Remington 1100

Published · Researched 2026-09-21

Remington 1100 — Deep-Research Dossier (Guns, Shotguns Batch 4)

Research date: 2026-09-21 (PDT). Sources dated as observed; all claims attributed.

Overview

• Maker: Remington Arms (1963–2020); post-bankruptcy manufacturer RemArms LLC (Ilion, NY, later LaGrange, GA).
• Purpose: The classic American gas-operated semi-auto — introduced 1963 as successor to the Model 58/878, designed by Wayne Leek and Robert Kelley; became the best-selling autoloading shotgun in U.S. history (over 4 million built). Trap/skeet/clay default for decades; duck gun; the "grandfather's gun that's still running" story.
• Current 2026 version/variants: RemArms lists the Model 1100 as currently in production (remarms.com firearm-history page, "Year Discontinued: Currently in production," crawled 2026-09-22). New RemArms 1100 Sporting seen in the wild ~2023 at ~$1,199 + tax (theoutdoorstrader.com owner thread). SKUs reported for 12ga, 20ga, .410 (mdshooters.com, 2023); no 28ga SKU listed per that owner report (UNVERIFIED beyond the thread). The deep-pass focus is the legacy gun + used market, with the RemArms revival noted honestly.

Social standing

Platform pulse: The 1100 conversation is overwhelmingly the used-market classic lane: love for the soft-shooting gas action, affection for the O-ring ritual, and anxiety about Remington's corporate death vs. the RemArms revival.

Group consensus:

• The gas system shoots soft and runs for decades if maintained. thehighroad.org lists "Remington 1100" among the minimum reliable competition guns for entry-level shooting. A GON Forum owner: "I put over 25,000 shells thru my 1100 and the only problem that I ever incurred was the O-ring drying out and starting to crack. A new 50 cent O-ring fixed that issue and the gun is still going strong!" Multiple owners report 40+ year-old guns in regular use (GON Forum; Canadian Gun Nutz).
• The O-ring is the known weakness and the lore. The High Road O-ring thread: "If the rubber O-ring is missing or in poor shape it becomes a jamb-o-matic and not fun to shoot" (Canadian Gun Nutz). Community folk knowledge: Viton #21 (12ga) / #19 (20ga) replacements from hardware/industrial suppliers (McMaster-Carr, Grainger, auto parts), ~$0.20–0.50 each; petroleum oil destroys rubber rings — run dry or use silicone (longrangehunting.com). Owners keep spares on hand as routine.
• Maintenance needs are higher than modern gas guns. Long Range Hunting owner: trap gun "cleaned after every shoot… except for a broken extractor" over 5,000 rounds. Gas ports must be kept clean (The Firing Line thread). This is the honest tradeoff vs. the A400/SX4.

Viral moments: None identified — the 1100's signal is deep forum archive, not social virality.

Praise (attributed):

• "I'd like to have a nickle for every duck that has been killed with a Rem. 1100" — GON Forum (owner thread).
• "Heavy and soft shooting. Nice guns if they fit ya. And you dont mind cleaning em once in a while. … Reliability issues......never seen em." — indianagunowners.com, "Remington 1100 shotgun comings back" thread (2021), summarizing the old-gun verdict.
• "My 1963 Model 1100… still shoots perfectly." — GON Forum (owner of a first-year gun).

Complaints (attributed):

• Legacy parts anxiety. Canadian Gun Nutz "Remington parts" thread: "some Remington spare parts are hard to find"; one member notes the Florida Gunrepaircenter holds Remington-contract parts but can't ship to Canada; another reports Gravel Agency (Canada warranty center) "no longer sells Remington parts to individuals." mdshooters.com (2023): a member admitted he was wrong doubting RemArms would make 1100 parts — new 1100 Sporting SKUs appeared — but the anxiety predates and surrounds the revival.
• RemArms quality skepticism. theoutdoorstrader.com (2023): "I honestly did not even know they were in production again… I was in there to pick up a transfer and one of the guys mentioned they had one in the back… they are pricey! 1199 plus tax." indianagunowners.com: "It doesn't matter what they make, it matters how they make it. Remington has destroyed their credibility when it comes to how they make guns."
• Used-market buying requires O-ring/piston inspection. Alaska Outdoors thread: grandson's youth 1100 wouldn't cycle after an eBay O-ring replacement — fixed after Remington sent a proper O-ring (older thread; "Remington" here = pre-bankruptcy company).

Failure modes: cycling failures from missing/damaged O-rings (multiple threads); carbon-seized pistons from missing seals; gas-port fouling; one broken extractor (5k-round trap gun). No community-reported safety incidents (no injuries, no recalls) surfaced this pass.

Verified quotes:

• "The o-rings are the one weakness, most 1100 owners keep a couple on hand. If kept clean, with good o-rings, the 1100 can be quite reliable." — Canadian Gun Nutz (member 45CAT).
• "keep the O-ring in good condition and it will work as well as any made" — GON Forum (owner, on duck hunting with the 1100).
• "A new 50 cent O-ring fixed that issue and the gun is still going strong!" — GON Forum (25,000-round owner).

Social validation

• Tier 1. Decades-deep multi-forum owner consensus (The High Road, The Firing Line, GON Forum, Long Range Hunting, Canadian Gun Nutz, Alaska Outdoors) converges on the same mechanics: soft-shooting gas action, O-ring maintenance ritual, heirloom durability. The RemArms revival is Tier 2 (confirmed in production on remarms.com; street-level quality verdicts still thin).
• What each proves: the O-ring lore is owner-generated engineering folk knowledge, not reviewer invention; the "still running at 40+ years" reports are first-person; parts anxiety is documented in-thread, not assumed.

Specs table (Model 1100 Field, 12ga — legacy)

Pricing

• MSRP (new RemArms 1100): UNVERIFIED — RemArms MSRP not captured this pass.
• Street price (new): ~$1,199 + tax observed at a Georgia dealer, theoutdoorstrader.com, ~2023 (owner report, not a listing). Treat as a single dated observation, not a current street figure — UNVERIFIED as of Sep 2026.
• Used range: UNVERIFIED — no completed-listing sweep run this pass; community consensus is that used 1100s trade steadily (GON/indianagunowners discussion), but no observed figures. Do not cite a range.
• All prices in USD.

What's included / what else is needed

Legacy used guns: gun only, condition-dependent; new RemArms 1100 Sporting includes chokes per the mdshooters in-hand report (details UNVERIFIED). What else is needed: a spare O-ring kit (Viton #21 for 12ga, community standard), Rem Choke tubes for the barrel you own, and cleaning supplies for the gas system — owners clean after every shoot.

Support reality

• Warranty (RemArms): UNVERIFIED — RemArms warranty terms not captured this pass.
• Parts/service: the decisive lane. OEM parts flow through RemArms; legacy small parts are widely available third-party (Midwest Gun Works stocks 1100 carriers $24.94 in stock; GunPartsCorp lists factory-original action bars; Brownells/Midway O-rings; GunBroker: 488 "Remington 1100 Parts" items at crawl, Sep 2026). Community-reported reality: "some Remington spare parts are hard to find" (Canadian Gun Nutz, 2024); certain supports (forend support) described as "unobtainium."
• Community-reported support reputation: cautious-to-skeptical toward RemArms ("destroyed their credibility when it comes to how they make guns" — indianagunowners.com); warm toward the gunsmith/aftermarket ecosystem that keeps old 1100s running.
• Bottom line for buyers: the gun is supported by its own aftermarket more than by any single company.

Community verdict

The 1100 is the soft-shooting American classic you buy used with confidence and keep running with fifty-cent O-rings. New RemArms guns exist but the community hasn't rendered its quality verdict yet — buy the legacy gun for the proven track record, or the new one knowing you're an early adopter. Budget for cleaning time, not parts money.

Safety: none community-reported beyond normal handling. Legality: standard long gun; laws vary by jurisdiction. Image set: pending download egress — locators banked (see provenance note below).