Remington 1100 experiance??
- Thread starter czscotia
- Start date
Been there and have had several 1100's.
The 1100 is a dated design and with that has somewhat of a loyal following.
Skip the learning curve and buy yourself a " B " gun. Browning, Beretta or Benelli. Have owned and shot a couple Beretta 391 Sporting and not for me - my nod goes to the Benneli Supersport and Browning Maxus.
Check them all out and see what is best for you.
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Rem 1100's are nice guns IMO. Will do fine for clays, as will any "B" gun.
Depening on how much you shoot and what your gun budget is, you should look at at OU for a couple reasons: 1) no empties to pick up or not pick up...2) empties go in your pocket for reloading
Personally I had a Beretta 390 and it was great (I also had an 1100) and the recoil was noticeably lighter on the 390 (now 391) and if i was buying a auto for sure I would get a Beretta over an 1100
You will get lots of opinons....best is to try some of these out at the range
Depening on how much you shoot and what your gun budget is, you should look at at OU for a couple reasons: 1) no empties to pick up or not pick up...2) empties go in your pocket for reloading
Personally I had a Beretta 390 and it was great (I also had an 1100) and the recoil was noticeably lighter on the 390 (now 391) and if i was buying a auto for sure I would get a Beretta over an 1100
You will get lots of opinons....best is to try some of these out at the range
I've shot Rem 1100's and 11-87's for more than 30 years. They fit me very well and with some TLC they can be very reliable. As some one here already stated the design is very dated. A few years ago I bought a 391. Great autoloader and miles ahead of the Rem. in MHO. Go to your local range and talk to the shooters. Most guys are more than happy to have you try out their fav scattergun. Go with what fits the best.
You also have to like working on them and keep a box of spare parts. I love 1100's been shooting them since the 60's and still have a collection of them. However if I had to keep just one semi it would be the browning max, hands down, check out the B guns you will be more than pleased
Remmies also tend to be one trick ponies. If they are chambered for 2 3/4, they will do fine with target loads, but 2 3/4 magnum loads will cause the bolt to cycle too fast, and it will eventually get damaged. Conversely, the 3 inch magnum version will not reliably cycle target loads, unless you open up the gas ports. Unlike the Berettas and Brownings, the Remmies does not have a valve to purge the extra gas pressure from these heavy loads.
have both rem 1100's and B guns from 301,302,303, 391 I, 391II, A400
all very good guns and reliable.
depends on what you are willing to spend atm.
Rem 1100 has bascially no recoil but all the semi auto's have soft recoil.
you will need to know if you want to buy a trap gun or sporting.
if you want to shoot all the sporting/skeet,5stand then i'd go find my self a sporting clays and play around. you can always upgrade to "B" gun or something very nice later.
All you need is a cheap reliable gun that fits you the most to enjoy the sport.
you can find 1100 on EE or snoop around for around $500 dollars .
391's you can find one for around $700-1000.
if you dont mind spending little more for somethin else, I just tested A400Xcel sporting comp. does have the "Blink System" that is ment to be the fastest feed ATM. faster then Win semi. You could get A400 series starting around 1400-1600 +tax.
If you are looking for something new, Prophet River in AB and Gun Dealer in NB are having a huge sale on shotguns.
all very good guns and reliable.
depends on what you are willing to spend atm.
Rem 1100 has bascially no recoil but all the semi auto's have soft recoil.
you will need to know if you want to buy a trap gun or sporting.
if you want to shoot all the sporting/skeet,5stand then i'd go find my self a sporting clays and play around. you can always upgrade to "B" gun or something very nice later.
All you need is a cheap reliable gun that fits you the most to enjoy the sport.
you can find 1100 on EE or snoop around for around $500 dollars .
391's you can find one for around $700-1000.
if you dont mind spending little more for somethin else, I just tested A400Xcel sporting comp. does have the "Blink System" that is ment to be the fastest feed ATM. faster then Win semi. You could get A400 series starting around 1400-1600 +tax.
If you are looking for something new, Prophet River in AB and Gun Dealer in NB are having a huge sale on shotguns.
Ok I think I need to comment on this as I am a sporting clays and skeet shooter. I shoot a Guerrini O\U sporting 12 gauge. I just got on trade a 1100 two barrel shotgun and am more than pleased with how it shoots! It has a full choke which is a little too tight for me however I can still shoot very well with it. If your new to shotgun shooting sports and would like to see if you would enjoy them, I would recommend the 1100 as it will not break the bank as you should be able to purchase one for the $300-$500 range. Make sure you get a gun with modified or improved cylinder chokes this will help with the sporting games as well as let you use the gun for steel shot! p.s. the gun I got has cycled ever time I have pulled the trigger from light to heavy loads it has not missed a beat!
Remington 1100's are nice. I bought one used, and it's served me well the last three years. I have 22" and 30" barrels for it, the first for skeet, the latter for Trap. I'm no expert trap shooter though, so I can't really comment on the pattern/results.
A few things to consider though: if you buy NEW Remington, I'd personally avoid the "entry level" shotguns...quality control seems to be lacking in Remington in recent years. But a nicer/higher end 1100 even today should have no quality problems.
If you buy used, as I did, even if it looks very nice, you will want to buy some replacement parts, such as a new extractor, new recoil spring, new magazine spring...because these get weak and require replacement before they break. Also you'll need to get replacement O-rings, for the gas system...they are very cheap and last for
Rem1100's are heavier than some of the newer semi-autos. They WILL last a very long time...not unusual for a maintained (through spring replacements and proper lube/cleaning) to run well past 300,000 shells. This is a really good owners manual written by a heavy user (not the company), that laid out all sorts of things to look for...The Remington Society's excellent and free booklet on the workings of the 1100:
http://www.remingtonsociety.com/images/Rem_1100_Notes__Rev_with_Pix_of_Disassembly.pdf
Now...all that said, they do have a few disadvantages over the newer “upstarts”!
First is that they seem heavier and are much more “nose heavy” than other newer semis, and seem to get dirtier much quicker than the new designs (I'm used to cleaning M-14's, FAL's, C6's and VZ-58's, so this isn't a factor for me, but it might be a pain in the butt for you). Also, the newer semis from Beretta, Beneli and Browning seem to have significantly reduced/cushioned the recoil. One Browning I tried was...darn near recoilless! Well, with trap loads. And the Benelli Super Black Eagle absorbed a 3” magnum slug so well I was surprised beyond belief. Still a healthy shove, but nothing to worry about, no pain at all. A Rem1100 is closer to that of a normal pump gun, regardless of the shell type.
Pacobillie is correct that if you pick an 1100, about you needing to decide if you are going to shoot light/medium target loads, or heavy hunting/magnum loads...as good as the 1100 is, it doesn't meter the gas between light and heavy, unlike most of the new designs. If you pick a light 1100 for trap, like I do, you don't want to run more than a box of magnums through it in a year...you could break things quick.
Remington 1100's are great guns, and if you treat them right, they will treat you right for decades of duty. But let's not gloss over the fact that they do need more care and attention than some of the new designs. The upside is that used 1100's aren't very expensive, should be easy to re-sell if you wish, are easy to work on, have a ton of accessories for it (it's the AR-15 of the shotgun world...well, after the 870 it is!) and look a million bucks even with a million miles on the odometer! Actually, a surprising number of 870 accessories also fit the 1100.
But...if you just want to compete, have no time/patience/care to fiddle about with spring replacement and O-rings, and want to run the same gun for hunting with heavy loads...and you have the bucks, you might choose a different shotgun than the 1100.
Oh, one more thing: if I had unlimited funds, played Trap/Skeet twice a month every month, and wanted a dedicated shotgun for that, my choice would be the Beretta 391...something about the way it feels/comes together...it's like the Ferrari of shotguns. If I wanted one for trap/skeet but also blast big magnum loads for hunting, I think I'd go for the Benelli SBE or SBE-2, or whatever newest offering they have (Vinci maybe?!?). And guess what? I wouldn't sell my old used Rem1100, because it still works, is my first shotgun, and still has many years ahead!
A few things to consider though: if you buy NEW Remington, I'd personally avoid the "entry level" shotguns...quality control seems to be lacking in Remington in recent years. But a nicer/higher end 1100 even today should have no quality problems.
If you buy used, as I did, even if it looks very nice, you will want to buy some replacement parts, such as a new extractor, new recoil spring, new magazine spring...because these get weak and require replacement before they break. Also you'll need to get replacement O-rings, for the gas system...they are very cheap and last for
Rem1100's are heavier than some of the newer semi-autos. They WILL last a very long time...not unusual for a maintained (through spring replacements and proper lube/cleaning) to run well past 300,000 shells. This is a really good owners manual written by a heavy user (not the company), that laid out all sorts of things to look for...The Remington Society's excellent and free booklet on the workings of the 1100:
http://www.remingtonsociety.com/images/Rem_1100_Notes__Rev_with_Pix_of_Disassembly.pdf
Now...all that said, they do have a few disadvantages over the newer “upstarts”!
First is that they seem heavier and are much more “nose heavy” than other newer semis, and seem to get dirtier much quicker than the new designs (I'm used to cleaning M-14's, FAL's, C6's and VZ-58's, so this isn't a factor for me, but it might be a pain in the butt for you). Also, the newer semis from Beretta, Beneli and Browning seem to have significantly reduced/cushioned the recoil. One Browning I tried was...darn near recoilless! Well, with trap loads. And the Benelli Super Black Eagle absorbed a 3” magnum slug so well I was surprised beyond belief. Still a healthy shove, but nothing to worry about, no pain at all. A Rem1100 is closer to that of a normal pump gun, regardless of the shell type.
Pacobillie is correct that if you pick an 1100, about you needing to decide if you are going to shoot light/medium target loads, or heavy hunting/magnum loads...as good as the 1100 is, it doesn't meter the gas between light and heavy, unlike most of the new designs. If you pick a light 1100 for trap, like I do, you don't want to run more than a box of magnums through it in a year...you could break things quick.
Remington 1100's are great guns, and if you treat them right, they will treat you right for decades of duty. But let's not gloss over the fact that they do need more care and attention than some of the new designs. The upside is that used 1100's aren't very expensive, should be easy to re-sell if you wish, are easy to work on, have a ton of accessories for it (it's the AR-15 of the shotgun world...well, after the 870 it is!) and look a million bucks even with a million miles on the odometer! Actually, a surprising number of 870 accessories also fit the 1100.
But...if you just want to compete, have no time/patience/care to fiddle about with spring replacement and O-rings, and want to run the same gun for hunting with heavy loads...and you have the bucks, you might choose a different shotgun than the 1100.
Oh, one more thing: if I had unlimited funds, played Trap/Skeet twice a month every month, and wanted a dedicated shotgun for that, my choice would be the Beretta 391...something about the way it feels/comes together...it's like the Ferrari of shotguns. If I wanted one for trap/skeet but also blast big magnum loads for hunting, I think I'd go for the Benelli SBE or SBE-2, or whatever newest offering they have (Vinci maybe?!?). And guess what? I wouldn't sell my old used Rem1100, because it still works, is my first shotgun, and still has many years ahead!
