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Remington 1100 2 3/4 loads
lololand11
Member Posts: 34 ✭✭
I'm about to shakeout the cobwebs on my 1976 Rem 1100 and I have a question about magnum loads. Can I use magnum 2 3/4 loads on the 1100 on an occasional basis without over stressing the gun. The gun is in excellant shape with probably less than 200 rounds through it.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Comments
Don't worry, you won't hurt it. They are great guns. Just keep them clean and lightly lubricated. If using in extremely cold temps, you may want to lube and then wipe off all excess lube. The oils freezing is what generally causes them to get sluggish in very cold weather.
If you have more questions, you can probably find the answers at www.remington.com
Remington model 1100's are designed to withstand the pressures of all 2 3/4 factory pressure loads including magnum ones.
Don't worry, you won't hurt it. They are great guns. Just keep them clean and lightly lubricated. If using in extremely cold temps, you may want to lube and then wipe off all excess lube. The oils freezing is what generally causes them to get sluggish in very cold weather.
If you have more questions, you can probably find the answers at www.remington.com
Thank you sir! Appreciate the quick response. I knew someone out there would know the answer. By the way, I was reviewing my manual and unless, I'm blind, I didn't see any reference to magnum loads. Sinc it was "silent" on the subject thought I should ask. Of course, it had load of warnings about shooting 3" through the 2 3/4 which leads to a "funny" story. On my very first deer back in NY, I used the 1100 with a slug. When the gun went off I thought my hearing was gone. It turns out I had mistakenly bought 3" loads. I have had arguments from several people saying I "couldn't" have shot a 3" load but I am here safe and sound and I know what I did.
Thanks again [:D]
A 3 inch shell, once it has been crimped is only about 2 3/4 inches long when crimped so it will often "fit" in the chamber before it is fired. The problem comes when the shell is fired, there isn't enough room for the crimp to open fully and the the shot charge (or slug as in your case) has to be "squeezed" down to fit through the smaller opening. This makes the pressures skyrocket above where they normally should be and above what the gun was designed to handle on a regular basis.
The fact that you had no problem is a testament to the strength of the remington barrel and action, but that is also why the "bang" was so loud and probably kicked like crazy.
You benefitted from what is commonly called "proof testing" which is where the manufacturers often test the design of their guns by shooting an intentionally overloaded shell to make sure their guns will not explode if something like what you did is done by mistake. This does not mean that you should try to do that again (obviously). It was designed because they realize that mistakes like that are occasionally made and they would rather their guns not explode on their customers who would then sue them.
About 10 years ago or so, Remington settled a class action lawsuit on just this kind of issue where one guy who blew up a barrel by either using the wrong size shell or having an obstruction in the barrel and they paid out millions of dollars to settle the lawsuit even though it was not their fault that the gun exploded. Remington ended up splitting up somewhere in the area of 18 or 19 million between all the ownwers that put into the claim. Because the money was earmarked for anyone that owned a gun made in a specific year bracket, I sent in the paperwork because I had about 10 of the guns or so and I got almost $200 from the settlement. I took the money and went and bought another gun.
The preceding has just been some history for your info...
Also, in regards to your original question, magnum load usually just mean a larger load of pellets in the shell but usually at the same pressures as industry standard loads. They accomplish this by increasing the load of pellets but back off on the power (gunpowder) level. There are higher velocity loads referred to as magnum loads by some companies as well, but they are still designed to be within industry standard pressures. They are just designed to be at the "upper level" of the safe standard. Just about all modern guns that were designed since "smokeless" powder came into being were designed to be able to fire 2 3/4 inch "magnum loads". That is why people used to refer to the 2 3/4 loads as "baby magnums" in the old days. However, any gun will eventually "wear out" usually after "many thousands" of rounds and shooting magnum loads will accelerate this over time. If you are the average gun owner, I would bet that your gun would last a couple of lifetimes even if you shot magnum loads for everything because most people don't shoot more than a couple of hundred rounds a year (unless they are competition shooters, and I don't think of them as 'average' gun owners).
I also have a Franchi autoloader and unlike your Remington, the receiver is made of aluminum and not steel and it is recoil operated instead of gas operated and they have warnings all over the instruction manual warning not to use magnum loads but when you read further, they still say that it is OK to shoot magnum 2 3/4 inch loads but they are very clear that if you fire a 3 inch magnum in their gun, that it will damage the receiver and void the warranty. That is because the bolt would come back so fast from all the extra pressure that the bolt handle would hit the back of the receiver with enough extra force to damage the aluminum receiver.