1100 or 1187?

[icebones]

after i come home from this god forsaken paradise or south korea, i plan on building a semi auto shotgun for the sole pourpose of skeet and clay shooting. (backyard stuff with buddies, nothing major) ive had expirence with the good ol 1100, but i have been a pump action guru for all of my life. so whats the diffrence between the 1100 and the 1187? anything major? or is it just a modernized version of a tried and true design?

btw, if anybody is curious, i was leaning towards a speedfeed pistol grip stock, standard factory 28'' rem choke barrel, one of those extended bolt handles and a 5 shot extension. 10 shots capacity!!! plus i think it would be cool to TRY and break 9 clays in a row like Tom Knapp.

 

[earlthegoat2]

why the pistol grip?

The major difference between the two is that the 11-87 has a compensating gas system which means that no matter which load you shoot only a certain amount of gases are going to be used to cycle the action. This makes it so the bot will cycle at the same speed each time. Traditionally if you shot a heavy load in an 1100 it would slam the bolt back hard.

 

[sm]

i plan on building a semi auto shotgun for the sole pourpose of skeet and clay shooting.

Between your two choices, 1100.
I will say 1100 everytime when compared to a 11-87.
Add, too many 1100s have won too many clay tournaments, felled game , and actually stopped threats in home and business just as they come.
All they need are shells, the owner to become one with the gun, and maybe tweak the fit a bit.

THE finest semi auto is the Win Super X Model 1 - period.
Next up Beretta. When folks were not using SX1s they used Beretta 303s. SX1 was not made in 20 ga, so many used the "same gun" in two different gauges.
1100 was introduced, and being made in all 4 gauges, was popular and proven on the skeet field, and in hunting.

Many competitors shot Win 1300 and 870 in all 4 gauges, and Win Model 12 in 12, 20, 28 and the similar Model 42 for the .410 event.

1100 came to be in all 4 gauges and proved itself.

11-87 was a solution to a non-existent problem, except the hype one needed 3" shells to fell ducks, geese and turkey. Big Green wanted that market of "buying skill and targets" with "marketing" the 11-87 as they did, for both clay, upland and waterfowl use.

I always liked competiting against a person with a 11-87, as I knew the gun would choke and that was one less person to worry about making it to the shoot off.
We saw slews of problems with the 11-87, and there were a LOT of folks that had rushed out to buy the "newest latest greatest" and wished they had kept their 1100s
We had folks begging to buy back 1100 guns, looking every where to buy one.

Personally I would try a Beretta 390 or 391 for gun fit and buy one of those.
A good used one is fine.

1100s, I would find a good used older one. It seems Big Green is trying to screw up this gun with new stuff that they did, and the old guns are better than the new ones.

Then again I think most of the new guns suck period and the old guns were made better anyway.

 

[flyboy1788]

Ive got a mid '70s 1100 12ga. and it is a fine weapon. eats everything I feed it, and has killed many pheasants and clay pigeons One problem though: when I was hunting (pheasant) the other day, the bolt handle flew out during firing. Not a huge problem, but I had to use a stoeger o/u for the rest of the day the gas system gets a little dirty after a range session, but it is not hard at all to clean and prepare for another outing.

 

[Milkmaster]

According to what I see on the Remington website, the new 1100's are sold as 2 3/4" guns. The new 1187's seem to be more in the field grade/camo 3" or 3.5" guns. Both have been sold in differing configurations since 1987. Look closely when buying used model.

Answering the original question, given the choice between the two shotguns you mentioned, if you are only going to use the gun for clay sports, and shoot only 2 3/4" ammo, then I would find me a new or used 1100 chambered in 2 3/4". I actually have three 1100's. The one in the picture is what I use for clay sports. It works like a champ and is a soft shooter.

 

[Virginian]

Well, I have 5 1100s dating from 1963 to 2005, 1 870 from 1976, and I did have one 11-87 for a short while in 1987, but sold it. The early 11-87s also were the first Remington autoloaders with RemChoke barrels, and they were heavy, throwing the balance off in my opinion. The later RemChoke Light Contour barrels solved this problem. An 11-87 and an 1100 have far more in common than different, but most 11-87s will cycle 2-3/4" and 3" whereas most 1100s are 2-3/4" or 3", unless you swap barrels. Some of the later 1100s will also handle everything, and some of the 11-87 target models won't, so best check carefully.
I have never had any functioning problems, but I have never tried to go a thousand rounds without a quick spray and wipe of the gas system at least - actually I clean my guns routinely anyway.
I won several skeet matches about 40 years ago with my first 1100, and I have killed a few clay pigeons with my 870 and all the others too.
What you want to do to personalize your gun is fine, but you don't have to build an 1100 to shoot clays, they come that way.

 

[icebones]

sorry i didnt clarify my definition of a pistol grip stock, im not talking about just the pistol grip tacticool ones... thats bad juju for me, especially for a shotgun that will be used for hunting and target.

i meant like a conventional solid style stock with a pistol grip. like the ones speedfeed makes. i have a winchester 1300 with a simmilar top folding pistol grip stock and i sometimes use it for skeet. although it was built as a working gun for keeping in the truck. i just feel that the vertical pistol grip seems to make the weapon more ergonomic and it "points" better for me. although i busted many a clays with my 870 with the factory stock. its just to try something new. if it works, well cool. if i dont like it, well im out of 50 bucks.
so basically im getting that the 1100 runs on a fixed gas system, but the 1187 is a self regulating design. cool. will it shoot with light clay loads and low brass field loads? or does it require a certain dram equivilent or simmilar to cycle? ive fired a good dose of rounds through a well used 1100 and it ran slick, got a little dirty, but it still ran. it is just me, or does the auto regulating system sounds like it would have more parts? because i for one, belive simplicity is a beautiful thing.

 

[Virginian]

The 11-87s I am familiar with have the gas ring under the barrel machined and drilled to hold a gas regulating valve, which is a spring, on the outside. At higher gas pressures it lets some gas escape. It's pretty simple too in my estimation, but more complex than the 1100. Some people who want to shoot very light loads, like 7/8 or 3/4 ounce stuff, have had issues with 11-87s, but I also know people who have had to modify 1100s to shoot some of that stuff too.

 

[Titan6]

I have both. Ergonomically they are the same when they have the same size barrel installed. The 11/87 does not like light loads and will not cycle them reliably. I use the gun for HD though and don't put light loads in it. The heavy loads have never been an issue. The 1100 is more of hunting gun for me but will work for any shotgun task I put to it. It will cycle anything but it won't shoot 3" shells.
Do I need 3" shells?
No, not really. In fact I seldom buy them because they cost more.
Does it make the gun more versatile?
Well yes... except for the not cycling the light loads issue.

So there is no real advantage to the 11/87.

 

[icebones]

ok, many thanks. seems im well set with the 1100. once again. thanks.

 

[MacEntyre]

Glad I read this... have a new appreciation for my 30 year old 1100, bought for me by my father, after I had to borrow his friend's antique over-and-under when invited to go dove hunting...

 

[RM]

Is there any difference between 1100 and 11-87 in how easy/difficult they are to clean?

 

[Virginian]

In my opinion, both are very easy to clean. I rarely strip mine down for a last detail cleaning anyway. I spray and wipe off the gas parts and the blued parts and am good to go for another hunt/shoot. Maybe 10 minutes worth, max.