Target Sports

CLASSIC SHOTGUN: SMOOTHLY DOES IT

Created on 14th May 2009

RICHARD ATKINS gets his hands on a Remington 1100 Competition and finds it still going strong 40 years on

WHEN THE Remington 1100 was launched back in the early 1960s it was something of a revelation. Gas semi-autos weren't new, but the way this one felt and shot was. The design team had been tasked with coming up with something special and, for its time, it was bordering on revolutionary. Shooters loved it: it was well-balanced, handled well, fed reliably and, above all, it was smooth to shoot. Gas guns have the ability to make recoil feel lighter: they spread the time of the recoil reaction to the fired cartridge out so the impulse reaching the shooter's shoulder feels notably less than with a similar weight of fixed breech gun. That principle always applies but it had never been as refined as in the 1100: it's the balancing act of gas pressure, moving parts and return springs that interact to produce a truly smooth shooting gun, and the 1100 set standards still a benchmark for other gas autos to be compared with today.

The model 1100 has been made in a host of configurations with models for game, wildfowl and lighter upland and heavier slug/rifled barrel types. Also, of course, it was soon recognised as an ideal competition gun. In its homeland - the USA - big tournaments were much more commonplace than they were in the UK in the days when the 1100 was gaining its reputation. Shooting 100-bird competitions was usual and 200-bird weekend shoots by no means unusual. Many big Trap and Skeet tournaments could lead to a series of shoot-offs that might need another 100 targets to separate the eventual winners. Remember too that heavier loads were common then. Some trap loads were 1¼oz, with 11/8 the typical target load, whereas today that has dropped to 1oz (28g, or even 24g for some disciplines). Shooting so many heavier loads could take its toll, and if recoil leads to a loss of form then that could be a deciding factor. Soon Remington was making a lot of model 1100 semi-autos in specific target types, for Trap and Skeet. Forty-plus years on and these have been joined by special Sporting clay models too.

The ‘Remy 1100' gained virtual cult status, and for a generation or so of hardened competitors that remains the case. Newer models have come and some have gone, but such is the affection held for the 1100 that Remington dare not drop it from its range. It has fettled its design and made some detail changes to materials and heat treatment to get extra reliability and life from some highly stressed small parts, but the basic design remains.

It is the gas system that enabled it to achieve such reliability and smoothness. Later designs now have the return spring wrapped around the magazine tube to eliminate the spring and follower in a guide tube in the stock, but that's how the 1100 was originally designed: it works and that's how those brought up with it want it now!

Such is the affection for this model that not only is it made in a far wider variety of types than any other semi-auto ever made, it is made in more gauges too. Making smaller gauge semi-autos is, it would seem, none too simple, judging by how few others are offered. Again in the USA there are many competitions for the smaller gauges, like American Skeet. Here, in NSSA events, competitions are shot over four gauges: 12, 20, 28 and .410. So far as I am aware, only with a Remington can you have a semi-auto for each of these.

Besides soft shooting characteristics, the other thing that you may know about most semi-autos is that the trigger pulls are seldom as crisp as with a high grade O/U shotgun; it's very hard to achieve given the way the mechanism works. The much larger arc that the hammer is required to travel through also increases lock time. This runs contrary to the Holy Grail of crisp pulls and fast lock times. However, in another piece of irony, people actually found they got on better with the rather soft, slower responding trigger of this semi-auto than they did with a crisp O/U. What was going on? While it's true not everyone appreciated this style of trigger, the huge numbers of competitions being won with the 1100 told their own story: people shot well with them! It was not just the top shots - your average club member found he hit more targets too. Much study was put into this back in the 1970s and later, as target shooting developed. It was eventually accepted that there are advantages to this type of trigger release for many shooters. This slight extra delay between the command to fire from the brain and the hammer striking the firing pin is thought to allow a few microseconds of extra adjustment time as the trigger is being pulled, which helped a lot of shooters hit more targets. It's difficult to prove but as those who have used the old type match air rifles like the FWB 300S will attest, it is sometimes possible to ‘nudge' a pellet into the bull as the trigger is pulled, in a way impossible with the super-fast lock times of modern pre-charged pneumatics. Whatever the theory may say, the results proved it worked. The pull weight on the review sample was as light as any good O/U anyway, and worked a treat.

Today's 1100

The Remy 1100 of today has basically identical lines to that of the original and so is easily recognisable. The smooth lines of its long receiver body with large radius rear that blends naturally into the sweep of the pistol grip of the stock looks as right now as it did back then. Early autos often had rather square and abrupt, upright rear receiver form, being known as ‘humpback', but the 1100 brought style to the semi-auto. The hand filling beavertail style forend, rounded to encase the magazine tube and slimmed above to provide a long and comfortable platform for the forward hand to support and guide the gun, is much as the original too. As the Americans' might say: if it ain't broke, why fix it? The long forend accommodates all manner of hold styles, from well forward to a close to the receiver hold, and all in comfort, so it suits shooters of many different builds and shooting styles.

The chequering on the woodwork today is rather better than some have been in the past. The Competition guns are of a higher finish than basic ‘Field' models anyway, but the laser-cut chequering now employed allows a finesse and precision that would have been very costly to produce by hand. It is far neater and gives better feel than the impressed chequering found on some models in the past. The wood on this model is semi-fancy American walnut, so is a grade or two up on standard anyway. It is finished in a very high gloss lacquer, which is not something UK shooters generally seek, but it does look good. It's also very practical as neither water nor oil will ever soak into it, and it's extremely durable.

The receivers have, in the past, been blued steel. Remington has always been proud that the 1100's receiver is machined from a billet of solid steel for strength, durability and putting some weight in the centre of the gun, which helps achieve good balance. For this competition model the finish is bright nickel; polished on the sides and grit blasted on the top surface to prevent glare while still looking good. Embellishment is minimal, simply ‘Remington 1100' engraved on one side and ‘Competition' on the other. Slick and purposeful - what more do you need?

The barrel on this model is 30" long, but with an extra ½" of knurled choke tube protruding and the long receiver body it looks even longer. Long barrels are in vogue for competition use today and it is definitely easier to pick up longer targets with longer barrels as they do tend to ‘point' better. It also helps maintain a smooth swing. External finish is as excellent as it ever was, with the barrel well polished before deep blueing. A 10mm wide raised and ventilated top rib is fitted, and true to competition format it has a small metal central bead fitted as well as a medium sized white front bead. The two beads are not for aiming purposes but to allow the shooter to check they are mounting the gun properly. Regularly checking that the beads form a ‘figure of eight' when the gun is mounted shows alignment is good. If one bead is often offset to the other then some attention must be paid, either to mounting technique or gun fit. You cannot shoot consistently well if the mount is misaligned.

Internally, the 1100 now follows modern competition trends and is slightly ‘over-bored'. This means the barrel's main bore section is .735" in diameter, not the standard .729" for a 12 gauge gun. This is supposed to reduce recoil further and improve patterns. It's hard to quantify, especially in this low-recoiling gun, but it seems to perform well enough! This requires Remington's ProBore choke tubes to be used, which are not interchangeable with the usual Rem-choke tubes. A set of five choke tubes from Skeet to full choke is supplied.

The gas system of the Competition model is tuned to operate reliably with lighter target shot loads in the 1oz to 11/8oz (32g-28g) range, and will also handle some 24g target loads. We also tried some of the new 21g loads but these were rather less reliable, having much less gas pressure available. It may need tweaking if these become your favourite load, but that shouldn't be a problem as a slight opening of the gas ports would achieve that.

The action, internals and magazine tube on which the piston assembly reciprocates have been coated with a special low friction nickel-Teflon material, so that fouling is less likely to build up and gum the works. Just keeping it wiped clean and not heavily oiled is all that is required for reliable functioning.

A real bonus in the 1100's design is having the bolt release built into the magazine lifter, so there are no awkward-to-locate or hard-to-press buttons on the receiver sidewalls. This catch is so positioned that, as a cartridge is introduced to the magazine, the tip presses the catch. This releases the bolt so that a round dropped into the chamber is chambered and the magazine can be loaded. The Remy is thus very fast to load and is ideal for ‘flush' type events as the magazine can be loaded with the gun still mounted.

The only thing we felt could be improved is the ‘feel' with which the ProBore tubes are tightened. The manual cautions against over-tightening, but when the wrench was only lightly applied we found they had a tendency to shoot loose; maybe an ‘O' ring would help.

The stock dimensions suited the reviewer reasonably well, even though the stock was shorter than standard for European guns (but typical for American ones) and the gun handled nicely. It had a couple of outings at local Sporting shoots and managed to sneak home first on both occasions. It digested a range of 28g loads without a hitch, both plastic and fibre wadded varieties. It had been many years since we last shot a ‘Remy', but it felt every bit as good as it did then. Minor improvements and updates apart, it's the same smooth-shooting gun it always was. When those early designers set out to achieve the task they were given, they did it well. Few guns have lasted so long virtually unaltered, and with demand still there. Autos have never really taken off in the UK but, if they had, then the fascination for the genre would be clearer to many shooters.

Its clear that, for virtually the same model to still be in production 40-plus years on, there was something intrinsically ‘right' about the Remington 1100. Sales have reached somewhere around the four million mark so far. Whatever it was that it had then, it's still got it; if you have never fired one yet, you should.

Technical Specification

Make: Remington
Model: Competition
Type: Gas operated semi-auto Gauge: 12g x 2¾" (70mm) chambers
Chokes: Probore screw in tubes (five supplied)
Overall length: 51¼"
Barrel length: 30"
Weight: 8lb 1oz
Trigger pulls: 4lb 2oz
Top rib: 10mm wide RVR (parallel)
Pull length: 14"
Cast: Straight
Drop at comb: 1" (35mm)
Drop at heel: 1¾" (44mm)
SRP: £1,550

UK Agent: Edgar Brothers
T: 01625 613177