How to shoot steel through 70's Remington 1100

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  • soco

    Active Member
    May 21, 2012
    182
    All:

    I recently came into possession of a 1970's model 1100 from my late father in law. It is a really pretty gun, in excellent shape. He always told me it was his "go to" goose gun. However, I can only assume that was back before the steel mandates for migratory bird hunting. I have to be honest, it was really gross inside when I broke it all down so I spent a few hours cleaning it up and replaced the O-ring. The barrel has a date stamp of DX which seems to correlate to 1973, and that tracks with the gun's appearance.

    The gun has a 30" barrel with a fixed full choke. We generally hunt with 3" steel BB shot. I read online horror stories of people saying you absolutely cannot shoot steel shot through the older barrels, and when you do you have to run at most modified, if you shoot steel through a full you will destroy the barrel etc. I am usually skeptical of "fudd lore" (things everyone repeats ad nauseum but cannot explain other than to say 'my buddy heard it from his buddy' and such), so yesterday I shot 4 rounds of the aforementioned 3" steel BB through it. Ran without a hitch, barrel looked perfect afterwards.

    However, I would like to do some thinking on the subject to see if I really run any risks to the gun, or am going to suffer performance issues with poor patterning or the like.

    1) Is it actually risky to run 3" steel BB through a fixed full choke barrel from the 70s?

    2) If it is ok, will I suffer poor patterning or other issues trying to run those rounds through this gun?

    3) Is there any source of barrels for this gun that would be more appropriate for steel shot, or with removable chokes (checked Ebay, didn't see anything impressive)

    4) If the barrel steel is fine and I just need to open up the choke, is there any gunsmiths anyone recommends that might be able to shorten it a few inches and thread it for removable chokes?

    Thanks, I would really like to use the gun for her intended purpose and carry on the father in law's legacy as a hunter, I could always go back to my trusty 870 but that just doesn't seem as fun!

    Pictures, because what good is a thread without them. Oh and the bluing is perfect, it just looks a little wonky because I put a thick coat of renaissance wax on it and didn't buff it out perfectly. I like to keep all my field guns heavily waxed in case I get caught up in crappy weather.

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    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    Someone just let me know about a new Browning A5 with a bulged barrel just before the choke tube that happened yesterday. Just before I sat down and read this. A little while ago as a matter of fact.
    Ive seen it before on Browning Sg's with both fixed chokes and screw in tubes. On a Benelli with screw in tubes and turkey loads once before too.
    In two cases aftermarket choke tubes were involved. The one from yesterday and the Benelli.
    I always found patterning was better with steel reducing constriction not conversely.
    Sometimes a bulge is very slight and even concentric to the point where you can hardly tell by eye.
    Cracked ribs, scored barrel walls sometimes rib separated at muzzle or loss of bead unexpectedly could be tell tale indicators.
    Ill see if I can get a picture and should have got it when they guy told me about it.
    3 shells of one variety and a visual is not a very good test for longevity. But then again I know some old time gunners (FUdds) who run fixed chokes and never reported a problem so you may be gtg. They dont worry about none of that stuff.
    Gary White would have been the man to talk to but he just retired and closed his shop up about a year ago.
     

    Batt816

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 1, 2018
    4,087
    Eastern Shore
    I have never had an issue shooting steel through an almost identical gun, I believe it’s either a ‘73 or ‘74, Remington 1100 3” magnum w/ 30” barrel, full. Shot lots of boxes of steel through it over the years.
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,884
    Well , there you have both sides of the question ! And to a degree . both sides are right .

    Yes , lots of ( early '70s and older fixed choke guns ) have had major problems .

    And also true , many people have used Steel , with no problems . At least ones blatantly obvious to them
    Yet .

    And , as rule of thumb , lead era Full Choke is overchoked for steel , with poor patterns .

    Best practices :

    1. Shoot Bismuth or other soft non- toxic thru original bbl .

    2. Get an additional late model used bbl for it .

    Economically , do your personal calculus on price of Bismuth vs generic box store Steel , and your annual round count .
     

    Cochise

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 5, 2008
    1,383
    Rockville
    I would shoot bismuth unless you shoot a bunch of rounds a year hunting, in that case a steel shot barrel is available for under 300 last time I looked
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member

    Pretty much just the same as I posted earlier. You see enough guns you'll see them with bulged/ringed barrels.
    Ammo boxes all loaded down with varying types/manufacturers of steel shot and every one grabbing/gobbling from them at the same time can be like a box of chocolates.
    Choose wisely when they keep tolling in. Hopefully you dont unexpectedly find your sweetheart or have to walk out for another gun.
     

    duckslayer

    Active Member
    Feb 3, 2009
    554
    southern dorchester county
    You have actually reduced your full to a modified now. Maybe not with three shells but it’s possible. Lead shot actually is compressible and acts like a fluid through the choke. Steel is not it acts as a swage. I actually see problems with modern barrels with patternmaster chokes due to this. I have a friend who worked at Remington for years and I will ask him about that years barrrls and steel but I know what he’s going to say. Also you will typically get the best results with steel around IC or modified
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,884
    Back in the day , with old school steel shot , the commonly bandied rule of thumb was that modified gave steel patterns similar to lead from a full , IC gave modified patterns , etc . A rule of thumb , individual guns and specific lots of ammo varied .

    Of course the modern high tech non- toxics are all their own beasts
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    So, edumacate me here.
    So a fixed barrel (like my C&R Browning A5) should not be used with steel shot? I have not shot steel but did think of it as a backup.
    I also have a single barrel Webley that I believe is 1980's vintage with what I estimate is a Modified fixed choke.

    Is it ALL fixed choke barrels or all before a general date (as a rule of thumb)
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,667
    Not Far Enough from the City
    So, edumacate me here.
    So a fixed barrel (like my C&R Browning A5) should not be used with steel shot? I have not shot steel but did think of it as a backup.
    I also have a single barrel Webley that I believe is 1980's vintage with what I estimate is a Modified fixed choke.

    Is it ALL fixed choke barrels or all before a general date (as a rule of thumb)

    Nope.

    Here's Browning's answer.
    https://www.browning.com/support/faq/shoot-steel-shot.html
     

    soco

    Active Member
    May 21, 2012
    182
    Thank you all for the replies, this has been helpful. It seems that by shooting my fixed full choke I am at best patterning super tight and possibly unevenly, and at worst asking for trouble. So, I think I will retire the 30" full barrel for now. There isn't any point doing myself a disservice and risking it.

    I will look for a barrel somewhere between modified and improved cylinder. It would be nice to get one that is already threaded for chokes. I like the 30", and would prefer to stick with either that or a 28", as I have long arms and it just feels good. I am open to shipping it to briley and having them thread it, but it feels like a crime to take a 50 year old barrel that is perfect and ship it out to be cut up. I respect old firearms for what they are and would really like to keep it as stock as possible while enjoying it (put the original barrel into storage to keep an original configuration and get something else to use in the field).

    Unfortunately, there aren't a ton of options out there in 3" chambers. I seem to be restricted to gunbroker and ebay, and my current research shows only one 3" barrel already threaded for chokes starting close to $600. So I have to decide if I want to buy an expensive pre-threaded barrel, another nice original and send it out for threading, or thread mine. I suppose I am not in a rush since the season is only 3 more weeks and I doubt I would get anything that quickly, so I can take a year to figure it out.

    Figures that governmental regulations would be the source of a bunch of problems...
     

    mikem623

    Active Member
    Jan 8, 2016
    109
    Carney
    Have the same model. Used it for waterfowl for 15 years with steel shoot. Used everything from #4 to T shot. Hundreds of rounds. Shotgun shoots as tight now as it did when it was new.
     

    duckslayer

    Active Member
    Feb 3, 2009
    554
    southern dorchester county
    So, edumacate me here.
    So a fixed barrel (like my C&R Browning A5) should not be used with steel shot? I have not shot steel but did think of it as a backup.
    I also have a single barrel Webley that I believe is 1980's vintage with what I estimate is a Modified fixed choke.

    Is it ALL fixed choke barrels or all before a general date (as a rule of thumb)

    Do not shoot anything but appropriate lead shells through your A5! It will not end well I saw a beautiful Vintage one actually separate ,the barrel went right out of the blind and into the water.
    I had been predicting this for years and it finally happened.
     

    Cochise

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 5, 2008
    1,383
    Rockville
    to complicate things, you need a steel shot barrel.
    The 3" vintage magnum barrel you have might or might not function with steel as the pressures are different and the old magnum barrels had ( I dont remember which) either a 2nd hole or a larger diameter hole for the gas.
    A regular vintage barrel wont have a 3" chamber.
    A steel shot barrel allows you to shoot 3" steel on a 2 3/4 or magnum gun and is threaded for choke tubes.
    No idea how hard they are to find now with Remington being xxx number of companies and trying to figure out how to be profitable.

    I would just shoot Bismuth, its better ammo as well
    By the way, really nice gun. I love 1100's and 1187's.
     

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