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Posted: 7/27/2010 8:25:15 PM EDT
This is what I started with. A nice clean (though unclean internally...looked like it had been "gunscrubbed" all it's life) 70's gun with some minor surface rust inside and out.
I was going to send the barrel out to be professionally cut. Being broke, impatient, and having hacksaw I could not resist... 
The barrel was sent out to be drilled/tapped for a front sight to Floridian 'smith Alton Horne. Being the nice guy he is, it came back re-faced as well. I personally thought it looked good as is, but it certainly looks thoroughly professional now. 
The rest of my stuff will be on the way in a week or so. I'm anxiously anticipating seeing this thing complete. |
The finished product.
I like it. It balances just like the H-Bar Dissy and weighs about the same loaded. The OAL is 3" longer than the AR at 39." The total damage was about $575 (including a new soft case). The sights are a Williams Fire Sight front (shimmed up) and HiViz Turkey rear. The clamp is a CDM gear with a generic Firefield LED light. The light required about 0.10" shaved off to fit in the clamp (knurling removed). It was a surprise, being just as bright (if not more so) and putting out a purer light than my 135 Lumen Streamlight LED. A Tacstar sidesaddle, Choate extension and stock were used. I've heard some bad things about both the sidesaddle and extension, but both have worked for me before. The sidesaddle just needs locktite on every fastener. Though supposedly a "+2" the extension ended up being a +1-1/2. I had to use the hollow factory follower and remove 3" of spring to get that 7th round in there. The stock had to be tightened to a ridiculous degree to fit flush. Lastly, I went with the Competition Master carrier assembly. It took some practice to get used to carrier release, but after about 10 minutes of practice I could load 4 rounds in just over 4 seconds. I still need to get more consistent with it. I'll take better pics of just the shotty another day. I was running out of light at the time. |
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Great job bringing new life to an old fudder....
You removed 3" of your mag spring???? That sounds bad. I do not know about autos, but I have put a couple mag extensions on 870s. The +2 on the 870 will give you a round count of 6 in the tube and 1 in the chamber for a TOTAL of 7. I have been having great results with my Vang Comp for a couple of years, and now I have a Wilson on my other 870 that seems just as good. Not bashing, just my 2 cents, but I would rethink my mag spring decision. Also, SWEET Dissipator! 
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Great project!
Here's one I built for my sister to get into 3-gun. Started as a 1979 donor gun that someone else had cut to 20, put Willliams Sights on, and stippled the pistol grip of the stock. I replaced the action return spring, bolt buffer, added a Nordic plus 3 extension, clamp, and bolt handle, Vang Comp bighead safety, replaced the broken front sight with a new green fiber optic unit, cut the buttstock down an inch and fitted a new recoil pad, and sanded down, stained, and put about 9 coats of Tung Oil on the wood. She loves it, and it's going to be the coolest little shotty on the staging table at her next 3 gun! It was a fun project. Now my old 870 doesn't seem as cool as it used to be! 
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That is one of the coolest firearms I have ever seen........
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Great project! Here's one I built for my sister to get into 3-gun. Started as a 1979 donor gun that someone else had cut to 20, put Willliams Sights on, and stippled the pistol grip of the stock. I replaced the action return spring, bolt buffer, added a Nordic plus 3 extension, clamp, and bolt handle, Vang Comp bighead safety, replaced the broken front sight with a new green fiber optic unit, cut the buttstock down an inch and fitted a new recoil pad, and sanded down, stained, and put about 9 coats of Tung Oil on the wood. She loves it, and it's going to be the coolest little shotty on the staging table at her next 3 gun! It was a fun project. Now my old 870 doesn't seem as cool as it used to be!
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg240/nineisfine2/Regular%20Old%20Pics/DSC06020.jpg http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg240/nineisfine2/Regular%20Old%20Pics/DSC06021.jpg http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg240/nineisfine2/Regular%20Old%20Pics/DSC06031.jpg |
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That's sort of what I did for 3-gun, except I went the cheap bastard route:
-No barrel work. I use the same gun for 5-stand and other clay-related shenanigans, so I left the barrel at the stock 26". -Truglo Tru-Point Xtreme clamp-on rifle sights for the vent rib. -Choate 5-round magazine extension (8+1 rounds). -Choat "combat" bolt handle. The Choate tube is, I've been told, one more round than many 3-gun competitions usually allow. Oh well. I don't go to those anyway. It's strictly for our local, club-level matches, where almost anything goes. If I had to limit myself to fewer rounds, I would probably get the barrel cut down a bit to match. Or buy an extra barrel. Have thought about adding a sidesaddle to put my slugs in, but haven't done anything about it yet. My 1100 was initially similar to the "before" pictures above, and still doesn't look too different. It tends to stand out at matches, as most people have subdued composite or flamboyantly painted furniture rather than wood. |
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is that the original forend ? I don't know if it is the original Remington furniture or not? It's the wood that it had when we got it. I kinda wondered if the grooves on the forend were done at the same time as the "stippling" on the pistol grip. That part was obviously done by hand, and it's a neat and functional grip texture, even if the edges aren't all that uniform or clean. Wish I knew how they did it, because it feels good in the hand and works better than checkering. Maybe sand-blasted? We just worked with what we had on Rapunzel's 1100, and it turned out pretty well. Anyway, I like the heck out of a neat old engraved 1100 all tactical'd up like the OP's rig. It's a fun contradiction to see the engraving and vent rib on a shorty synthetic tactical shotgun! |
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is that the original forend ? I don't know if it is the original Remington furniture or not? It's the wood that it had when we got it. I kinda wondered if the grooves on the forend were done at the same time as the "stippling" on the pistol grip. That part was obviously done by hand, and it's a neat and functional grip texture, even if the edges aren't all that uniform or clean. Wish I knew how they did it, because it feels good in the hand and works better than checkering. Maybe sand-blasted? We just worked with what we had on Rapunzel's 1100, and it turned out pretty well. Anyway, I like the heck out of a neat old engraved 1100 all tactical'd up like the OP's rig. It's a fun contradiction to see the engraving and vent rib on a shorty synthetic tactical shotgun! I'm impressed with the wood work, and the quality of the pics. With hand work, if it looks right it is right, even if it has some imperfections. Mine wears a pistol grip as it is an almost necessary item for me and due to familiarity with other firearms. My right hand/wrist have been slammed enough times that a conventional grip angle is painful to maintain. This gun had very pretty wood on it...but it was sold do to my aforementioned issues and because it'd get beat up anyway. My only wood long gun is a PSL, as that ones a bit of a queen, anyway. This was the original furniture 
I'm planning on doing a gold inlay on the receiver scroll work in the future...just for that old school pimp factor...and 'cause the very idea is too silly not to do. If anyone else has pics they'd like to share of their 1100 or 11-87 tactical or 3-gun rig, let's see 'em. I had a hard time finding much when I was planning putting mine together. |
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The Choate tube is, I've been told, one more round than many 3-gun competitions usually allow. Oh well. I don't go to those anyway. It's strictly for our local, club-level matches, where almost anything goes. Check page 69 Under USPSA rules, 8+1 is fine for Limited/Tactical, which is what most of us would probably compete in. Open (i.e., "race gun") division allows 11 max. Heavy Metal is also 8+1. Rick_A, for mag spring length, I've always used the rule of thumb of 10" past the end of magazine. That is, the uncompressed spring should be about 10" longer than the entire magazine assembly. Not all mag springs are created equally. The spring that came with my Nordic extension is noticeably stronger than the OEM Winchester spring. YMMV. |
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Oops, I can't count. Actually I can stuff 9 in the mag, for a total of 10.
I was thinking "+5 in the Choate, 3 in the original magazine." But in fact, you get an extra +1 in the integral magazine because the cap is replaced by the Choate tube. So that's one more than Limited/Tactical max and one less than Open max. But if I were to compete in organized USPSA matches, it wouldn't be a big deal to blow another $40 on a slightly shorter Choate tube, I guess. That's probably less than the match fee for many events. That's one reason I don't go to any of the "big" shoots. I would waste big bucks on match fees & travel expenses, & get my ass completely kicked (and waste everyone else's time) for my trouble. I'd rather spend that money on ammo so I can shoot more, and the time on reloading/more shooting. The one thing I hate about the Choate "combat" bolt handle is, the damned thing is too loose! It's fallen out once or twice, though thankfully not in the last couple of 3-gun shoots. Oversized parts can be ground down, but how am I going to make an undersized part fit better? A shim? Lock it in there with Loctite? |
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My mag spring is 9" longer than the total length and it's taken a noticeable set in the past few days. That 7th round now loads easy, where it used to require a very stiff push. Next time around I'll check the length after it's been loaded for a while. I've found out that the Remington factory springs for 18.5" guns are 28-30," so at 27" free length it's pretty close.
I've had the 7 round tube idea in my head from the Mossberg 930 SPX. The SPX uses a factory hollow follower, much like that used in the Remington, along with a Choate extension. The guys that purchased the Choate extensions separate for standard 930's that used the included solid tailed follower lost a round of capacity. So, the same concept was applied here. I think I'll leave it loaded at 6+1 for the springs sake, and do 7+1 for range blasting use. I've also read from various sources that the stock plastic follower can break, so I may upgrade to a steel unit. The one minor annoyance that I'll fix now is that the CDM clamp, while fitting perfectly around the extension, has very little contact area with the barrel. I'll be attaching a couple of thin rubber strips there. Objekt, the fix for that problem (handle falling out) is drilling the detent hole a little deeper. |
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But if I were to compete in organized USPSA matches, it wouldn't be a big deal to blow another $40 on a slightly shorter Choate tube, I guess. That's probably less than the match fee for many events. That's one reason I don't go to any of the "big" shoots. I would waste big bucks on match fees & travel expenses, & get my ass completely kicked (and waste everyone else's time) for my trouble. I'd rather spend that money on ammo so I can shoot more, and the time on reloading/more shooting. The one thing I hate about the Choate "combat" bolt handle is, the damned thing is too loose! It's fallen out once or twice, though thankfully not in the last couple of 3-gun shoots. Oversized parts can be ground down, but how am I going to make an undersized part fit better? A shim? Lock it in there with Loctite? I hear you. My local range just hosted the Area 3 matches... I didn't bother to go because I'd stink up the place and have a lighter wallet for doing it. Club-level matches are fine. Run what you brung - if they want to stick you in open, so be it. I'm in it for fun. As for your bolt handle, Nordic and DMW make replacements. Check Midway. |
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I think I'll leave it loaded at 6+1 for the springs sake, and do 7+1 for range blasting use. I've also read from various sources that the stock plastic follower can break, so I may upgrade to a steel unit. I've heard steel followers can bang up some of the interior components. OTOH, the Vang follower is steel, and I'm sure Hans Vang knows a thing or two about shotguns. But, the DMW and Nordic followers are aluminum. Choate and Wilson (Scattergun) use plastic. |
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Quoted: Quoted: I think I'll leave it loaded at 6+1 for the springs sake, and do 7+1 for range blasting use. I've also read from various sources that the stock plastic follower can break, so I may upgrade to a steel unit. I've heard steel followers can bang up some of the interior components. OTOH, the Vang follower is steel, and I'm sure Hans Vang knows a thing or two about shotguns. But, the DMW and Nordic followers are aluminum. Choate and Wilson (Scattergun) use plastic. That's why you get one of these - http://sjhardware.com/Magfollower.html Solid delrin follower FTW! |
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Great project! Here's one I built for my sister to get into 3-gun. Started as a 1979 donor gun that someone else had cut to 20, put Willliams Sights on, and stippled the pistol grip of the stock. I replaced the action return spring, bolt buffer, added a Nordic plus 3 extension, clamp, and bolt handle, Vang Comp bighead safety, replaced the broken front sight with a new green fiber optic unit, cut the buttstock down an inch and fitted a new recoil pad, and sanded down, stained, and put about 9 coats of Tung Oil on the wood. She loves it, and it's going to be the coolest little shotty on the staging table at her next 3 gun! It was a fun project. Now my old 870 doesn't seem as cool as it used to be!
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg240/nineisfine2/Regular%20Old%20Pics/DSC06020.jpg http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg240/nineisfine2/Regular%20Old%20Pics/DSC06021.jpg http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg240/nineisfine2/Regular%20Old%20Pics/DSC06031.jpg Wow, that is a beautiful gun. 
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I just won this on Gunbroker the other day. It was too good of a deal to pass up.
I'm gonna have to do some research on mods and figure out what will work for me. Any suggestions? http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=184558906 |
Outstanding! It says the auction ended at $299, so is that what you paid? You freaking STOLE it, even if you paid $399. You can't get a new 11-87 with wood, mag extension, and rifle sights for anything like that. Nice job! 
As for mods: It has a mag extension and rifle sights already - so you shouldn't need to do much to it for 3-gun. I do recommend a "combat" style bolt handle. You'll want something nice 'n' big, easy to grab in a hurry. The original Remington bolt handle is...not very good in that regard. Also consider a sidesaddle/ammunition carrier of some type, to hold your slugs or just extra shotshells. I haven't put one on my 1100 yet due to sheer indecision. There are sidesaddles which mount to the receiver by means of attaching to or replacing the 2 lower pins. Some also will fit on the stock in some manner, by hook 'n' loop material or some other means. I haven't ever needed a sling on my shotgun for 3-gun, but then I only go to club-level shoots. May be a different matter in some of the big shoots with big fees and lots of participants. I can't recommend the Choate "combat" bolt handle. As I stated, mine has fallen out a couple of times. But, I don't really know whether others fit any better. I'm sure someone will be along shortly to chime in on that topic. |
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Quoted: I just won this on Gunbroker the other day. It was too good of a deal to pass up. I'm gonna have to do some research on mods and figure out what will work for me. Any suggestions? http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=184558906 I'd put a Dave's Metal Works Easyloader and bolt handle on it and a Vang Comp safety button. Then just got shoot it! |
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Outstanding! It says the auction ended at $299, so is that what you paid?
Actually it was $290. With shippipng and transfer it will come out to about $330. I was pretty pumped that I got it for that cheap. I almost missed it also, put my bid in with 4 min to go.
I'd put a Dave's Metal Works Easyloader and bolt handle on it and a Vang Comp safety button. Then just got shoot it!
The bolt handle was something I was definitely thinking about. i will have to do some research on this one. |
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I think I'll leave it loaded at 6+1 for the springs sake, and do 7+1 for range blasting use. I've also read from various sources that the stock plastic follower can break, so I may upgrade to a steel unit. I've heard steel followers can bang up some of the interior components. OTOH, the Vang follower is steel, and I'm sure Hans Vang knows a thing or two about shotguns. But, the DMW and Nordic followers are aluminum. Choate and Wilson (Scattergun) use plastic. That's why you get one of these - http://sjhardware.com/Magfollower.html Solid delrin follower FTW! No way. It has to be one of the hollow followers or I lose that precious 7th round. I tried cutting the Choate follower down (similar to the S&J but with a longer tail), and it was a no-go. Quoted:
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I just won this on Gunbroker the other day. It was too good of a deal to pass up. I'm gonna have to do some research on mods and figure out what will work for me. Any suggestions? http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=184558906 I'd put a Dave's Metal Works Easyloader and bolt handle on it and a Vang Comp safety button. Then just got shoot it! In the very least go with the Remington Competition Master carrier assembly. Great buy, BTW. I thought about getting a "combat" bolt handle as well, but the original handle is just a little smaller as what's on a bazillion AK's. Given that logic I could not justify the purchase. |
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You know, I was just thinking something like, "I really, really, really hate the shell plate/lifter on my 1100. It slows down reloading and requires too much effort." Ha! That's why I shoot an 870! :) Can't quite keep up with my Sis and her 1100, though...
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I thought about getting a "combat" bolt handle as well, but the original handle is just a little smaller as what's on a bazillion AK's. Given that logic I could not justify the purchase. Just to touch on this, I find the oversized bolt handles are a godsend, particularly when clearing malfunctions. They're more comfortable, they're easier to grab under stress, and they help provide a bit of extra leverage. They're not overly large as to snag on everything. Of course, YMMV. |
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You know, I was just thinking something like, "I really, really, really hate the shell plate/lifter on my 1100. It slows down reloading and requires too much effort." Ha! That's why I shoot an 870! :) Can't quite keep up with my Sis and her 1100, though...
I used my 870 for 3-gun until I got sick and tired of not being able to hit the slug target. I really didn't have a prayer, as it did not shoot anywhere near where the bead would suggest, and there was no way to attach proper sights without extensive (and expensive) gunsmithing. Thus the switch to the 1100. |
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You know, I was just thinking something like, "I really, really, really hate the shell plate/lifter on my 1100. It slows down reloading and requires too much effort." Ha! That's why I shoot an 870! :) Can't quite keep up with my Sis and her 1100, though...
I used my 870 for 3-gun until I got sick and tired of not being able to hit the slug target. I really didn't have a prayer, as it did not shoot anywhere near where the bead would suggest, and there was no way to attach proper sights without extensive (and expensive) gunsmithing. Thus the switch to the 1100. My 870 was minute of skateboard at ~100 yards with the factory 20" rifle sighted cylinder bore barrel, and still patterned pretty well with buck and birdshot without adjustment. I hope this 1100 will do the same. Loading these seems a bitch at first, but with a little bit of practice it's just as fast as anything else, though the standard release lever is a joke. I like that it's not necessary to hit a receiver mounted release button. I did manage to jam mine up a bit...I sent the carrier home with a round that wasn't fully into the magazine. That's something I'd never done with the 870 in the 12 years I owned it. Whoops. |
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I did manage to jam mine up a bit...I sent the carrier home with a round that wasn't fully into the magazine. That's something I'd never done with the 870 in the 12 years I owned it. Whoops. Ah, the infamous "trapped shell" malfunction. Usually part operator error, but can be the gun's fault too. Trapped shells happened fairly often with my ancient Remington Sportsman 58, so much so that it was one reason I replaced the 58 with an 1100. Trapped shells can be caused by a weak & worn out shell retention spring ("shell latch" in Remington nomenclature), which fails to hold the shell in the magazine tube as you release the carrier. I have had a trapped shell only a few times in my 1100, and it was always due to user error.
The only way to fix that jam is to partly disassemble the gun, which is no fun if you have a live round in the chamber or are in the middle of a 3 gun stage. Fortunately, removing the fore end & barrel from an 1100 is a fairly quick operation...unless you are using a magazine extension, in which case it becomes quite a pain. |
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