Minimum load for Rem 1100 Skeet

[WScottW]

Action Spring

I know this post is old, but this might help others. I'm having the same issue with my old 1100 from 1981 (now my son's). I took him dove hunting for the first time this year, and it would not cycle properly. I don't remember if it wasn't ejecting, or if it wasn't loading the next shell, but I checked the o-ring and it was hard and cracked. Assuming that was the problem, I replaced it and headed back out with my daughter this time. It cycled OK at first, then the same problem crept up again. I did a little research and found that it may be the action spring (inside a long metal tube in the stock). Brand new the action spring should be 15" long, mine was 14 1/2". I ordered one from Midway, and just replaced it. I'll report back after Christmas to let you know if that solved the problem.

If you're curious about the shells, they were factory Remington 2 3/4" - 1 1/8 oz - 7 1/2 shot ShurShot Heavy Dove.

Here's the whole thing disassembled:


and a closeup of the old and new action spring:

[.300 Weatherby Mag]

I know this post is old, but this might help others.

Good post.. Got mine to run right for all of 40 shots and then she returned to her old ways... Its sitting at Bolsa right now awaiting parts...

[WScottW]

Well I shot about 60 rounds through it, and only had one failure to eject from some Remington Heavy Dove load. It shot through the Winchester AAs without any issues. So far so good, but I've got a lot more shooting to do before I can say for sure.

I'll be sticking with these from now on.

[ditchdrift]

I have the same gun and it will cycle 1 oz loads fine. whats the gas port hold diameters? you holding the gun really tight against your shoulder?

[WScottW]

I have the same gun and it will cycle 1 oz loads fine. whats the gas port hold diameters? you holding the gun really tight against your shoulder?

Good question about the port diameter, but I don't know. I did neglect to mention that it is a new barrel that I ordered through Gander Mountain a few months ago. My dad has the original barrel (2 3/4, 26", fixed IMP Cylinder), the new one is 2 3/4, 26", and threaded for different chokes. It has two gas ports, but I haven't measured them. If I continue to have this issue, I'll start slowly reaming them out.

Would you measure by inserting drill bits until one won't fit, or is there a tool for that?

After replacing the action spring, the whole time I was shooting it, I didn't have a problem. The one failure to eject was when my 10-year old was shooting, so it's possible he wasn't holding it firmly against his shoulder.

Is yours old like ours, or is it a newer model? Have you made any modifications or replaced any parts?

[ditchdrift]

My gun is an older vintage 78 or 79 iirc. I have a 26" skeet barrel on mine, no other mods. There is a chart for the port diameters somewhere. This article is really good, just found it:

http://www.shootingtimes.com/2010/09/23/gunsmithing_st_1100loads_200808/

and this for the gas system on the 1100

http://www.wisnersinc.com/additional_info/Remington58_1100.htm

hope that helps. use the shank of the drill to measure the diameters, you want it to fit tight to find the size.

[WScottW]

Thanks for the links -- very informative. I'm really hoping the action spring fixed my problem, but I'll need to shoot a few hundred rounds through it before I'm convinced.

[maxicon]

Remington changed the gas port sizes on the various 1100 models a number of times over the years, including changing them during the production run for a specific model. The charts on the web are useful, but the only way to know for sure is to drop a drill bit (blunt end, please!) or pin gauge into the ports.

If the spring change and break-in don't help and your gas ports are clean, drilling out the port is a good approach, if you're comfortable with it.

I have an old 1100 LT-20 Magnum 20 gauge, and I wanted to shoot target loads in it, but they wouldn't cycle reliably. Magnums have a single port, so I measured the port, calculated the area, and drilled it out to be slightly smaller than the area of the 2 ports in a non-magnum gun.

It was quick and easy, and the gun shoots light loads fine now. If I fire magnum loads in it now, it'll batter the action more, but that's the trade-off with any port size - reliability with light loads vs harsher cycling with heavier loads.