is a specific direction they need to be fitted onto the tube. I didn't look closely, but maybe the angle on one end is slightly different.

It was something highlighted in the original owner's manual, one direction for 2 3/4 in cartridges and the other for 3 in.

I do remember having to reverse it when I used the shotgun for trap shooting, to get reliable extraction/feed.
 
The 3 inch Magnum barrel is designed to use 2 & 3/4 and 3 inch MAGNUM shells... it often does not function light load and trap loads, sometime functions with heavy loads... but it is the Magnum loads it is ported for.
 
bearhunter said:
I believe it's only something to do with 3" Magnum model 1100s.

There is a specific direction they need to be fitted onto the tube. I didn't look closely, but maybe the angle on one end is slightly different.

It was something highlighted in the original owner's manual, one direction for 2 3/4 in cartridges and the other for 3 in.

I do remember having to reverse it when I used the shotgun for trap shooting, to get reliable extraction/feed.
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The 1100 and the 1100 Magnum have a set of steel rings and a 'rubber' seal.
They are meant to be installed in one place and one direction only. They are not an adjustment for different loads.
 
The 3" magnum model 1100 has a heavier action sleeve than the 2 3/4" version does. Using a 2 3/4" barrel with it's two gas ports will actually introduce more gas than the single port magnum barrel. This combination of heavy action sleeve and more gas delivered will batter the receiver prematurely. One of the reasons Remington offered distinct magnum and 2 3/4" versions with no option of a two barrel set.
Darryl
 
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madtrapper143 said:
The 3" magnum model 110 has a heavier action sleeve than the 2 3/4" version does. Using a 2 3/4" barrel with it's two gas ports will actually introduce more gas than the single port magnum barrel. This combination of heavy action sleeve and more gas delivered will batter the receiver prematurely. One of the reasons Remington offered distinct magnum and 2 3/4" versions with no option of a two barrel set.
Darryl
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The MAN is spot on as always. Hope al is welll my friend.
 
guntech said:
The 1100 and the 1100 Magnum have a set of steel rings and a 'rubber' seal.
They are meant to be installed in one place and one direction only. They are not an adjustment for different loads.
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Time to dig mine out and look.

Mine has three rings, one is steel, bottom towards receiver, then a brass ring, middle, and a Buna N ring on top.

There is a small silver color sticker with directions on how they should be placed.

You folks are right, I had this mixed up with another shotgun.

It's been a few decades now, but I do remember changing those "sleeves" when I use a 2 3/4" bbl.
 
bearhunter said:
Time to dig mine out and look.

Mine has three rings, one is steel, bottom towards receiver, then a brass ring, middle, and a Buna N ring on top.

There is a small silver color sticker with directions on how they should be placed.

You folks are right, I had this mixed up with another shotgun.

It's been a few decades now, but I do remember changing those "sleeves" when I use a 2 3/4" bbl.
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I think you’re talking about the old Belgian Browning Auto with the ability to change the gas rings for different loads. The 1100 had a chrome looking sticker onthe inside of the forearm showing proper orientation of the piston,piston seal and o.ring. The sticker didnt usually stay on if you shot the gun much.
 
Longstud said:
I think you’re talking about the old Belgian Browning Auto with the ability to change the gas rings for different loads. The 1100 had a chrome looking sticker onthe inside of the forearm showing proper orientation of the piston,piston seal and o.ring. The sticker didnt usually stay on if you shot the gun much.
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I think Longstud is correct. The old Browning humpbacks had the option of changing the orientation and stacking of the rings to compensate for heavy vs light loads. Nobody ever did it proper it seems… but the shotguns still worked.

I have a dozen or so Rem1100’s and don’t ever recall seeing a brass component in the piston stack. For a short moment I thought all the carbon buildup on those surfaces might have transtainted that brass colour to black…and black is a very scare colour.
 
Mr Bill said:
I think Longstud is correct. The old Browning humpbacks had the option of changing the orientation and stacking of the rings to compensate for heavy vs light loads. Nobody ever did it proper it seems… but the shotguns still worked.

I have a dozen or so Rem1100’s and don’t ever recall seeing a brass component in the piston stack. For a short moment I thought all the carbon buildup on those surfaces might have transtainted that brass colour to black…and black is a very scare colour.
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I believe the rings on the 1100 are SS and only go one way .
Installed incorrectly the gun does not cycle.
The three inch 1100 are a different animal in that they have one gas post (not 100%) certain on the gas port.
I think the retired gunsmith Dennis Sorensen (apologize for the spelling if incorrect) has covered this in the recent week or two in another topic.
Browning A5’s have brass rings that are set in different ways for light of heavy loads.
The A5 back in the day had schematic directions on a piece of paper in the for stock for ease of reference.
Kamlooky had a tip on where to store a spare ring for light loads so not to loose this small part.
Carbon build up in the A5’s in my experience never
caused issues and a dirty A5 always seemed to run no matter how dirty.
Then again I have not run thousands of rounds through the A5.
Rob

A5 set up fyi
 
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