[MEH92]

I picked one up for a project/toy gun. The thought of owning another JMB design was just too much to resist. Remington even gave it the "11" designation when they changed the name from "Remington Autoloading Shotgun" in 1911. :rock:

The gun will be a shooter, not a collector. The receiver dates to 1939. It's in pretty decent overall condition with a replacement barrel dating to 1947.

Does anyone have expereince with this model and what are your thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Mossyrock]

Neat gun. Either one of those or an older Auto-5 are on my short list. There is quite a bit of info on the 'net on the Model 11 if you look in the right places. The High Road has quite a bit of info, and Remington has a history of the M-11 on their website. If you don't already have it, add Patrick Sweeney's book on Gunsmithing the Shotgun to your library. He is a big fan of the M-11/A-5 and this book has lots of info on them, to include instructions on installing a 2 piece Auto-5 lifter so you will be able to top off the magazine with the bolt forward.

The M-11/Auto-5 is one of the very few shotguns out there that, despite the age of the design, will actually outrun a Benelli M-1! Take a look at this article:

http://www.multigun.com/speedsg.html

Gun Parts Corp has lots of M-11 parts in stock, but the first thing you need to do is give the recoil system a rebuild. All this consists of is replacing the springs and the friction rings and giving it a good, thorough cleaning. Have fun with it!

 

[MEH92]

Fantastic info. Thank you very much.

 

[MEH92]

M-11 Comes home

I went and picked up the gun yesterday. Overall it is in really good condition (no safe queen) for a gun made in 1939! It has its shares of minor nicks and scratches, but the beautiful rust blueing is original and in decent shape. The tang screw hole is buggered up as unfortunately someone used an oversizes screwdriver to take off the stock. Other than that, it's cosmetically very nice. I had been thinking about refinishing it (before I got a hold of it) but that won't be necessary.

The furniture doesn not appear to be original, but both pieces are in excellent condition with no cracks anywhere.

The bore is mirror bright and does not appear to have been "honed."

Using the excellent Patrick Sweeney Gunsmithing: Shotguns and Brownells's Encyclopedia of Modern Firearms, Parts and Assembly, Vol. I, books I completely detail stripped the gun, with the exception of the receiver-mounted shell latches. Everything else came comlpetely apart. The parts were pretty dirty and had ancient dried oil/grease all over. After two careful hours (I didn't want to rush things) with Hoppes #9 the gun was ready for lube and reassembly. The gun was lubed per the Brownells book and given a function check. Anyone who has ever used the Brownells books knows that they are absolutely excellent reference materials with every bit of gunsmithing/maintenance/diagnostic info you could ever want.

The M-11 doesn't seem to be all that complicated of a gun to disassemble and reassemble, but the first time through I really took my time, checking for any damage and carefully labelling the parts for easy reassembly. The next time around it shouldn't take nearly that much time. Exploring another JMB design was a real treat!

Although everything seems to be in good working order, I'll be ordering all new springs and friction rings just to be on the safe side. Then, it's off to the range for some fun.

 

[RushCC]

Congratulations on the Model 11. I have my grandfather's, which was made in 1914 if I recall correctly, and it has never let any of us down. The action seems to have some sort of a recoil multiplication effect , but I understand the design is absurdly dependable for that reason. You could let it sit in a duck blind and rust and it would still go bang every time you pulled the trigger. Mine sits on the front row of the safe, loaded with buck. Let us know how you enjoy shooting yours.
Regards

 

[longboard]

Wow what a great shotgun!
Once I used my friends Sweet Sixteen [it was a 20 gage] on a Dove hunt in Arizona , and it was the most comfortable shotgun I have ever shot.
The one you have is beautiful.
Longboard:rock:

 

[Powderman]

Maybe someone here could help me out:

I have a Remington Model 11, and have two problems:

One, it is a single shot only; it will lock open after every shot.

Second, it has such a horrible trigger slap that my finger feels like it's bleeding after every shot. Any suggestions that can point me in the right direction for repair?

 

[guy sajer]

Nice one MEH92

I always liked these . The amount of skilled labor required to build them is tremendous .

I've owned several of the US military models over the years . Keep an eye on the forearm . They have a tendancy to crack at the receiver end . Probably from not being tightened completely or over being tightened . New springs and friction rings is a good idea . Also , they do kick like a mule

I don't have any good photos of mine . There are both U.S. WWII issue . Possibly defense plant security although mine came from the Ohio Air National Guard armory when they liquidated back in the 1980's . I picked up an M11 5 shot and Sportsman 3 shot . Both military marked .

 

[Dave Berryhill]

He he he. It looks like someone took their job too literally. The specs called for putting a "military finish" on the gun so that's exactly what they did!

 

[Powderman]

Update--fixed it!!!

After a bit of study, it finally dawned on me to check the magazine spring. In my study, I found that the shell feeding cycle is triggered by the action of the new shell hitting the elevator.

Thus, I procured a new 12 ga. Mossberg magazine spring, and stuffed it into the mag tube. I then took it to the range with some trap loads.

Two things happened:

One, the trigger slap was a lot less pronounced. I could definitely feel the reset, but it did not hurt anymore!

Second--Boy, does this shotgun cycle FAST!!!

Rapid firing 5 rounds was accomplished with no problems; I had those hulls stacked on each other right out of the ejection port!

I have decided that I LIKE this shotgun!

Next step: An extended mag tube; then, a muzzle brake, and finally refinishing. :rock:

 

[Falboy]

Congrats on the best shot gun ever designed. You can use a mag ext. made for a Rem. 870 as it's the same thread. You will need to make a small spacer to tighten to your handguard, one of those side sling things might do the trick? Check out the pic. of my Belgian Browning from 1932, just the way I picked it up from the pawn shop, ext. and all. God I love that thing, no safe queen either. Supposedly there was a version of the 11 that had a heatsheild and bayonet lug, never seen a pic. but would sure like to. And yes, they do cycle fast, and yes recoil is mean....kick me again, you b!*&, I say every time I shoot it!!! And no, I'll never part with it.

 

[Mossyrock]

How about a close up of the extended magazine and spacer? I have the M-11 and the extended magazine (not installed yet), but I was considering shortening the mag tube to make the extension fit. How many shots does yours hold, and how long is the barrel?

 

[BillD]

I have one with an 870 3 shot extended tube on it and a 19" barrel. I would go with a 20" barrel if using a 3 shot extended tube. Mine will hold 9 plus one of Wally world light field loads and 8 + 1 of slugs.
The extension sticks past the barrel about an inch.

 

[Powderman]

kick me again, you b!*&

Oh, yeah....come to DADDY!!!:biglaugh:

This is one sweet shotgun, that's for sure. I was thinking about putting some black furniture on it, but the wood's actually in pretty good shape.

The finish is almost completely worn off on it, so I believe that after I get it tweaked to where it's just right, I'll put a high polish blue on it. That should do the trick!!

I haven't decided whether to port it, or actually mount a compensator/brake; it looks like someone did a good job at cutting off the barrel, as I don't think there's any choke in the barrel.

Perhaps the installation of provisions for interchangeable choke tubes and some porting will help. Any suggestions?

 

[BillD]

Recoil

I always thought it recoiled rather lightly even with standard recoil slugs and buck. I guess it is all different to each person.

 

[MEH92]

Call Briley about installing chokes. They will install their thin-walled settup and include three different stainless choke tubes for $179, plus shipping. I am probably going to have them do my Franchi 48.

http://www.briley.com/

FWIW, my Franchi (an A-5 clone) recoils substantially less than my 870, using a similar shoulder-mount technique. The benefit of a non semi-auto is that you can use the push-pull technique to mitigate recoil. I haven't tried that with my Model 11 or Franchi 48, but it could cause cycling issues. I guess that will give me an excuse to go to the rance with my SG's and play around a bit!

 

[sawyer]

I have several auto 5s and my brother has a three shot 11. if its hitting you really hard you need to change your recoil arrangement. If it works with light loads and hammers you with heavy loads then its set up for light loads. to go to the heavy load setup, take the barrel and forearm off, move the thin ring to the top of the recoil spring with the bevel toward that big bronze bushing. that puts the breaks on the barrel so it wont slam back in to the reciever and you. A thin coat of oil on all of it helps keep it running. with a little practice you can bump fire it. its a hoot.

 

[Dave Berryhill]

Yes, Sawyer is correct. There are several different ways to install the rings in order to tune the recoil to match the load. Here is info from Browning's website:
http://www.browning.com/faq/detail.asp?ID=105

 

[Powderman]

with a little practice you can bump fire it. its a hoot.

Already did. :rock:

Can you say YEE-HAAAAAAAH!!!!!!

 

[MEH92]

Bump-Firing a model 11

Any techniques I should employ for this? I'd like to give it a try just for the heck of it.