Help Getting 22" Rem 1100 to Cycle Practice Loads

[Kind of Blued]

Yep yep, Imagine that...

The thing is, it's a bone-stock 1100 Tac 4, so it's not a bubba'd bird gun with tiny gas ports. It's a champ with slugs and buck, which is the important thing, but I'd like it to be able to reliably cycle Federal and Winchester Wally World bulk stuff for practice.

It ran fine when I first got it, although ejection was still a bit weak. I don't remember if I was using the Federal or Winchester stuff then. Either way, last weekend it was a bit dirty but decently lubricated and it wouldn't reliably cycle Winchester 12 gauge #7.5 dram eq 3. If I fired up at a 45 degree angle and kept my shoulder really stiff, it would just barely spit the hulls out, whereas shooting level with the ground it occasionally wouldn't even get the entire hull out of the chamber before the action spring took over.

I know the 11-87 has a self-adjusting gas system, but I couldn't find anything about manually adjusting the 1100's gas system in the manual or online short of enlarging the gas ports.

The barrel seal and piston are installed properly, and I gave it a very thorough cleaning and lube last night. Do you think I'll have to thoroughly clean it every time I use it, or do I have another option?

Are there other affordable loads that might have a higher dram eq. to allow for more positive ejection? I'd like to shoot in a 3-gun competition some day (which is why I picked up this gun) and don't want to have to break the bank on ammo every time I practice or compete.

Would replacement springs help, or would the increased recoil speed from the occasional slug/buck load damage the action?

Thanks in advance, and yeah, I need a good pump too.

 

[earplug]

Did you clean the gas ports between the barrel and cylinder?

Sounds like you have some carbon or crud built up in the gas ports.
Rare, but your recoil tube and spring might need some attention.

 

[Kind of Blued]

Yep. I took a pipe cleaner to the gas ports last night and didn't even get much carbon out of there. I had probably only put ~120 rounds through it since I cleaned it last.

It sure would be nice if there was a simple click "on-off" to close up a third and fourth hole in there.

 

[Badger Arms]

Pipe clener won't get it. You need to use a pokey tool of some sort. The manual says something like using a "1/16 wire" or somthing of that sort. 2-penny nail maybe? The gunk builds up in the port and constricts it. Pipe cleaner will polish that gunk, but not necessarilly take it out. Ever cleaned the back of the bolt on an AR-15?

If it was functioning fine when you started shooting (soft is okay so long as it's cycling them) then this is probably your problem. How many shells did you fire to get to this point?

 

[Kind of Blued]

It probably has ~500 through it since I bought it new a couple months ago. I'll go see if I can free some more carbon out of the gas ports with a finishing nail or piece of wire.

<doodle doo... edit...>

I got a nail just about the exact same size as the ports and didn't see any carbon pop up in the barrel after plenty of runs through...

 

[Badger Arms]

Just did a bunch of research and I found some info that might be helpful. I'd like not to claim credit for it and I'm hesitant to post it directly as I might get accused of leading to the demise of Bubba's barrel, but here's the search string I typed into Google: Gas Port #44 drill 1100 Remington

Suffice it to say, Remington 26" skeet barrels have two ports drilled with a #44 drill bit (.086"). The Skeet barrel is intended to cycle light loads reliably. If you intend to cycle light loads reliably in a 22" barrel (with .079" holes), then you might be asking too much of the gun... well at least to do it after 500 rounds. My advice, get a #49 or #50 drill bit and run it through your gas port a few times every time you take the barrel off. Doing this in my "wire-cleaned" ports, I got chunks of black stuff to come out. Lots of chunks. Please don't enlarge your ports because I posted this stuff.

 

[Badger Arms]

And if you say, "Heck, .086 inches is not much bigger than .079 inches," you should think in terms of area. A hole that is .086" has over 18% more area than one .079" by my quick (and probably wildly inaccurate) calculation.

 

[Dirtpile]

Given that you undoubtedly want to avoid damage to the gun from enlarging the gas ports I would recommend you pick up a second barrel for practice use. A reasonable condition vent rib barrel may be found used on the cheap. Even chopped down and altered for proper function without too much cost if you don't do it yourself. Plus the vent rib will offer easy identification.
Another really good tool for cleaning out gas ports is a torch tip cleaning file set.
http://www.toughweld.com/torches/tip-cleaners/?cat=73&tagarray=31

 

[Virginian]

Go to a welding supply store and get a set of torch tip cleaners. They come quite cheap. Different sizes with grooves around them designed for cleaning carbon and junk out of gas ports. Even easier than using a drill bit.

Don't you love it when you don't see a post just about the same as yours until after you post yours? Maybe I should wait until after a second cup of coffee to post.

 

[Kind of Blued]

Thanks for the replies fellas. Good suggestion on the torch tip cleaners.

On second thought, I just might get another barrel (~26-28") and use that for three gun to cycle the lighter, cheaper stuff. Another perk is that while I'm at it I might as well get one of those retardedly long mag extensions that some of those guys use. I don't doubt it'll get pretty darn unwieldy when fully-loaded, but it might be fun. It'll be like having a few guns in one considering how quickly and easily one can swap out barrels and mag extensions.

26" bbl + extra long extension = 3-gun
26" bbl + no extension = Birding/clays gun
22" bbl + normal extension = HD gun
22" bbl + no extension = Lightweight/Turkey gun
22" bbl + extra long extension = Stupid-lookin'

Extra mag springs would be a bit troublesome to store without damaging them I suppose.

Do you guys suspect that any of the 26+" 1100 barrels would come from the factory with the larger (.086) gas ports? Or will that be identified along with the other specs for the barrel? I guess even if the ports aren't any bigger, more barrel allows for more time for pressure to build.

 

[Badger Arms]

I've got a 26" barrel I just bought new, model 24466, and it came with .079" ports. If I'm reading the references correctly, model 24490 is the skeet barrel and therefore should have .086" ports. If you are going the route you suggest, a skeet barrel tuned for lighter loads is probably the way to go. Of course, you can always pop a few high-brass loads in the long barrel or light loads in the short barrel without concern.

 

[lipadj46]

It surprises me that Remington does not have an adjustable gas system available (do they?). I guess that would probably make it more complicated for the average set it and forget it person but even the A-5 has a setting for high and low brass (I know not a gas gun but still).

 

[chas08]

It surprises me that Remington does not have an adjustable gas system available (do they?).

I remember seeing a Remington that had a power setting on the end of the forearm for different pressures. I think it was an old Model 58 IIRC. The 1100 field grade barrel is guaranteed to cycle 3 1/4 dram equiv. 1 1/8 oz. loads as its lightest. I stumbled across that info on the Remington website while researching their new steel shot barrel for 1100s. Years ago that was about as light of a 12 ga. load as you could find, many more selections nowadays. Having owned several different autos the 1100 is still my favorite. Even over the benelli sbe1 that I sold my first 1100 to buy, still kicking myself in the A** for that one. I've never owned an auto that didn't have an issue with at least one sort of ammo or another. The benelli was by far the worst.

 

[Badger Arms]

Correct on the Model 58. It is adjustable. Three settings. I owned one a while back. It was a bear to clean, IIRC. Sold it due to the 2-shot magazine. The gas system was in front of the magazine so you couldn't load the gun with more than three shots.

The Model 1100 was, indeed, designed to cycle all 2 3/4" loads at the time reliably. It would. All 1100's seem to be compromises due to the lack of an adjustable gas system. I'd be willing to bet that a good adjustable system could be devised. The 11/87 is supposed to be self-adjusting but I don't know so much. As much trouble as FAL shooters seem to have figuring out how to adjust their gas systems, I don't know that the average sportsman needs that much control over the destruction of his firearm.

The simple logic is, "Gas is good, more gas is better." I have a feeling that most guns would be 'adjusted' wide open all the time and shoot themselves apart.

 

[Kind of Blued]

The simple logic is, "Gas is good, more gas is better." I have a feeling that most guns would be 'adjusted' wide open all the time and shoot themselves apart.

I'd bet they'd sell more of 'em that way.

 

[Muley]

Hmm...

I' ve talked to, and shot with way to many people that own Remington shotguns to ever buy one. Every one that I can think of has had some sort of ejection problem. Especially the 1100, I've even seen 870's that have malfunction. Okay fellas,,,,,I'm not communist, I love remington for what they are, great rifles, great ammo. But, buy a beretta, or something that reliably cycles ALL the time............... I think people buy remington shotguns for more "ole times sake" than anything else.
After buying a beretta a few years ago, I would never own anything else..

 

[chas08]

But, buy a beretta, or something that reliably cycles ALL the time....

I know this is a waste of time...But...There AIN'T no such animal. I watched a hunting buddy search in vain for the charging handle that flew out of his 391 last dove season. But no worries, he finished off his limit with an 870 I loaned him.

 

[Pete409]

Blued,

Rem 1100's don't run very well when dirty, especially with under powered (for the barrel design) loads. You should clean it about every 75 rounds and oil it generously with Breakfree CLP. This includes the outside of the mag tube where the piston runs and especially the receiver rails.

The bolt assembly and trigger assembly need to be removed occasionally and cleaned too.

When buying the economy target shells, get the 1 1/8 ounce, 3 Dram Equivalent loads. Shot size makes no difference in how the gun functions.