Help me learn about my Remington Model 11, please.

[stubbyone50]

Last weekend I purchased a nice Model 11 at a local gun show. I was looking for one along with some other guns I plan to aquire. My question is why do some Model 11 Remingtons have the duck and pheasant engravings on them and others don't? The one I bought doesn't. According to the barrel code RW and the serial #342xxx I believe it was made in 1928. I looked up the serial # on the Remington Society website and it says Oct,1928. It has a 30" solid rib mod. barrel , safety behind trigger, and the serial # is on the left side of receiver, under "Remington" and "MODEL 11". The receiver has no numbers on the underside and is not stamped Model 11 on the bolt. It is not a "Sportsman". It has a checkered stock and fore end. I've looked all over the web and it seems some Model 11s made before mine and some made after have the duck/pheasant engraving, so it doesn't seem to be a specific year/years thing.
My gun is in very good condition, leading me to wonder if it has been re-blued. The wood is in great shape and fits the receiver perfectly, leading me to believe it wasn't redone (shows age, but no sanding marks/ bad fit ) and the checkering is crisp and not filled in with a new finish.
Any information I can get on this beautiful gun would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Dave McC]

A fine shotgun of classic design, excellent make and suitable even today for a variety of uses.

I had one, a family gun since passed on to a family member. First season, he took an eight point that was his biggest and his first goose.

A couple points....

Most A5 parts do not interchange. The friction pieces and most springs do. A new set will set you back less than $30.

11s have a fiber buffer in the receiver, and may be needing replacement after a mere 80 years or so. Have a competent smith install a new one with the above A5 parts and keep the old ones as spares.

Speaking of smiths, JMB designs like the 11 are not user friendly inside. Let yours do a deep clean and lube while he's in there. He can also make usre the chamber length is suited to modern 2 3/4" ammo.

As for what to do with it.....

Go shoot it, lots. I'd skip non toxics like steel. I'd also skip "Short Magnums" like 1 1/2 oz shoulder crackers and superlight loads.

Learn how to set up the rings,etc for a given load and go have fun.

Dunno why some have the engraving, chances are Remington doesn't either.

Fuggedaboudit. Just shoot the thing.....

 

[stubbyone50]

Oh, you bet I'm gonna shoot her.

Yeah, I've read all about the Browning differences, and what not to shoot thru it, etc. I was wondering more about the history and differences within the Model 11. I could care less about the Auto 5. My dad and I looked it over pretty good (not a total field strip) and then went out and shot it. He worked at Remington in Ilion, NY for 38 years, and he thinks it hasn't been shot much. It functioned flawlessly on the birdshot we ran thru it, so he said there's no sense totally disassembling it yet. It's so clean he figures either it hasn't seen much use or somebody went totally thru it before I bought it.
What has me puzzled is the disparity in prices among all the Model 11's I've seen. There were a couple dozen at the show where I got this one, and the prices ranged from $395 up to $775. None were heavily engraved and most were made after mine and in worse condition. Most had the duck/pheasant engraving though. Is that more desirable? Most on the web for sale are in the $500 range as well. How do you tell if a Model 11 is an A or B or C etc. grade? Are they stamped with the grade or do you have to figure it out?

 

[Salmoneye]

Nothing about that scratched pheasant 'engraving' is desirable to me...It was simply a marketing gimmic, and may have been only on the 3 shot 'Sportsman' model, but I have never cared for it, so never paid attention to it to log it in my memory banks...

 

[jemsj4]

I have an old Remington Model 11 in 12 ga. I bought it from the original owner, who said it worked great. I learned quick you can't use the Winchester white box "high speed" from Walmart. It locked the gun up. I had to place the operating handle against a table to force it open. I took it to a gunsmith who's first question was, "Did you use the crappy Winchester white box from Walmart?" He told me to try another brand before he looked at it. He was right! So far, that's the only ammo I've had problems with.

 

[603Country]

I have a Model 11 that I bought back in the 80's, when my 1100 finally wore out. I was hosting/guiding hunts back then and a couple of guys were using Browning A5's. My 1100, back when it worked, would get really carboned and grimed up after a long day of shooting and needed a lot of cleaning. The A5 guys just wiped down the outside of their shotguns and went for beer. That made me inquire as to "what...you don't clean those things". He showed me that it wasn't even dirty. Well Heck..I had to have one of those, and found one at a pawn shop. Like the OP's it had a solid rib and a 30 inch full choke barrel. I took it to Briley's in Houston and had em cut it to 27 inches and put the Briley screw in choke in it. I picked it up from Briley on Friday and won a trap shoot with it on Saturday. It wasn't pretty when I bought it, so I had it polished and reblued. A great old gun. And I got so excited about that type action that I went and got a brand new A5. After a short while I sold the A5, since I had that great shooting Model 11 and didn't need the A5. Shoot it. Enjoy it.