I haven't been able to find one of these to handle. Anybody have or try one out ?
As much as I love my light weight O/U's, I've discovered that my heavy, 8 lb. 1187 SP 12 does better. Both at trap and in the field. So, I was thinking about another Remington gas gun. This one gets good reviews.
Or maybe a heavier Benelli ? E

You do not see many Rem 1100 on the sporting clay circuit. The reason is most can't keep them running and they require a lot of maintenance to do so. Don't know how much you shoot a shotgun, but if you’re a high volume shooter-i.e. 10,000 rounds/year-I would not recommend the 1100. It really is a shame, because if Remington beefed up the parts and made it more durable, high volume shooters would use it. Points like a dream and the trigger can be adjusted to be excellent.

Most Benelli gas guns I have come across in sporting are lighter than the 1100, but some aftermarket parts like tube extensions can change that for little money. The Benelli is a much simpler and more reliable shotgun. They will take a beating with minimal maintenance.

By far the Beretta 391 series is the shotgun of choice among shotguns used in sporting. However IMO the Benelli is the best of the bunch. They are both semis that require minimal maintenance and will work. I know shooters that have 100,000 rounds out of both. Yes some parts have been replaced, but a Rem 1100 with that many rounds would be in pieces. I don't like it, but that is just the way it is.

Loyal Rem. 1100 users are probably not going to like this, but I shoot a lot of Sporting tournaments and it is rare to see one being used, while Beretta and Benelli are quite common.

If they made them more reliable I would use one.

While I don't do any competitive shooting, I have shot a pile of shells at clays and wild pheasants/doves with my Beretta 391. If there is a better auto out there, I don't need to know about it. Bro in law bought his, then I bought mine, then dad got one, then uncle got one, then a pile of others got theirs, based on my bro in law going out and getting his. They are good guns.

25 years ago dad had an 1100 and got rid of it, went to an 870 pump because of the reliability. After he bought his 391 a couple years ago, his response was "I can't believe I shot that 870 for so long"

Little brother bought one. He put 3000 rounds thru it in 22 days. It simply would not run. Changed o-rings, cleaned it etc. The issue for him was that it wouldn't run for more than 100 shots at a time. Constant failures to fire, eject and feed. Some might send it in and wait - screw that. He was shooting heavy that year - needed it to run and run NOW.

He didn't want to have to clean it in between stations on the course, rounds maybe but not stations. Brought it in and got Browning 425. Hasn't looked back.

Interesting thing was I went into the place to check it out - see what they had it on the shelf for. The price was 75 bucks less than new. When I asked the clerk said it was used but only 3 weeks old - hardly used. He was rather excited when I told him there was 3000 rounds thru that gun already, I knew because I loaded them.

I could not make mine go 100 rounds on skeet doubles without screwing up. I really liked it and shot it well but could not get it where it would not jam at some point in the third box. Once it started, it went down hill in a hurry.
I sold it and bought a Beretta 391. I did not clean it and just kept feeding shells to it just to see how long it would go before I had to do anything at all to it. If memory serves me, it was about 1400 or 1500 rounds before it jammed one into the ejection port. Pulled the barrel and gave it 5 min's of TLC and ran it again just to see how many more it would go. Once again at about the 1500 shell mark, I had a jam.
That was more than 15 times as long as I could ever get my Remington to run.
I am sold on Beretta's and have owned as many as 4 at once. I am down to 2 now, but if I find a good deal......

A 391 is a thing of beauty. They run like sewing machines and they have lots of aftermarket support. Like them much.

I have friends who have shot their 391 5000-6000 with nothing more than some oil inside the receiver and on the piston.

Makes a thorough cleaning much harder, but many say they function better dirty.

that was about all I did to mine.
After about 3000 rounds, I felt sorry for it and tore it down and cleaned it real good.

The only maintenance to my 391 I had done since 2003 was just pull the barrel and swab it out good with whatever solvent and oil I had on hand, and a general wipe down of light oil across the whole thing for storage. This spring was shooting sporting clays with a buddy that had bought one at the same time, he commented on how slow my action was closing when the 'close' button was pushed. I hadn't noticed it, and it wasn't causing issues on repeat shots as it was faster than I could get on the second target. I went home and did a complete strip down of the gun to its component pieces. All kinds of brake cleaner were used and a stiff nylon brush. put it back together and it liked to have ripped my finger off that was in the way when I pushed the close button.

The innards were filthy after 5 years, but still functioned well with no jams. Now it still functions well, but a little faster.

The 1100 doesn’t have any parts breakage issues, it’s just that the gas system requires that you clean the gun every 500-1000 rounds and some of the newer guns don’t require as much maintenance. 1100’s do not fall to pieces. Back in the ‘80’s the 1100 was THE gun of choice for 3 gun competition and they didn’t fall apart then. I don’t know why the 1100 suddenly has such a bad reputation, they’re good reliable guns. They’re just not as maintenance free as the newer guns…again, parts breakage is not now, nor has ever been a problem.

The Remington 1100 is the most winning shotgun in skeet shooting history. It didn’t get that way with a reputation for falling apart.

The most common problem encountered with the 1100 is a worn magazine spring or if someone fails to clean the magazine tube. The force with which the shell is pushed into the receiver determines if the gun locks open or not. This is a common issue with the 1100, but if you understand it, it’s not a problem.

Reliability issues can all be traced back to maintenance. Fail to maintain your 1100 and it will make you pay; simple as that. Maintain your 1100 well and 10,000 rounds a year is a piece of cake, just like it was when the 1100 was the top dog.

The 1100 is a 40 year old design. You’re not seeing them at sporting clays ranges because there are better designs now (such as the Benelli and Beretta). It’s not because they’re “bad” guns or they fall apart.


Now with that all said, I believe the Beretta 391 is simply the best semi-auto shotgun available today; and they don't break the bank like a Benelli does.