11-87 Breaking In**UPDATE III: Now Working w/Win. AA**

**SHIVAN** · 02-11-08, 14:53

The O-ring in my 11-87 "bedside" gun, crumbled when I disassembled it the 1st time. I have several on hand at any given time.

Worth a check, for sure.

**carshooter** · 02-11-08, 16:06

O-rings in 11-87's and 1100's are definately a high wear items, but honestly, in my experience I've seen more lost, torn or damaged than I have just "worn out" or degraded from age. Some solvents seem to eat them.

I keep a bunch of spares on hand, too.

**m700m** · 02-11-08, 16:15

i also have an 11-87p, i bought it new two years ago. and have never fired it. is there anything maintenance wise that i should do before i take it to the range? also since it is the ''p'' model, full power loads are what the gun is set up for, right/wrong? thanks. Don........

**DrMark** · 02-11-08, 16:18

My 11-87 was worked well out of the box with loads as light as 1 oz.

However, it is a model with a 26" vent rib Rem-choke barrel.

It's my understanding (someone with more knowledge please chime in) that the short varrels (deer or defense barrels) have larger gas port optimized for heavy loads, and won't be as reliable with light field loads.

**m700m** · 02-11-08, 16:33

thanks DrMark, i always user 7/8 ''3 sluggers, ''ouch'', i bought 8 cases for a good price sometime back, so i hope luck is with me and i picked an 11-87p assembled on a good day. D..........

**Cold Zero** · 02-11-08, 17:48

I bought an 11-87 for my first trip to Alaska many years ago. I bought it shortly before leaving and had few rounds thru it, with no problems.

When I go there and it was time to duck hunt, I would get light primer strikes on the 3" Magnum #2 steel shot shells. Everyone in camp took it apart and no one could get it to work.

I ended up having to use a Sears semi auto shotgun that would not cycle and we had to lube it with outboard motor (2 cycle?) oil. Did some nice duck hunting despite the gun issues. Lesson learned was never take a non broken in gun on an expensive trip.

Now over ten years later, I have never had another problem with that gun even with light #8 trap and skeet loads. I took it back to the store when I returned, they would not tell me what they did to it and only said it was fixed.I still don't know what the problem was to this day. I have heard of other guys who had the same light primer strike problem.

I keep extra O rings on hand these days. Good luck with your gun.

**UVvis** · 02-11-08, 19:13

My 11-87 needs a healthy does of oil to run well with lighter loads. If it is dry it doesn't work well.

**IrishDevil** · 02-11-08, 21:15

It's been my experience 200 rounds is to be considered a minimum break in on 11-87's. This is especially true with 11-87 Special Purpose(3.5") guns, when trying to use light loads. I duck hunt alot, and have seen almost every brand of semi-auto shotgun choke. In my experience, the 1100/1187 is a reliable shotgun once broken in. Overall, I think the 1100 is a better gun for lighter loads, IMO and experience. Also, pumps may be a more reliable action, but I've seen many a short stroke once people get excited.

**blackscot** · 02-12-08, 06:45

Welp, I got a few replacementment O-rings, but still no-go with the #7.5 1-1/8 oz. loads. Also tried the doubled-up O-rings config, which did increase pressure enough to move the bolt partway back, but not enough to eject the spent shell and feed the next.

The guy I bought the gun from said "a couple more boxes" of heavy loads were needed. So along with the O-rings, I also picked up 60 rounds of turkey loads, which will get me through the next 3-gun match at the end of the month (if the shoulder holds up!

). I'll then see if the gun has loosened up any.

The idea behind getting a gas-op though, was to lessen the abuse the pump was giving me. That logic doesn't really hold if the SA will only eat buckshot, slugs, and turkey loads. I'm not really keen on the propsect of having to digest 200-500 rounds of heavy stuff before the gun might handle something lighter.

Originally Posted by DrMark

My 11-87 was worked well out of the box with loads as light as 1 oz.

However, it is a model with a 26" vent rib Rem-choke barrel.

It's my understanding (someone with more knowledge please chime in) that the short varrels (deer or defense barrels) have larger gas port optimized for heavy loads, and won't be as reliable with light field loads.

I failed to include earlier that this is a 21-inch rifle-sighted rem-choke (interchangeable) barrel. Someone mentioned to me awhile back that I might want a longer barrel for competition. Not having an experienced perspective, it didn't occur to me to ask if that had anything to do with gas impulse and cycling. Oh well -- this is how we learn. So another possible option would be a barrel switch-out.

Or -- I could just return to the 870 and have the muzzle threaded to accept interchangeable chokes and get the tighter patterning I need. I'd heard of someone local who could do that for ~$100. I know the pump will feed everything. One thing for-sure: it's not getting sold until when/if the SA situation gets resolved.

Thanks for all the interest and replies folks. I may update here later if there's anything to report.

**Cold Zero** · 02-12-08, 06:53

My 11-87 is a 28" barrel length, sorry for leaving that out.

Blackscot, good luck gettting it all sorted out. When you do, it will run problem free , as mine now does.