I was presented with a photo of great-grandfather and his brothers when they were out hunting and they all seemed to be carrying humpback Browning Auto-5 shotguns, but found them generally out of my budget.  Today I picked up a clean Remington Model 11, which I believe is the same gun.  It has been reblued and the stock replaced, but is in generally excellent shape and the screws have not been buggered.  It was also cheap.

So, now that I've got it I have been googling like mad trying to find out more about this elegant old beast.  Naturally, I also wanted to check with the collective mind of ARFCOM for any thoughts and advice on this shotgun.

Who has a Remington Model 11 and what can you tell me about this design, generally speaking?

Edited to add: I just called Remington and they said it was made in 1905 - the first year of manufacture.  Pretty cool for $250.

Sounds like a real nice shotgun.  I don't know enough to tell you anything more about your gun, but I'd like to hear what others have to say.

Don't shoot the gun with any oil on the mag tube.It will recoil very hard if oil gets on the friction ring.

The oil is good for cleaning and storage,but wipe it all off before firing.

If the tube is very dry and dirty,you might have too much friction and have bad cycling issues.Just oil it up,and wipe it back off.I use CLP,but I think others advise 30W motor oil.

Make sure the friction ring is in the correct position for the ammo you intend to fire.You can change the amount of friction for light or heavy loads to get the correct cycling out of the action.

My later model 11-48 only has 1 position,so there is no way to get it wrong,but the early guns have friction rings that can be moved around to vary the recoil of the gun.

Anybody know of a source for replacement barrels for the Remington Model 11?  

Also, will cutting down a 28" barrelled Model 11 to 18" affect reliable functioning?

Thanks!

Good questions that I'd like to know, also, so I'm going to bump this.

It is very important that you set the friction rings correct and don't over lube the mag tube. These lead to cracks in the forearm (very common on Model 11s and A5s).
Since the gun is operated by recoil, losing barrel mass can affect the cycling. I've seen riot versions with 20" barrels. 18" my be too short unless you add a barrel weight.  The famous picture of the guns collected from the Dillinger gang contains two sawn off A5s/Model 11s.

Either way, congrats on the purchase. I have an '86 Mag 12 Auto 5 that i love to death. Going to get a belgian light twelve to have next to my japanese gun.

+1
Download an A5 operators manual so you can see the workings under the forearm, and how to properly assemble it for the correct loads you are using.

I've heard that you can go down to around 15" and still function reliably.  I have a stock 30" barrel on mine, and since I only gave $125 for it, I didn't want to purchase a new barrel to cut down.
A class 3 dealer I spoke to at a gun show had a 15" SBS and an 18" non NFA M11 that he said both functioned flawlessly.  They both definitely looked awesome.

However, just off the top of my head, if you remember the tales of the gun "Gangster guns", they have a M11 on there with ~15" bbl that cycles fine.

You'll have to luck into a used barrel out there somewhere...CHECK HERE

The 11 action (like its near twin, the Browning  A5) is recoil operated. The barrel length has no bearing on reliability.

Some very good Model 11 information is HERE

Thanks for that link - that's about the most coherent illustration of those friction rings I have seen.

I don't have a Remington 11, but I have a Browning Auto 5 which is very similar.  Mine has been cut down to 18" and it didn't affect the reliability of the gun at all.  My barrel was cut and threaded for chokes by GunCat and I was very happy with the service and fast turn-around time.

Could we have contact information about GunCat?  Is that somebody on ARFCOM, or what?

Check out reply #7 in this thread.  Thats him. Or...

http://roseactionsports.com/default.aspx