Modify or leave it?

[okrattler]

Picked up a Remington model 11 today. It ain't in perfect condition by any means. I paid $300 for it so I figured since I ain't got much money into it I might have the gigantic 29" long barrel cut down to 18 1/2 or 20" and see about gettin it threaded for a choke if the barrel is thick enough to do it. I'll probably also Cerakote it to hide the finish that's not so great anymore. After that I may try to modify it to extend the magazine tube if I can figure out how to accomplish that.

Would y'all mess with it since it is a classic firearm or fix it up to look a lot better and be a lot easier to handle? Just pulling it out of a gun case is gonna take a day and a half with that barrel that's longer than a well rope.

[Tommyh]

mine is an heriloom, but i would rather just buy a modern shotgun that would handle steel shot if needed, than spend the money to modify.

[okrattler]

This one will mainly be used for coyotes and other things like that. This one I have I really couldn't say where it came from but it has some pretty significant wear on the barrel and a gouge or two in the receiver. The finish is trashed pretty much but otherwise it seems to be just fine.

I looked up mods that people have done to their model 11's and they have made some pretty cool riot gun type shotguns out of them. That's sort of the plan I had for this one.

[TacticalCowboy]

I’d probably do whatever I wanted to if it’s a beater

[Greenheadless]

I had mine cut down and threaded for chokes. It had a 30” full barrel. Paid 3/4 of the value of the gun to do it, but I like how it shoots. I use it every once in a while. Only downfall is it’s 2-3/4” only, or I would of made it a turkey gun.

[Tejas Wildlife]

Modify it the way you want it. Guns are tools and tools sometimes need to be specialized. I still remember the folks shouting "NO NO NO" when I got my Gen 1 Sendero 7mm Mag threaded for a suppressor. Dang gun feels like a .243 when I shoot it now. Do what you want with it and ENJOY IT!

[mikebyrge]

I've got one that I cut down. The model 11's are nice guns but pretty common and not that desirable as a collector unless you find a really nice one.

I would spend the money for a "rebuild" kit from Art's Gun shop and if you are looking for a budget alternative to cerakote the ceramic high-heat paint available at autoparts stores works well.

[mikebyrge]

Will Dabbs (writer for several gun mags) did an article a few years ago about cutting down a Model 11. That is what gave me the inspiration to cut the barrel to 20" on a beater that I had.

http://Gangster Gun: The Remington Model 11 Shotgun - Athlon Outdoors

[okrattler]

I did some reading and only then realized the Remington model 11 isn't nearly as desirable as I had thought. They were made a long time ago but they made tons and tons of them. I think I'll probably end up getting it chopped down and I'll add an extended magazine on it for fun. That ceramic high temp paint may be worth looking into. It doesn't need to be anything real fancy anyways, I'm definitely going to be using the heck out of it. One thing I'll have to do is see if I can get it threaded for a choke or find out if I can get a poly choke or something put on it.

One thing I will say is I chunked a half full coke bottle a good distance away the other day just to test fire it. That bottle was probably a good 40 yards away and absolutely destroyed it with 7 1/2 shot. That 29" barrel don't play around. It shredded that bottle. That kinda made me stop and think......well maybe this barrel ain't so bad. It'd be a dove droppin machine as it is with that full choke.

[Smokeater]

Sounds like she'd do plenty good on the turkeys too!

[okrattler]

Sounds like she'd do plenty good on the turkeys too!

Oh yeah at 40 yards a turkey would be in trouble big time. Probably even further than that as chewed up as that coke bottle was. I don't doubt I couldn't dust one that far out there with light loads. I really was shocked at those results. It blew the dang wrapper off of the bottle. I mean it completely destroyed it.

[Leverhunter]

Unless it's a special edition, model 11s usually don't have a lot of collector value. I don't know what the cost of the work you are thinking about would be but you may be able to find something with a short barrel and with screw in choke for the same money and keep the 11 as a fun shooter.

[Bjones2571]

Modify is almost always the answer in my experience.

[okrattler]

I did find out something pretty interesting after doing some research. I remembered hearing that back in the day, Navy guys were trained to shoot down airplanes that were trying to disable one of our ships. To teach people about leading a target they used shotguns to train them with to get that concept down.

I was looking at my shotgun and noticed an anchor symbol stamped on it. So I researched what that meant and as it turns out my Remington model 11 was indeed a Navy issued shotgun. Which I suspected knowing what I knew and as it turns out that's exactly what that symbol means.

They probably issued tons of them to the military but I still think that's pretty interesting.

Scratch that. Looks like I ran across bad info. It's not a Navy deal. Dang, I thought I had something cool.

[TacticalCowboy]

I did find out something pretty interesting after doing some research. I remembered hearing that back in the day, Navy guys were trained to shoot down airplanes that were trying to disable one of our ships. To teach people about leading a target they used shotguns to train them with to get that concept down.

I was looking at my shotgun and noticed an anchor symbol stamped on it. So I researched what that meant and as it turns out my Remington model 11 was indeed a Navy issued shotgun. Which I suspected knowing what I knew and as it turns out that's exactly what that symbol means.

They probably issued tons of them to the military but I still think that's pretty interesting.

Scratch that. Looks like I ran across bad info. It's not a Navy deal. Dang, I thought I had something cool.

Cool story, and I’ve heard the same thing for training purposes.

I was really hoping that’s what your gun was too reading your post