Sounds like a weak mag spring.
I had the same problem with an 1100 mag. It the gun got wet is would not reload the second shell. Not too good for duck hunting. I had to strip it fully down if it got wet and cleanand re-oil EVERY part in the action and it would shoot auto again. Magizine latch was the problem it seemed to me. I bought a browning A5 mag (always shoots) and cleaned and oiled this thing up for consignment at gun shop. Stopped on the way to work and loaded three shells Boom Boom Boom, reloaded and Boom Boom Boom. Laid it on the counter at the gun shop and the vent rib had come unattached from the barrel and curled up like welding slag. I sent it back to Remington and explained the auto loading problem and of coerce the vent rib in a nasty letter. Gun was not even a year old. they returned it and it looked like a new gun and may have been. I never even left the gun shop with it and sold it on the spot i was so disgusted. Hell i never could shoot that gun very well anyway as i am an A-5 shooter since I was 16 YO. Still have the A-5.
Last edited by centurian; 05-15-2026 at 08:28 AM.
I have an 1100 20 gauge for my son. It started acting up like Centurian's gun during youth day weekend, basically became a single shot. If the gun didn't have sentimental attachment behind it I would probably sell it, and I usually don't sell any guns. I'll have a new 20 gauge Beretta before the fall, it will be my gun but my son will use it. If they perform anything like my 12 gauge Berettas that I've been beating on for a decade, I won't have anything to worry about.
I shot it this am and the bolt would come back about 1/2"-3/4" and then not eject the shell. What gives??? Made sure the chamber was really clean with scotchbrite...
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went."
Will Rogers
Maybe I could cut off part of the recoil spring in the stock??? Maybe a thicker o ring than what is called for??? I'm at my wits end.
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went."
Will Rogers
Sounds like you have 2 options:
1) send it to Darlington gun works
2) sell it
"magazine latch"
Also known as the shell stop.
Had the same problem with an old Ithaca many years ago.
Crackhead at the gun shop in Cacey-West Columbia "totaled the gun", bent barrel, receiver rails bent. Offered me $25 for a part gun.
Took it to a guy on Taylor St.- replaced the shell stop for $12, and still shooting it 30 years later.
Replace the magazine spring. It gets weak and the shell doesn’t exit the magazine tube all the way or hard enough to release the carrier latch turning it into a single shot. While you’re at it clean the mag tube. Crud can build up causing the shell follower to bind up not allowing shell to exit the magazine. Carrier latch could be broken, but mag spring is the logical place to start. Stretching the spring is a temporary fix. If the fired shell ejects the gas system isn’t the problem. If the bolt closes without assistance the action spring isn’t the problem. The magazine latch is on the side and keeps shell in mag. If it’s broken shells won’t come out of or stay in the mag tube. If you can’t pull the bolt back, the link is broken or has popped out of position. I shot 3 gun with an 1100 for a while and unfortunately got proficient at diagnosing a sick gun.
Last edited by FLS; 05-17-2026 at 02:16 PM.
This is a good video explaining operation and troubleshooting
Good luck - it sounds like a gas leak. Maybe there's a flaw inside the collar on the barrel that's allowing some gas to get out rather than through the action. Did you ever try a different barrel?
Ephesians 2 : 8-9
Job 19:25-27 (NKJV): For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God
Dropped it off in Darlington yesterday. They called me this morning and said it is fixed. $150 but it works.
They said they replaced an o ring (which I did) and honed out the chamber (also did but maybe not enough)where there was an inspector mark that they said almost went through the barrel????? Into the chamber??? I'll have t o look at that... Also said they reamed out the gas ports - I will check to see if my drill bits still won't fit - then I will know that I did not do a good enough job here too.
Thanks for all the suggestion and advice. Can't wait to take my dad's old gun to NoDak and make some memories.
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went."
Will Rogers
Hey man, follow up on this once you've had it out shooting and have put a box or two thru it.
There's probably a thread on here from sometime between 2003 and 2010 that would trip folks out as to how similar it is to this one. Two gunshops "fixed" my 1187 I got from my dad...only for it to act up three volleys into the next duck hunt I took it on.
I finally truly got it fixed after taking it to my late-80 yo gunsmith I found out here. I can't remember what he said was wrong or what he did, but it cost me less than $50, and he ran a box of a mix of low brass 2.75" dove shells and high brass 2.75 and 3" shells thru it as fast as you could pull the trigger without a hiccup...no problems since. I tried everything everyone said in this thread and two supposedly respectable gun shops claimed to fix it...but this guy did fix it for next to nothing.
Hopefully the folks in Darlington truly fixed yours, but if it acts up on you again, I have plan L or M for you to try.
“I can’t wait ‘till I’m grown” is the stupidest @!#* I ever said!
I tried to say this earlier in the thread. I worked at Clemson's range for for some years and cleaned a lot of 1100s there. This was always the #1 fix for one that was acting up. Take a drill bit that will fit the port and run it in and out with a pair of needlenose pliars and really scrape at the inside of the port. Even if they look open and clean, they usually have a layer of two of crud caked in the ports that a drill bit will scrape off.
And buy good O rings...do not use the ones you can buy on amazon or ebay.
Glad you got it running!
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