I have an older (1970s) 1100 which I bought for $250.  Its a nice shotgun but with a little wear on the reciever like it could use a rebluing.  However, I really like the Tactical 1100 but dont feel like shelling out the dough for one.  If I follow this route, I will finish the metal with Brownells GUNKOTE.  Also, I'd like to add a +3 extension and cut the barrel down to 20 inches.  Is there an easy way for a home gunsmith like myself to do this?
What, and where, can I find parts to make this more of a home defense gun?  Thanks

Cycles fine?  Has bird barrel on it now?  What length barrel?  You just bought it used?  

There would be a few parts I would check would be the o-ring, the piston, the back of the bolt around the firing pin, action spring (only if not cycling and the other things have been checked) in that order.

Nordic tube extension and barrel clamp.  
Competition Master Carrier - one adjustment needed will be setting a prong on the carrier to interact with the carrier latch.  You could go Dave's EZ loader but that is a little more work.
I would keep the original bolt handle or go Nordic.  The Choate ones have been known to fly into outer space during use.


Without seeing the gun, if there was just some wear on the gun I would leave it.  Putting Gunkote would be last on my list of things to do as it really has no pressing functional concern.

After a little work I got this honey working well for 3-gun:

Looks great.  What size barrel is that?   I assume the extension is +3?

22".  I believe its a +3, it will hold 8 in the tube so 8+1.  I don't remember what it originally held.  

I may go to 24" though because I need chokes for 3gun (especially after this last weekend) and do a 10+1 setup.

I set mine up for 3 gun with the following:

28" vent rib barrel with HiVis magnetic fiber optic front sight
Speedfeed pistol grip stock with 4 shell capacity
Nordic +6 mag extension
Nordic bolt handle (Replaced the crappy choate one)
Daves metal works EZ loader (excellent part)
Mesa Tactical 6 shell side saddle
Orange mag tube follower
Oversized safety button
Nordic mag tube / barrel clamp

With this set up I can have 21 shells in/on the gun. Definitely check the pistons and O rings; never hurts to have spares.

I would keep spares of o ring and  pistons for sure.  

How far is the barrel past the extension?

Just got my old school 1100 2-3/4" out of the shop, they got the action working.  Anyone know a reasonable source for barrels?  I've got a deer barrel on it and looking for either 3-G and/or Skeet/trap barrel.

I am in the same boat looking for a barrel.  

How many rounds does yours hold in the tube standard?  I forget what it was and cannot find that info and I can't find the Nordic chart for length of tube and + capacity chart that they used to have.

I think that it had the green plug for 2?, pulled it out and thinking 5?  It hasn't run right since I got it and wouldn't pickup the next round.  If you going to get a Nordic, get at least +1 of what you think, you can run 8+1 in 3-gun, as long as you don't load more then that, you are ok.. Sometimes the extra "space' helps in getting the last one in without forcing it.

I think I figured it out by measuring.  I have a +4, meaning I can get 9 (8+1) in the gun, measuring ~10".  I think I might go to a +5 extension so I can get 10 (9+1) in the gun.  A friend I shoot with said do a +6 though.  Problem is that I would be at 28" barrel which to me seems a little unwielding and I rarely ever see more than a 10 target string.  This would also allow me to do full reloads to the tube and be even caddy number as I use 6 shell caddies and load 3 at time.  A +5 would bump me to a 24" barrel.  

What issues have you had with your 1100?  I had issues with mine.  Bolt would lock back with a shell on the carrier and rounds to go in the tube.  Look back a few pages in here for other 1100 threads as I talked about everything I had to do to solve the issue.  Didn't cost much, just a little time and know how but it ran like a champ in the big match this past weekend.

Sorry we're hijacking.  OP let us know when to shut up.  

ETA - OP I got all my parts from Midway or Brownells.

Built this one a couple years ago. KG Gunkote (OD Grey), a +2 mag ext on it. No Easyloader, but will probably get one in someday Wolff springs, and new o-ring. The gas port was modified to provide better ejection/cycling, and the barrel was 30", shortened to 18.25 inches. A plain bead installed on the front. It went from a Fudd gun to a nice shooter.



I'm unhappy with the way the refinishing of the wood turned out. The forearm wood was so much lighter after the factory finish was stripped, which you can see clearly in the second photo. I even used leather dye to try to darken it up, but to no avail.  It would look prefectly-matched with wet oil on it, and as soon as it would dry, it'd lighten right up. Was giving me fits! I'll probably get a tactical urbino stock for it later.



Custom pistol grip cap and buttplate, done in aluminum, sandblasted and treated with matching Gunkote.

The short anwser to the barrel question is no. Unless you have access to a lathe its really tough to get a smooth even finish. There are refacing tools that you can get from brownells but the tools are more
than Carlsons would want to shorten it for you. Get your mag tube extension first, then decide on the length you want it cut to. Send it to Carlsons and have them shorten the barrel and fitted with screw in
choke tubes.  http://www.choketube.com/choke-tube-installation.php.  Not cheap of course but in the end you will have a much more usefull gun than one with a cylinder choke barrel.

Model 1100s are great guns but they do have a couple of trouble spots that will need to be checked to make sure it will run 100%.

Feed latches will come loose from the recevier. If its moving around in the track you need to have it repeened into place. On the other side the interceptor latches will grind there way through the eclip and come
loose. Replace the interceptor latch Eclip and make sure the Feed latch is properly peened in place. Pull at apart and give it a thorough cleaning. Pay close attention to the action spring tube, firing pin section of the
bolt and the inside of the mag tube and the gas ports in the barrel . You will need to pull the stock off to access the Action spring tube. Mag tube(outer) and gas rings should be cleaned with 0000 steel wool and run dry. Any lube in here will mix with carbon and gum things up quick. Run the rest just like anyother semiauto with a light coat of oil.


Once you start setting it up with the extended tube there are a couple of different things you will need to know. The magfollower will need to have the edges lightly chamfered or it will not feed smoothly over
joint between the original magtube and the extension. If your running a clamp it will change the POI if the extension is screwed down tight. Loosen it a slight amount then tighten the barrel clamp. You may have
to take it to the range and try the clamp in different spots.


http://www.remingtonsociety.com/images/Rem_1100_Notes__Rev_with_Pix_of_Disassembly.pdf

I've constructed a device to square-off and refinish my barrel ends. Its an old grinding stone and a couple of hardware bits. The white is a nylon bushing I found in the drawers of the nuts and bolts aisle of my hometown hardware store. I use my hand drill and the muzzle comes out pretty good.

Kibby, would you loan that tool you designed out? I just cut my 1100 barrel down to 22", its not completely straight.

I think you'd get better results from a decent 1" mill bastard file, if you want my opinion.

I'm not really happy with the performance of this thing. It took a long time to remove any material at all, but it did give a superlative finish. That said, I've already disassembled it and used the stone on another grinder. Sorry, man.

If you want to make one, just look at the pic and see that its a 2-3 inch bolt, a 2" grinding stone, a nut, and a few assorted washers. The pilot is a nylon bushing. I'd go with an agressinve grit if your muzzle is severely canted and there is a lot of material to remove.

Thanks kibby

I guess my point here is that unless your ok with a barrel thats useless for anything but a HD gun(maybe skeet) your gonna want to have choke tubes installed.
At that point might as well spend the 30 bucks and have Carlson do it for you.

Who is Carlson?

http://www.choketube.com/choke-tube-installation.php

Guys thanks for all the replies.  I honestly dont need a choked barrel.  I already have a Remington O/U, a Binelli M3, and a Browning A5 all with chokes so I'm good on that.  I'm looking for a fast shooting hi cap HD gun.  I think I'll go for the +3 extension and thus cut the barrel down to approx 20".  Whatever is a bit in front of the extension.  Then I will replace the stock with something synthetic, preferably with a folding stock  (does the buttstock for the 870 interchange with the 1100?).  then I will use black gunkot on the metal parts.  I think itll turn out ok.

The 870 and the 1100 stocks are not interchangable. The 1100 has a recoil spring the runs back into the stock and the 870 does not...

-When you all cut down your 1100 barrels did you have to open up your gas ports on the barrel?

Some fixed stocks will work on both.

Not if you keep them clean, and use good rounds. Low-power skeet loads and other weak loads can cause the gun not to cycle. I installed the Wolff springs, and that had a great deal to do with how well the gun cycled and fired. Remember, the 1100 cycle is a balancing act. When the firing pin strikes the primer and the payload is discharged, the gasses create the eject/rechamber cycle. Its a balance of gas pressure, and and action spring pressure. If the gas pressure is powerful-enough to blow back the action spring, and the action spring is powerful-enough to keep the ejection/rechambering bits moving, then your spent rounds will eject, and fresh rounds will get loaded.  Thats really all there is to it.

Seriously, though, I suggest you make sure that your gas seal o-ring is in tip-top shape, and all of its contact areas are smoothed, polished, and lubed. This will go a long way. The 1100 is a fine machine, when it has the attention it deserves. I'd recommend getting one of those 100-rd boxes of skeet shot to check it with. If it cycles fine with that after you've done your barrel-bobbing, then it'll work with just about any round.

The gas and action spring are not the only part that affects function of the weapon and even easier fix than having to deal with the action spring.  The bolt is let into battery due to the next shell making contact with the carrier plate.  If they mag tube spring isn't kicking the next shell out hard enough AND/OR the carrier latch isn't interacting with the prong that comes of the carrier the bolt will lock open with a shell on the carrier waiting to go into battery.