Everything in context, Virginian. Do you keep an 1100 for home defense?
The first Cordoba I ever shot belonged to a guy who took his trusty 1100, the gun that never let him down, to Mexico for a high-volume dove shoot. The thing crapped out on the first day, and he found the money to buy a Cordoba when he got home. Then he bought another one, so he'd have a 12 and a 20. Personally, I find the Cordoba to be one expensive SOB for an ugly plastic semiauto, but I have to admit that I sure like the way they handle and shoot.
When I was a kid, the family cars were something that were driven during the week and had their hoods open on the driveway every other weekend, it seemed. People accepted that from 1960s technology. However, someone whose expectations were shaped in the 2000s would find replacing points and doing "tune-ups" every 10,000 miles, tweaking carburetors, replacing tires and brakes annually, etc. to be a real PITA.
Whereas break actions and pump shotguns were pretty much done with serious design improvements by the mid 1960s, semiautos have been going through their serious development phase over the past 50 years. With all due respect to the much-loved but funky Auto 5, it was the 1100 that really sparked that development spurt. It was revolutionary in 1961. Since then, though, it's been overtaken by a number of other designs that are more reliable, easier to clean, less hokey (the magazine spring retainer? come on!
), etc. It's not MY fault that Remington squandered their huge lead in the industry. What DID they do with the profits from all those millions of guns? A bit of R&D investment might have been good...
Still, I guess it depends if you want to shoot the best shotgun you can get in 2010, or if you want to play with old guns in your garage. "The best shotgun you can get in 2010" can be done on a budget. It doesn't necessarily mean $1500+.
This much I will say: apart from one G3 at the Sporting Clays range, I don't believe I've seen a single 1100 in the field, or at the range, in the past couple years. I've seen a lot of old ones in gun shops, though. I've only run into huge fans of the things on the Interwebs. So I'm not sure who all these people who aren't giving up their Remingtons are, but they're nowhere I am, that's for sure. At least they're not shooting them. (And yes, I see plenty of old guns, like Superposed O/Us, Model 12s, Model 37s, etc.)
Is the 1100 a viable sporting shotgun? Sure. There are many better ones in 12 and some in 20, but if you want a 28 Gauge gas gun, there aren't any others.
I said I wouldn't trust my life to one. I never said I keep a Beretta for HD either, because I don't. So how many of you use an 1100 for home defense?
The first Cordoba I ever shot belonged to a guy who took his trusty 1100, the gun that never let him down, to Mexico for a high-volume dove shoot. The thing crapped out on the first day, and he found the money to buy a Cordoba when he got home. Then he bought another one, so he'd have a 12 and a 20. Personally, I find the Cordoba to be one expensive SOB for an ugly plastic semiauto, but I have to admit that I sure like the way they handle and shoot.
When I was a kid, the family cars were something that were driven during the week and had their hoods open on the driveway every other weekend, it seemed. People accepted that from 1960s technology. However, someone whose expectations were shaped in the 2000s would find replacing points and doing "tune-ups" every 10,000 miles, tweaking carburetors, replacing tires and brakes annually, etc. to be a real PITA.
Whereas break actions and pump shotguns were pretty much done with serious design improvements by the mid 1960s, semiautos have been going through their serious development phase over the past 50 years. With all due respect to the much-loved but funky Auto 5, it was the 1100 that really sparked that development spurt. It was revolutionary in 1961. Since then, though, it's been overtaken by a number of other designs that are more reliable, easier to clean, less hokey (the magazine spring retainer? come on!
), etc. It's not MY fault that Remington squandered their huge lead in the industry. What DID they do with the profits from all those millions of guns? A bit of R&D investment might have been good...Still, I guess it depends if you want to shoot the best shotgun you can get in 2010, or if you want to play with old guns in your garage. "The best shotgun you can get in 2010" can be done on a budget. It doesn't necessarily mean $1500+.
This much I will say: apart from one G3 at the Sporting Clays range, I don't believe I've seen a single 1100 in the field, or at the range, in the past couple years. I've seen a lot of old ones in gun shops, though. I've only run into huge fans of the things on the Interwebs. So I'm not sure who all these people who aren't giving up their Remingtons are, but they're nowhere I am, that's for sure. At least they're not shooting them. (And yes, I see plenty of old guns, like Superposed O/Us, Model 12s, Model 37s, etc.)
Is the 1100 a viable sporting shotgun? Sure. There are many better ones in 12 and some in 20, but if you want a 28 Gauge gas gun, there aren't any others.
I said I wouldn't trust my life to one. I never said I keep a Beretta for HD either, because I don't. So how many of you use an 1100 for home defense?
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