Know the gun? It has the straight English grip, 23" barrel with twin beads, weight 6 1/4 pounds, 11-87 action, .20 gauge chambering, ect? My current semi-auto shotguns are two Benelli M1's, an old Browning A5, and a Beretta AL391. I have owned a couple of Remington 1100's over the years and they were "ok" though compared to the Benelli they were heavy and required more maintenance and still less reliable than the M1's. I ran across this little 11-87 and it sorta caught my eye, feels good in the hand and jumps to the eye quickly and naturally. Seems like a handy little semi-auto .20 gauge that doesn't cost an arm and leg. Thoughts on 11-87 reliability and durability? Anything that comes to mind on the 11-87 and this configuration would be helpful as I am considering this .20 gauge gun.

The 11-87 certainly can not be compaired to the shotguns you already own.

The real reason for the straight English grip was for double trigger guns. The straight grip aided in slipping the hand back to operate the rear trigger.

that's all

That's an old wives tale. The straight grip and splinter forend was an attempt to bring both hands closer inline with the bore line. It had nothing to do with the trigger hand being able to slide easier to get to a second trigger.

I looked at both the 1187 and the 1100 20 gauges before I bought mine about 10 years ago.

I went with the "1100 lt 20",I didn't like the straight stock and I have heard alot about 1187 reliability that swung me towards the 1100.

so I would say go with the 1100 special field if you want the straight stock.

the only thing is when it starts to act up which if you shoot much it eventually will it needs good cleaning then hand file the tooling marks inside the action then re oil and good as new

Ya'll are talking me out of it...

I own both the 11-87 12 & 20 upland Special. I have not had any reliability issues at all. I believe a lot if the 11-87 reliability issues revolved around Steel shot as my friend has the 20 g upland and decided to buy the 11-87 waterfowl gun (10 years ago) and he did have problems ejecting shells.. One thing I like about these guns for the uplands is that with the straight stock I can carry in one hand comfortably and be ready for an upcoming shot. I think it has a classic look with 3 shots. I recently added a 26" barrel to the 20 gauge so I can mix it up. For ducks I have an M1 an 870 and a browning BSS

I say if you liked how it felt, then give it a try. The worst that happens is that you sell the gun in the future if it doesn't work out.

NEVER pass up the chance to increase your toy's

The 11-87 will shoot 3" while the 1100 will only shoot 2 3/4" on these models. Depends on if that is a big deal for you or not. I essentially traded my 1100 Special Field for the 11-87 Special Field and have been very pleased with both models. I have no concerns about using the 11-87.

The straight stock also helps with the "English" idea of shooting. That stresses that the left hand moves the gun and actually points it while the right hand simply controls the trigger.
Frankly for me, that is sort of over thinking the whole thing, but the straight stock is extremely quick handling for me when after upland game and just looks classy!