So, I recently bought a used 1100. Worked great for the first 50 rounds or so. Next trip out to the range, first 5 rounds worked fine. 6th round. Click.. No bang. WTF.. eject round.. cycle next round.. click.. no bang. repeat again.. same thing. One of the guys I was shooting with (I think it was Ken) suggested trying a different brand of ammo.. but same problem. All the shells that didn't fire had very light primer hits.

 

Now... here is the REALLY weird part. If I shoulder the gun, I get the click - no bang. If I bring the gun down to waist level, the gun fires. WTF??

 

I took the whole thing apart last weekend, and cleaned the sh*t out of it. Used a lot of gunscrubber on the bolt and the trigger assembly. Took it out to the range today, but exact same problem.

 

I want to say the problem is the firing pin.. or maybe the firing pin spring. But.. that's just a guess. Anyone have any ideas?

without being ANYTHING close to an expert on anything.. I think your logic is %100 solid..

 

All the shells that didn't fire had very light primer hits.

 

I want to say the problem is the firing pin.. or maybe the firing pin spring. But.. that's just a guess. Anyone have any ideas?

 

when you hold it low.. how dramatically different of an angle are you holding it at? what are you shooting at? up high or low?

Yeah.. logically.. all signs point to the firing pin, or something associated with it. It's just the "waist firing" that's really throwing me.. I can't for the life of me think of reason why it would fire from that position but not from the shoulder.

when you hold it low.. how dramatically different of an angle are you holding it at? what are you shooting at? up high or low?

Sorry - missed this part first time. I want to say the angle is pretty much the same as when the shotgun is shouldered. Probably angled a few degrees higher.. but I can't imagine it was that much higher. Interesting point tho - didn't occur to me that the barrel may have been pointed a little higher which could be causing the internals of the trigger group to be aligned slightly different... which makes me think it's more spring related. More stuff to think about

when you hold it low.. how dramatically different of an angle are you holding it at? what are you shooting at? up high or low?

Sorry - missed this part first time. I want to say the angle is pretty much the same as when the shotgun is shouldered. Probably angled a few degrees higher.. but I can't imagine it was that much higher. Interesting point tho - didn't occur to me that the barrel may have been pointed a little higher which could be causing the internals of the trigger group to be aligned slightly different... which makes me think it's more spring related. More stuff to think about

 

 

the next time you get a chance throw some shots through it and pay VERY close attention.. I mean it may be nothing.. but that is the ONLY thing I can think of that might be different..

Gunsmithing the 1100: The guns need to be kept clean to function properly. Trap shooter would purposely buy 3" guns & shoot 2 3/4" trap loads in them so that the guns would not eject the fired cases on the firing line so they could recover the fired cases for reloading. Many times IF the gun was recently cleaned it may occasionally eject even the fired trap load. But let it fire a box of ammo & then it would function (or function like they wanted) & not eject.

 

One thing to check if it malfunctions is to check the gas O-Ring seal. These need to be cleaned & or replaced if much gas is flowing by. At this time be sure that the piston & the piston seal are in the correct relationship, otherwise the barrel will not seat against the receiver properly & the gun will malfunction. So when you take it apart, be very observant & replace it the same as you took it apart. The older guns had a picture decal on the inside of the forearm showing the proper sequence of assembly. If you get in a bind & can not locate one of these O-Rings, go to a local automotive store & purchase a distributor shaft O-Ring for a older Dodge slant 6 engine.

 

For better service in wet weather, replace the gas piston & seal with the newer 11-87 stainless version.

 

The firing pin coil spring was replaced about midstream with one that looked like 2 it was 2 springs tied together that someone forgot to cut into. This was for a reason, in that the original one long coil had a tendency to break in the middle & then one tail would bind inside the other, possibly binding the firing pin from retracting. This new spring has better support.

At the time when steel shot came into use, Remington had a few barrels burst. They did some tests & discovered that the barrels at that time were roll marked with the name, model & caliber right over the front part of the chamber. This apparently set up some stress in that area. So, they moved this roll marking farther forward thereby eliminating this problem. Therefore the factory recommended that no steel shot be used in the older barrels with this rear roll-marking.

 

Also the guns may not eject reliably with steel shot even with the newer barrels, depending on the ammo make & load. If this is the case, then a gunsmith could open up the gas port hole a drill size, check fro function & do it again if needed.

 

On gas operated guns the gas port hole size is critical for the gauge and the shot load. Listed below are normal specifications.

 

http://www.wisnersinc.com/additional_in ... 8_1100.htm

Gonna have to rip it apart again and take a closer look at that spring

If you can't figure it out, try www.trapshooters.com. There's a bunch of shotgun guru's on that site.

Utoh..

 

Is that the one you got from me?

It is But no worries... It worked flawlessly at first, so I'm inclined to think it's just one of those random things that pop up with most guns eventually... 'cept Glocks.. they never have problems

It is But no worries... It worked flawlessly at first, so I'm inclined to think it's just one of those random things that pop up with most guns eventually... 'cept Glocks.. they never have problems

 

I didn't ever have any problems with it until it got dirty. She seemed to like to run wet.

Sadly, it's been cleaned better than any gun I've ever owned.. and still no love. On the plus side, I did learn that holding gun parts in your hand so you can spray them with gunscrubber is not the best idea in the world.. I also learned that either gunscrubber or hoppes #9 (or maybe both together) set off carbon monoxide detectors.

Also, is there a buildup of dirt and carbon under the extractor? It may cause the round to not fully seat against the bolt face.

No build up. The bolt and the internals were all thoroughly cleaned before I went out yesterday.

Well that was all I had, not even 2 cents worth.

It does sound like the bolt is not closed all the way..

they do like alot of oil. the firing pin channel may be dirty or dirt stuck in it. you can always remove the trigger group and see if the spring feels week.

Just a quick update - replaced the firing pin and firing pin spring a few weeks ago and finally had a chance to go out to the range today to do a function check. Only put about 10-15 rounds thru it, but it went bang every time I'm a happy camper again

My guess is it was the spring, since the firing pin looked fine when I swapped it.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Just a quick update - replaced the firing pin and firing pin spring a few weeks ago and finally had a chance to go out to the range today to do a function check. Only put about 10-15 rounds thru it, but it went bang every time I'm a happy camper again

My guess is it was the spring, since the firing pin looked fine when I swapped it.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

wooohoooooo!!

 

Very nice, how to get the wife back to the trap range Pete!

At least the mystery is solved.

 

How about that floating safety?

That seems good to go too - again, only put a couple handful of rounds thru it, but no issues. Had the range to myself, so basically just did 3-4 mag dumps on both shotguns and then packed everything up before the ROs came out to see who was making all the ruckus

Very nice, how to get the wife back to the trap range Pete!

Sadly - that 20g has made a her a little gun shy :doh: I'm gonna slap a limbsaver and a cheek pad on it and see if it's any better for her, but yeah, now she can finally try the 1100. She'll b*tch about the weight, but hopefully the light recoil will make it more fun for her.