Great info. Also not to mention there’s a lot of low recoil ammo out there that many semi-auto’s can’t handle. And the ammo box is not screaming low recoil. And is probably the only box left on the shelf.
I thoroughly enjoyed your three part series on disassembly and assembly of the 11-87. During the pandemic, I built six shotguns from parts kits and receivers from GunBroker. Five of the six were 11-87’s, three 12 gauge and two 20 gauge. Your videos made these assemblies second nature after a few runs. I bought a special shell latch tool but found your method of using vice grip pliers to be a lot easier and just as effective. I have always enjoyed tinkering with firearms and have many times found the answers to my questions by viewing videos such as yours. I am currently working on another 11-87 and have run into an issue with the bolt not locking back. Any advice would be appreciated.
The issue I’m having is when I go to unload the shotgun the bolt will only open about an inch and stops. It doesn’t happen every time but it does it often. I have also had it happen when i shoot a shot. The gun is a 1187 super mag turkey gun. The shells are high quality 3 1/2 inch Hevi-shot shells
I suspect the gun has been shot a fair amount with heavy loads and has beat itself up, probably look at the locking recess in the barrel hood and I suspect it has raised a burr there. This will allow the bolt to start to unlock but will stop the locking block from dropping clear to fully unlock. If that is the case the burr can be CAREFULLY stoned away if overdone the gun will not properly lock up. Dan.
Thank you for your videos. Always enjoyed learning from them. Congrats on you retirement after a long career. I was hoping you could give me your thoughts on "polishing" the chamber to improve cyclability? Maybe that's the wrong term, but its the first 1/2" or so of the barrel that lines up with the front of the receiver. A quick backstory. When my father passed, I handed down his 1187 to my son who when became of age, used it for his first gun. I religiously maintain that gun and change O rings, gas rings, mag springs, etc. Its never had an issue even shooting light 2 3/4 rounds and always runs 3" rounds. Recently, my cousin gave me his 1187 to "clean and rebuild". I did everything I have done on my son's gun, but it won't cycle a 2 3/4" round unless its 1300fps or higher. The issue is his son's HS trap and skeet team are limited to 1200fps rounds. Not a issue for trap, but a problem for skeet. I saw some videos where people "polish" that first section of the barrel with a cleaning brush wrapped in very fine steel wool on a short section of of a cleaning rod inserted into a drill. My son's barrel is smooth and there are no ridges or rings when you rub your finger in the barrel but my cousins has these "ridges or rings" of what feels like high spots and wonder if that could help with cycling the lower power rounds?
Hi Todd: lightly polishing the chamber may help, also make sure the outside of the magazine tube is clean and dry. Many of these guns are now well used and with the newer lower pressure shells we are seeing more and more of them that will not function with the lighter ammunition.
@@hillsgun Thank you sir! Is that procedure with a bore brush and fine steel wool an appropriate method for polishing that part of the barrel? I would hate to make more of an issue by doing something "stupid". I am by no means even a backyard gunsmith, but being an engineer and having some basic mechanical skills, I like to think I can figure out basic concepts and do basic tasks when it comes to troubleshooting etc. BTW, I just watched your video on "so you want to be a gunsmith". What an outstanding video. Even looking at working on my cousins 1187 and his personal Benelli SBE 1 he gave me. He had feeding issues and all the parts like mag springs (his mag spring was a full 2" shorter then the factory one I replaced it with), recoil spring in the stock, inertia spring in the bolt, magazine follower that were all boogered up due to lack of routine maintenance (the plastic one was totally chewed up and he had issues even loading a shell in the mag tube). With the cost of parts and even looking at automotive or marine mechanics who charge between $90-$120 hours of labor (which is I assume the same going rate as a gunsmith), I don't understand how you can make a viable living doing so in today's market. Would I put $400-500 bucks with parts and labor into restoring an old 1187 because somebody completely ignored routine maintenance over the years, vs spending another $500-600 in buying a new modern gun? No. Most people would scrap it away and buy new right? Today's tendency's for the younger generation is a "throw away society". Go buy a new one and be done with it and run it until it dies.. Your comments for example on "bluing tanks" and having to deal with the EPA, or getting a FFL or even the insurance portion because you have $200K worth of guns in inventory is things most people don't even think about when selecting this as a career path. Your video is well done. Thank you for that.
Hi Todd: sorry I didn’t respond earlier but I just saw your response. Polishing with steel wool in my opinion has marginal benefits and can also have adverse effects depending on how it is used. I would be ecstatic if I could average 90 or 100 per hour. The reality is that if you are ethical with your practices you will probably be lucky if you average 1/2 of that. There are some things that I can do that make me that much but there is not enough to consistently make that. There is a hack here that now touts himself as the best there is and seems to be making a lot of money but he is taking in work whether he has the ability to repair it or not and still charges if he returns it in the same condition he received it in. Not the way I ran my shop. If it wasn’t fixed it wasn’t charged for. My position is that a customer brought it to me with the understanding that I was qualified to do the work and was not paid to.learn basic skills on his firearms.
I have an annoying 1187 problem. The bolt becomes almost impossible to pull back. It seems stuck closed but with a very hard pull it opens. I have had it apart and it works well for a while then stats jamming up again. With the trigger assembly out, it slides back and forth just fine. When firing the gun, it cycles perfectly, but still is difficult to pull back manually.
Read my previous reply to a similar question about 2 weeks ago, also look at the hammer and make sure it is not peened excessively and catching on the bottom of the bolt
Great info. Also not to mention there’s a lot of low recoil ammo out there that many semi-auto’s can’t handle. And the ammo box is not screaming low recoil. And is probably the only box left on the shelf.
Low recoil ammo is in reality nothing more than a marketing tool for the manufacturers justification to convince you to buy cheap shells
I thoroughly enjoyed your three part series on disassembly and assembly of the 11-87. During the pandemic, I built six shotguns from parts kits and receivers from GunBroker. Five of the six were 11-87’s, three 12 gauge and two 20 gauge. Your videos made these assemblies second nature after a few runs. I bought a special shell latch tool but found your method of using vice grip pliers to be a lot easier and just as effective. I have always enjoyed tinkering with firearms and have many times found the answers to my questions by viewing videos such as yours. I am currently working on another 11-87 and have run into an issue with the bolt not locking back. Any advice would be appreciated.
Probably the arm is broken on the bolt latch on the center of the lifter. Thank you
The issue I’m having is when I go to unload the shotgun the bolt will only open about an inch and stops. It doesn’t happen every time but it does it often. I have also had it happen when i shoot a shot. The gun is a 1187 super mag turkey gun. The shells are high quality 3 1/2 inch Hevi-shot shells
I suspect the gun has been shot a fair amount with heavy loads and has beat itself up, probably look at the locking recess in the barrel hood and I suspect it has raised a burr there. This will allow the bolt to start to unlock but will stop the locking block from dropping clear to fully unlock. If that is the case the burr can be CAREFULLY stoned away if overdone the gun will not properly lock up. Dan.
The problem I had the blow ports were dirty . Lol
That will do it
Thank you for your videos. Always enjoyed learning from them. Congrats on you retirement after a long career. I was hoping you could give me your thoughts on "polishing" the chamber to improve cyclability? Maybe that's the wrong term, but its the first 1/2" or so of the barrel that lines up with the front of the receiver. A quick backstory. When my father passed, I handed down his 1187 to my son who when became of age, used it for his first gun. I religiously maintain that gun and change O rings, gas rings, mag springs, etc. Its never had an issue even shooting light 2 3/4 rounds and always runs 3" rounds. Recently, my cousin gave me his 1187 to "clean and rebuild". I did everything I have done on my son's gun, but it won't cycle a 2 3/4" round unless its 1300fps or higher. The issue is his son's HS trap and skeet team are limited to 1200fps rounds. Not a issue for trap, but a problem for skeet. I saw some videos where people "polish" that first section of the barrel with a cleaning brush wrapped in very fine steel wool on a short section of of a cleaning rod inserted into a drill. My son's barrel is smooth and there are no ridges or rings when you rub your finger in the barrel but my cousins has these "ridges or rings" of what feels like high spots and wonder if that could help with cycling the lower power rounds?
Hi Todd: lightly polishing the chamber may help, also make sure the outside of the magazine tube is clean and dry. Many of these guns are now well used and with the newer lower pressure shells we are seeing more and more of them that will not function with the lighter ammunition.
@@hillsgun Thank you sir! Is that procedure with a bore brush and fine steel wool an appropriate method for polishing that part of the barrel? I would hate to make more of an issue by doing something "stupid". I am by no means even a backyard gunsmith, but being an engineer and having some basic mechanical skills, I like to think I can figure out basic concepts and do basic tasks when it comes to troubleshooting etc.
BTW, I just watched your video on "so you want to be a gunsmith".
What an outstanding video. Even looking at working on my cousins 1187 and his personal Benelli SBE 1 he gave me. He had feeding issues and all the parts like mag springs (his mag spring was a full 2" shorter then the factory one I replaced it with), recoil spring in the stock, inertia spring in the bolt, magazine follower that were all boogered up due to lack of routine maintenance (the plastic one was totally chewed up and he had issues even loading a shell in the mag tube). With the cost of parts and even looking at automotive or marine mechanics who charge between $90-$120 hours of labor (which is I assume the same going rate as a gunsmith), I don't understand how you can make a viable living doing so in today's market. Would I put $400-500 bucks with parts and labor into restoring an old 1187 because somebody completely ignored routine maintenance over the years, vs spending another $500-600 in buying a new modern gun? No. Most people would scrap it away and buy new right? Today's tendency's for the younger generation is a "throw away society". Go buy a new one and be done with it and run it until it dies..
Your comments for example on "bluing tanks" and having to deal with the EPA, or getting a FFL or even the insurance portion because you have $200K worth of guns in inventory is things most people don't even think about when selecting this as a career path. Your video is well done. Thank you for that.
Hi Todd: sorry I didn’t respond earlier but I just saw your response. Polishing with steel wool in my opinion has marginal benefits and can also have adverse effects depending on how it is used. I would be ecstatic if I could average 90 or 100 per hour. The reality is that if you are ethical with your practices you will probably be lucky if you average 1/2 of that. There are some things that I can do that make me that much but there is not enough to consistently make that. There is a hack here that now touts himself as the best there is and seems to be making a lot of money but he is taking in work whether he has the ability to repair it or not and still charges if he returns it in the same condition he received it in. Not the way I ran my shop. If it wasn’t fixed it wasn’t charged for. My position is that a customer brought it to me with the understanding that I was qualified to do the work and was not paid to.learn basic skills on his firearms.
I have an annoying 1187 problem. The bolt becomes almost impossible to pull back. It seems stuck closed but with a very hard pull it opens. I have had it apart and it works well for a while then stats jamming up again. With the trigger assembly out, it slides back and forth just fine. When firing the gun, it cycles perfectly, but still is difficult to pull back manually.
Read my previous reply to a similar question about 2 weeks ago, also look at the hammer and make sure it is not peened excessively and catching on the bottom of the bolt
Lol! “ I’m kind of an a$$hole when answering questions.” Honesty is the best policy, don’t be someone you’re not 💁🏼♂️
If you hadn’t noticed I am pretty much “what you see is what you get “