So I am looking to rebuild an auto loader. I like Remington's, hunted with them and I'm used to them. My question is what would be the most bang for my bucks??? I have looked all over my town, and found 2 really nice 1100's for $400 to $450. Excellent condition I would say. I have also found a bunch of the 11-87's and a few 11-48 in the same to a little higher price range. I really haven't got a clue as to what the differences might be. Thus I don't know which one to buy to modify into a tactical auto loader.

Any help with this would be appreciated.

If I were you I would look at the 1100 or the 1187. The 1148 is a great gun in its own way, but the 1187 is a much better platform to work with. The 1148 is a recoil type action as to the gas system of the 1100,1187. There are some really nice tricks you can do to any of them to get them where you want to be. If you would like to know some IM or email me I am a professional smith and I will be happy to help.

M500M

I went with the 11-87. Its pretty much the same as an 1100, except that it accepts 3" shells (1100=2-3/4") and it has a self-adjusting gas system (1100 is fixed gas = less flexible on the loads you can run). Get an 11-87 with a 26" or 28" vent rib barrel (avoid the 21" slug barrel or the 18" police barrel, as they only run with hot loads), chop it with a hacksaw to 22", add an 8+1 mag tube and you are ready to rock and roll . Here is my 11-87 built for 3-gun, with a Choate pistol grip stock and a DMW EZ Loader (for faster reloads):

Personally I would look for a pre 79 1100. The early guns have a rolled in chekering and
a small bit of the engraving extends above the bolt slot in the receiver.
Now of course thats just personal preference,and I would not turn down a
good deal on a later model gun either it would just depend on the condition.

To me a good deal on an 1100 is around 250-350 for a used shows a some wear, but properly
maintained gun to around a high of 500 for a really pristine one. 400-450 better be in
90% condition or better,They made 2 million of them before 1979 and somthing
like 4 million by 1999, so you can be a little picky.

I would not even consider one that I could not COMPLETLY strip to check its condition
first unless I was absolutely stealing it.

Now beyond the normal things you would look for in a used shotgun, bulged barrel,
dented or bent sight rib, cracked or mismatched stock ect. There are a couple of
1100 specific things you will need to check with the gun apart.

Is the Mag tube tight and properly aligned-They can be shot loose or bent by careless
handling and are a pain to fix properly.

Is the interceptor latch snug against the receiver wall but pivots freely and is the
complete snap ring still in place- The latch will chew its way through the snap ring
after lots of rounds, replacing these rings is not a huge deal but if it comes loose while
shooting it can bend the latch itself or worse knock the stud loose.

Is the shell latch properly staked in place, if it falls out when you dissasemble the
gun that would be a no- not real hard to fix but it is just ends up being more $
to have it done.

Are the insides of the mag tube and the recoil spring tube clean and free from
crud and corrosion- These can be cleaned and repolished,but after I look down
a mag or recoil spring tube and see corosion spots or a bunch of crap it puts a negative
slant on the whole gun since it more than likely has not led a charmed life.(picture a duck hunter
sitting in a blind with the gun butt in 3 inches of water).

Are the gas rings properly installed and the correct model for the vintage- early guns use a 2 piece ring
and late 1100s and 11-87s use a one peice snap together ring. Problems here would be a late style
ring set on an older 1100 especialy if its also got a new O-ring. This may have been someones
misguided attempt at fixing cycling issues or it may have been a legitimate repair, it takes a while to
wear out gas rings and if the reciever doesnt show the same amount of wear it makes me question
why someone would put new rings on it.

3inch mag guns- there are a few slight internal differences but for the most part its the gas
holes in the barrel support ring that regulate a 3inch gun. 2 3/4 inch field guns have two .78
holes ,Trap and Skeet guns two .84 holes and the 3 inch guns will have one .74 hole. A well
maintained 3inch gun will cycle most heavy field or trap 2 3/4 loads but won't be 100% with
value pack stuff. Easy fix is to simply find a used 2 3/4 inch barrel to tactify and leave
the 3inch one for a hunting. With all the 1100s out there and all the spare barells floating
around NEVER use a 3inch shell in a 3inch Magnum marked reciever without the  3inch Magnum roll
mark on the barrel.

Years ago an old time Trap shooter gave me some advice on keeping an 1100 running. I have
pretty much maintained mine exactly like he showed me and my 1100s have run nearly flawlessly
ever since.

Gas rings and the section of mag tube they slide on are kept dry, no oil just clean the carbon
off with 0000 steel wool wipe with a clean rag and reassemble.

Every thing aft of the gas system gets a normal semi-auto type oiling but the recoil spring
tube and plunger need to come apart from time to time and be cleaned. Around every 1000
rounds or so. Binding here will stop a gun up quick.

When you reassemble it wipe a coating of grease on the barrel shroud where it fits into
the reviever and a small dab where it rest on the barrel support. This will keep the barrel
from wearing and the support from cracking.

Good luck, Be picky and it won't be tough to find a good one.

Percula gives excellent advice, except for this:



IMHO steel wool should not be used to clean off the carbon because is can remove metal from the mag tube. Eventually this can  make the gas rings/seal a loose-enough fit that gas will leak past and cause cycling problems. Instead, I use an old phosphor bronze bore cleaning brush to remove the carbon deposits. Also, I prefer to run my 11-87s with a VERY LIGHT layer of lube (BF CLP) on the outside of the mag tube andon the gas rings, but certainly not dripping wet.

As mentioned above, a good price for an 1100 should be in the $200-350 range. An 11-87 will cost a bit more, say $400-500. I recently picked up a pristine used 11-87 on GunBroker for under $400 - it has a funky pistol grip stock, so did not appeal to the duck hunting crowd I guess. I sold the PG stock for $45 and installed a standard stock I had laying around, so the 11-87 only cost me ~$350 .

When you get the gun, I would advise simply changing the high-risk parts: barrel seal (o-ring), barrel support and action spring. They are all cheap anyway (a few bucks each). When you order them, buy two of each so you have a spare. The action spring particularly should be 15" long... when it gets below 14.5" its time to change it. The plastic buffer at the back of the bolt should last the life of the gun if the action spring is changed regularly.

If you follow Percula's advice, your 1100 or 11-87 will likely outlast you... on the trap and skeet circuit its not unheard of for these shotguns to give a service life of 200,000 rounds. They are the Lexus of the shotgun world at a Kia price .

not true out of the box my 11-87 police with the 18in barrel ran ultra light 1oz steel shot from the hip every shot no problem which was lacking a solid platform for it to sit on like the shoulder.

Rebuild an 11-48.  You can find them for ~$200 easily.

The design pre-dates the 870, and is essentially a spring-loaded pump action.  Recoil is a bit harsher than a gas gun, but they are virtually maintenance free when you get them set up.

With proper lubrication (and more importantly, LACK of lubrication), they will run any ammo you choose to put through them.  Most 870/1100/11-87 parts & accessories will fit directly, or can be modified to fit, and you'll be building on a gun that was crafted out of quality material... even the Mowhawk versions of yesteryear would qualify as a Wingmaster today.

Besides, if John Moses Browning were to buy a Remington, it would be an 11-48.

Here's my "old school" 11-48 project thread from SGW

Then you are lucky - hold onto that gem, or maybe Remington have started adding the self-adjusting gas system to the Police model (all the 18-21" factory 11-87 barrels I have seen did NOT have the self-adjusting system). I've seen several 18" 11-87 Police shotguns totally fail to cycle with low-brass birdshot, yet run like raped apes with high-brass ammo. I used to run a 21" deer barrel in 3-gun, but again it would only run 100% with high-brass ammo. This can be fixed by drilling out the gas ports, but then the gun beats itself to death with the hot stuff. I stand by my advice to get a barrel with the self-adjusting gas system...if the the 18" Police barrel now offers this, then great.

I'd go with the 1187 myself, the gas system is much improved over that of the 1100, and as such can handle a much wider range of shells reliably.

I wish that Remington would make the 11-87 in a tactical format, in the civilian line. Finding the 11-87 Police is kinda hard.

FWIW - I have a factory 18" 11-87 special run...added a second o-ring and it cycles bird reliably now.