Rem Model 11

Remington model 11

My gun like I said, has FN over the se# My barrel says right in the centre, FABRIQUE NATIONALE D,ARMES DE GUERRE HERSTAL-BELGIQUE On the side it says ** Acier Special-C,12 Cart 2 3/4 and a bunch of numbers and letters ahead of it, PV and some symbles are everywhere.

The forearm,barrel,bolt,backstock,receiver, even some screw heads, all have the same ser# no and the butt blate says Automatic Browning with FN in the centre,smooth on the back side, Serial no 2846xx
 
You know, I never thought about it before I read Scorch's post on this thread, but if Remington manufactured A-5's for Fabrique Nationale in the US for 12 or 13 years, do you believe they completely retooled a factory so they could manufacture two different guns based on exactly the same patent? -And that they did this during wartime, when labor and materials were in short supply? Anybody that believes they did, give me a dollar. They may have had to "tool up" to make a magazine cutoff, and they may have had to retool to manufacture a double claw extractor mechanism, but I seriously doubt if they tooled-up or retooled to make anything else.

My guess is that they started out with a supply of FN A-5 parts, not all of which were identical to Model 11 parts, but 13 years worth?? Not likely. I'll bet you that as soon as they ran out of FN parts they just started taking parts made in New York for Model 11 s, stamping them FN, and shipping them to St. Louis where they were assembled as Model 11 clones except for the addition of a mag cutoff and a double claw extractor; then finished them as A-5s.

This is all just pure speculation on my part of course, but I think its a reasonable speculation to make, and if that's really what they did, then I can see why Big Jim P may think of A-5's as "finiky" guns. I'll bet that sometime in, let's say the 1960's, Big Jim took his Remington-made A-5 (that was manufactured in let's say 1947) in for a minor repair, and somebody put a real Belgian A-5 part in it. Or maybe it was a pre-war A-5 that was manufactured in Belgium that he took in for repair, and somebody put a part in it that was actually manufactured to Remington Model 11 specs in the US sometime between 1940 and 1953.

My guess is that something like that could make a gun "finiky". And now that I think about it, it seems like its always an A-5 that somebody mentions they've had these problems with; rarely do you hear that about a bona fide Remington Model 11, which were mass produced in this country with about a million of them sold here. (I think there were far fewer A-5's sold in the US than Model 11's , but I could be wrong.)
 
Hey now .....I'm not as old as Zippy ...give me a break man ....I'm barely into my 60's ( I'm still just a pup ..) ....:rolleyes:

You guys might be right about this stuff ...but I just see a lot of Auto 5's at the gun clubs this time of year ( when the hunters come out to get some time in with their guns ) that have all kinds of cycling issues...or they won't shoot light target loads ( 1150 fps ) ...

I think in fairness, my impression of them being finnicky - is probably more related to general maintenance (cleaning and lubing) than parts issues ...or at least some of both ....

I do a little gunsmithing on the side / mostly for friends or friends of my sons - teaching them about their guns - how to clean them, etc ... The last one I did was for a friend - that had a broken part in his trigger group on a "well used" Beretta 390 semi-auto ....so we ordered the parts he said he needed from Brownells and he came over to my shop ...despite the fact that he says he cleans his gun ( he had only had the barrel off this thing about 3 times in 6 or 7 years .../ had never taken the trigger group out of the gun / had no idea how to drive the pin out of his receiver to remove the trigger group ... ). I thought he had taken it apart or to a gunsmith to find out the parts he needed ...but he just googled the symptoms online - and someone told him it was a spring in his trigger group - so that was what he ordered.

The bolt and the gas valve in this gun was so full of crud ...he took the parts home ( soaked them in kerosene for a couple of days ) before he brought them back to my shop so we could put the gun together again ....

Now this was a year ago ....and he shoots about 200 shells a month ...and he has not even taken the barrel off that gun since ( let alone unscrew the choke or anything else ). Despite his neglect - the Beretta 390 is pretty forgiving ...but if he had an Auto 5 ...or a Rem model 11 .... he'd have to have a "dead blow" hammer in his pocket -- to get it to chamber a round ....:rolleyes: --- it would be such a mess ...
 
BigJimP said:
I think in fairness, my impression of them being finnicky - is probably more related to general maintenance (cleaning and lubing) than parts issues ...or at least some of both ….
Click to expand...
And, like the problem with many Remington 1100 and 11-87 shooters: Having the rings set incorrectly. We set my buddy's Savage "Browning" to light and it happily digested 1-oz target loads.
 
Rem mod 11

I loaded up a 7/8oz 1350fps, set A5 on lite, fired, ejected, bolt locked back, so I fiquared they would work, never put none in mag, may not work then.
 
There is many model 11s and A5s that is older than anybody on this forum that is still going strong. If thats not reliable I would like to know what is. Yes, you might have to replace friction rings and recoil springs ever 30-70 years. If there is another auto shotgun that has stood the test of time like these two, I want one. I have also seen near mint A5s between $500-600. Imho you can not buy a better auto for that. Yes they will kick more than an 1100, and yes you will need the friction rings set right. Besides that, just shoot em. I wonder where the Berettas and Benellis will be 100 years from now. Im no expert though, but all of this is good enough for me lol. Also John Browning said the A5 was his best invention, do you know more than him lol? :D
 
I feel like the grandfather did in the movie Moonstruck when he said "I'm so confused".

Zippy 13 said:

Yes, Browning had their Auto-5s made by Remington, instead of FN, from WWII until the early 1950s. No, your war time Browning is not identical to the Remington Model 11: The Remington-produced Browning A-5s had magazine cutoffs - Remington M-11s didn't. Bear in mind that Remington changed over to their new auto, the Model 11-48, in 1948. Scorch's use of the term "rebranded" may be an over statement; but, it seems reasonable to assume that parts initially intended for Remington guns found their way to Brownings after 1947

Also, in you look up "Browning A-5" in Wikipedia, it lists three makers of the gun: Fabrique Nationale, Remington and BROWNING ARMS.

When the heck did BROWNING ARMS get into the act? I thought the A-5 was manufactured strictly by FN until 1940 and by Remington from 1940 to 1948 and by FN again starting some time later. Wasn't the name Browning just meant to denote that these guns were designed by John Moses Browning? I have read that FN did make 5000 guns that were purchased by JM Browning personally for sale in the US before the date in 1905 when Remington started US production of their Remington Autoloading Shotgun based on his patent. (In 1911, that Remington Autoloading Shotgun was renamed the Remington Model 11.)

But the the word "Browning as used above seems to imply that it was the Browning Company was that was producing or selling the A-5, and Wikipedia does indicate that the Browning Company did have something to do with the A-5.

What gives?
 
Last edited:
Also, in you look up "Browning A-5" in Wikipedia, it lists three makers of the gun: Fabrique Nationale, Remington and BROWNING ARMS.
Click to expand...

In the early 70's Browning switched production from FN in Belgium to Miroku in Japan.
 
misfiring?

I have a Remington model 11 12 gauge that fires when just closing the action. Is this a common problem? We have the stored the gun away for a while now due to the malfunctioning. It is quite dangerous! I know the gun has not been cleaned up much at all. Is tearing the thing apart and cleaning it up good the best idea or is something specifically wrong when a semi-auto does this?

Thanks!
 
Misfireing

I don,t know if there is a spring on the firing pin or not, if there is, it is broken or weak and the jolt from the bolt is causing the firing pin to go ahead and discharge the shell, my 48AL used to dimple the primer upon closing the bolt, put new firing pin spring on it ,fixed. hope this helps.
 
I just bought one myself it came with a full choke barrel and a 18in HD barrel. Shoots good, but it does kick more than my Beretta 391.

Where is the best place to download a owners manual for the 11??

DSC02966.jpg


DSC02965.jpg
 
Rem 11

Did you try Remington, they made them ,they should have a manual, worth a try. How can anything look any better than that. A5,s and Rem 11,s
 
Hey, Logs.

The web site below advertises a copy of a Remington Model 11 owners manual for $3.99. Just pull up the website and scroll down it until you find the shotgun manual section. Then just keep scrolling down through the alphabetical listings in the shotgun manual section until you come to Remington. The Remington Model 11 owners manual is the second of the several Remington shotgun manuals listed.

http://www.gungarage.com/gunmanuals.htm
 
Logs

Logs said:
Shoots good, but it does kick more than my Beretta 391.
Click to expand...
Duhh… Doesn't most anything kick more than your Beretta gasser? :rolleyes:

For a Model-11 manual, you didn't look hard enough at the Remington site. On the page for manuals, there's small print at the bottom linking to requests for obsolete gun manuals, click here.
 
I have a Remington model 11 12 gauge that fires when just closing the action.
Click to expand...
Good idea keeping it put away.

There is no firing pin spring in the Model 11/Auto-5, the locking bolt is supposed to retract the firing pin. Disassemble and inspect the bolt and firing pin.

Early Model 11s had a round firing pin, a modification called for a flat firing pin with ears that is retracted by the locking bolt camming out of the barrel extension. The modification/replacement part wasmade available way back when.

Later Model 11s had the flat firing pin, but the slot where the firing pin passes through can get wallowed out and fail to retract the firing pin. If yours has a flat pin, retire the gun, it's near impossible to fing a locking bolt for one.
I just went on google, and said A5 is pretty much same,few miner differances,
Click to expand...
Yes and no. They are both loosely based on the same design, but the A5s are made to metric measurements, Model 11s are US Standard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top