11-87 problem...need advice

BradB41

BradB41

New member
So I take my daughter out to whack some crows last weekend after I got in from coyote hunting. I called in a few crows, but my 11-87 wouldn't eject the 2.75 inch shells. This isn't the first time this has happened. I bought some #4 buck in 2.75 once and had problems with it as well.

The gun is a SP Turkey 11-87. I like the gun, but I wish it would eject the shells. Any quick fix items to consider before taking it in?
 
This is a 3" gun, right?

My experience has been that it takes a 3 dram load for the action to work properly. If you're shooting the bargain shells that Winchester, Remington and Federal sell in cartons of 100 that could be your problem. 2 3/4 dram loads don't cut it.

Or......you need to make sure the piston is totally free of oil. I'm talking about the mechanism inside the forearm. Gas goes into it from two small ports and the pressure works the action. Powder residue and soot also goes in there and will mix with the oil causing it to gum up and hinder the operation of the mechanism. It's okay to put oil on it for storing the gun but it needs to be free of oil when you're using it. Gas operated auto's need to be kept clean to function properly.
 
In all seriousness. I don't know much about the 11-87, but Mossberg semis can be finicky also. The bargain walmart loads don't cycle well especially when the gun isn't even designed to shoot 2.75" loads. I don't know if that's true for 11-87, but often people come on the forum and complain about there gun not cycling a shell it isn't even designed to cycle. Manual check Also as mentioned cleaning. My semi auto has shot a years worth of coyote hunting and endured a lot of desert dust before it started to fail. After good cleaning I was back in action.
 
My 11-87 Premier LC would handle everything from the lightest trap loads to heavy magnum 3" loads. My guess is that the gun needs cleaned or it needs the orings replaced. Either is a pretty simple fix.
 
I have a 11-87 Premier LC also and it will shoot'em all too. My wife has a 11-87 T and it will not cycle light stuff.
These 2 shotguns are not set up the same. A 11-87 T is set up for heavy stuff. There is no problem with it. You need to shoot a least a heavy 2.75" load like a Rem express. OR get another gun for the lite stuff.
 
Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeI have a 11-87 Premier LC also and it will shoot'em all too. My wife has a 11-87 T and it will not cycle light stuff.
These 2 shotguns are not set up the same. A 11-87 T is set up for heavy stuff. There is no problem with it. You need to shoot a least a heavy 2.75" load like a Rem express. OR get another gun for the lite stuff.

I did not know that. My guess is the gas ports must be different size.
 
Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeI have a 11-87 Premier LC also and it will shoot'em all too. My wife has a 11-87 T and it will not cycle light stuff.
These 2 shotguns are not set up the same. A 11-87 T is set up for heavy stuff. There is no problem with it. You need to shoot a least a heavy 2.75" load like a Rem express. OR get another gun for the lite stuff.

Thanks for the input guys.
 
my first checkpoint would be the orings......then move in to check the loads. the correct oring needs to be in there, no exceptions and no goin to the hardware store to find something similar.
 
I had the 11-87 turkey gun with the 21" barrel both a friend, and mine would not eject light skeet or dove loads. We very slightly opened the gas ports in the barrel and never had another problem. I believe the longer barrels have a longer time for the gas to cycle the action. And I also continued to shoot the 3" turkey loads with no problems. But like others have said check the o-ring and steel rings to make sure there is no problem there.
 
Many of the first 1187 were made for magnum waterfowl and turkey loads and thus had a magnum piston in them. After many fights with mine I called remington and they were having trouble all across the board with the light loads in the 3 inch guns and were sellin light load capable pistons pretty reasonable. This was 6 years ago so Idk if yours was during this time or not but if you have a chance to borrow the piston from a lightweight 1100 and try it in your gun that will narrow down the problem.
 
Originally Posted By: viperI had the 11-87 turkey gun with the 21" barrel both a friend, and mine would not eject light skeet or dove loads.

My camo 1187 came with a 28" barrel, and I later purchased a camo 21" barrel for turkey/preds. The 21" Rem barrel clearly states on the side of the barrel "2 3/4 or 3" - Not Intended For Light Loads". So, of course, I had to try it. It would cycle some, but not all. Most ended up stove piping.
 
I had the 11-87 Turkey in the 3 1/2" Super Mag, it never did cycle reliably, if I changed the O ring it would work for that trip but not the next, I sold it and have a Benelli now and can't say I miss the Remmie!
 
Originally Posted By: UtahdoggerI had the 11-87 Turkey in the 3 1/2" Super Mag, it never did cycle reliably, if I changed the O ring it would work for that trip but not the next, I sold it and have a Benelli now and can't say I miss the Remmie!

I had a Super Mag with a 28" barrel once too. I broke the feed latch in less than a 1/2 case of ammo. Got a new part and it still would not feed all the time. It was the biggest POS Remmy I've ever owned. The best cure for it was a SBE2.
 
Originally Posted By: lanoleOriginally Posted By: viperI had the 11-87 turkey gun with the 21" barrel both a friend, and mine would not eject light skeet or dove loads.

My camo 1187 came with a 28" barrel, and I later purchased a camo 21" barrel for turkey/preds. The 21" Rem barrel clearly states on the side of the barrel "2 3/4 or 3" - Not Intended For Light Loads". So, of course, I had to try it. It would cycle some, but not all. Most ended up stove piping.

Yep , their made that way .
It's not an o-ring problem.
 
It's amazing that a $700 shotgun won't cycle everything that is fed through it. I have had two beretta xtremas and both cycle The lightest loads...
 
Maybe stating the obvious..but check to see that the parts are in correctly. Piston halves, O rings and the spring band that goes over the barrel flange's ports.

Back in the early 90's 1187's had a lot of quality issues.

Is your gun from that era?

If the gun worked OK before it should work OK now, problems of those guns were noticed right off.

I've seen plenty of Mossberg Browning and Beretta autos have issues, so aint gonna play the "my brand is better than your brand" game.

Most problems are simple, either maintenance issues (too oily and/or dirty), incorrect assembly, or on the more rare occasion, a parts breakage.

Even the latter is usually a quick fix.
 
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