Remington 11-87 Premier Custom Barrel Info

C

cbhester

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I'm trying to customize my 11-87 Premier 12 ga to fit my quail hunting needs. It came with a 28" vent rib barrel which I want to keep for shooting clays, etc. However I'm wanting another barrel for quail hunting, somewhere in the neighborhood of 24" and it does not have to have threads for a choke considering I am wanting the full dia of the cylinder bore for a better spread on shot. I hate to spend $250+ to buy a new 26" vent rib just to cut down to suite me. Does anyone know of anywhere that does custom barrels for a reasonable price or where I can just find a 24" vent rib barrel with or without choke threads?? I have tried Midway USA and some random googled sites with not luck on exactly what I am wanting. Should I just buy another barrel and cut it down? All opinions are welcome and appreciated!

Thanks.
 
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You won't notice any difference between a 24 and a 26" barrel.... I have a battery of 4 guns that I hunt with, 2 Browning Upland Specials (12 & 20) with 24" barrels and 2 Browning Superlights (28 & .410) with 26" barrels. They all swing and point the same and kill game when I do my part.
 
Bailey Boat, you may not notice the difference, but it's there. I have Skeet and Trap barrels (about a 4" difference) for my Remington autoloader and the swing dynamics are drastically difference. I have essentially identical O/U guns with 28 and 30 inch barrels and they swing differently, too.

Cbhester, unfortunately $250 is about the going price for the barrel you want. If you're patient and keep your eyes open you may be able to find a deal. I typically recommend checking out barrelexchange.com, but the site seems down this morning.
 
i wanted a short barrel for turkey and found a deer barrel with choke tubes used for 112.00 on the net. as i use a scope and red dot the sights don,t matter,but they could be taken off. eastbank.
 
If you start cutting 11-87 barrels down shorter, you will have reliability problems with light quail loads. The barrels are designed to operate the action within a certain pressure range. The shorter the barrel, the less time the pressure has to build up and work the action. Any factory Remington barrel less than 26" is meant for 2.75" and 3" magnum loads only. Even the 26" barrels are slightly less reliable with light loads than the longer barrels.

It is possible to have the gas ports modified to work with the lighter loads, but then you will lose the flexibility of using heavy loads without damaging the gun. This is true of all gas operated guns to a degree, but the 11-87 is particularly picky about it.

Stay with a 26" barrel, or choose another gun if you want a short barrel that will reliably shoot.
 
Bailey Boat, you may not notice the difference, but it's there
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I'm sure there is some difference but it is so minor as to not be noticed. I think your shooting style at trap and skeet are different from mine when in a hunting situation which is what the OP was interested in.
 
Bailey Boat,
Sorry, I should have paid more attention. You mentioned: "I have a battery of 4 guns that I hunt with, 2 Browning Upland Specials (12 & 20) with 24" barrels and 2 Browning Superlights (28 & .410) with 26" barrels." No wonder you don't notice a difference between them. With your short barreled lightweights, they probably all have a very similar choppy/sloppy swing.
 
With your short barreled lightweights, they probably all have a very similar choppy/sloppy swing.
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Maybe YOU can't shoot short barrels, but do you think I would have FOUR of them if I couldn't hit with them????
 
A 24" barrel will swing like a **** compared to your 28" barrel. If you shoot the 28" well for skeet and sporting, there is no reason to change for quail. Ive owned a couple of "upland specials", and never shot them as well as the standard sized guns. They were nice to carry, but just dont point well for me. If you really need a cylinder choke, get one and screw it in the barrel you have now.
 
Gonna disagree.

It depends on where and how you hunt. Most of the time you don't swing a shotgun at quail around here. You poke the barrel through an opening in the brush and pull the trigger when something flies in front of the barrel. Most of the most successul hunters I know use old cheap doubles cut down to around 20" to lose all the choke.

But I do somewhat agree that if you are going to swing on game, or clays, you can go too short, but 24" ain't that bad on a repeater. You'll still be at about the same overall length and and balance of a 28" double.

I just wouldn't choose an 11-87 for this project for the reasons I cited above.
 
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