Remington's Model 1100 Sporting 20 Part 1

Selecting a 12 gauge for all shotgun applications is tantamount to selecting a 458 Lott for squirrel hunting; don’t count on whole squirrel fricassee or whole hides to make a really nifty hat with the product of your hunting. Some quarry, clay pigeons as an example, need very little killing power, they just need to be hit squarely. If anyone doubts the fragility of clays, I suggest ordering a case of clay pigeon via online discounter, specify UPS delivery, then shake the carton when it arrives. To prove my point, I armed myself with a locally sourced case of clay pigeons, a manual thrower and the nifty looking Sporting 20 Remington Model 1100 20 Gauge.

The devil’s tools…

OK, this was me attempting tennis and golf all over again; thrower, racket and clubs held and swung like a baseball bat, all line drives to left field. There was the one foul tip that bopped my wife on the head and there was the pop fly that broke at my feet. Family and friends having a good laugh at my expense, but none did any better… and none did worse.

Bored, annoyed and not making any progress… sounds like my college years, I purchased a Trius One Step trap because it is low cost and because 22 other shopping Lemmings on Amazon thought it was a good value. If you can’t trust 22 total strangers reviewing a product, exactly who can you trust?

Next week I’ll be back with the trial and tribulations of family and friends as they try to build a healthy addiction to recreational skeet shooting. I will also report on the level of success we had with the new low budget trap equipment. In the mean time, I did get to spend a good deal of time burning through ammo with the Sporting 20. Very expensive hobby this skeet-trap-clays… stuff. Please do not send tips, instruction or corrections regarding this activity. This is how I learn. I wander through a wilderness of ignorance until I find the path of knowledge. Then the lights go on, something clicks, all becomes apparent and/or I reach an obvious conclusion. It is then, when I almost know what I am doing, that I find the greatest satisfaction in being a firearm’s enthusiast.

Better tools…

Difficult to think of the Model 1100 LT-20 Sporting 20 as a basic shotgun. Prominent presence of fiddleback and feather figure in the gun’s walnut stock and deep blued polished hardware identify the gun something special. The 1100’s light weight and 20 2 3/4″ gauge chamber make it fast handling and light recoiling. Going from shooting a 12 gauge with heavy 3 1/2″ turkey loads to this 20 was a nice change of pace.

Shooting the Model 1100 20 gauge is enjoyable; more than enough power, soft recoil and really easy to track a target. The action cycles cleanly, evening when mixing target and long range ammo with different powder and shot charge weights and pellet size. The end of a couple of boxes of ammo felt like the first shot with no ill effects from recoil or report.

The gas system metering is fixed so there are no adjustments to make, or hardware pieces to change regardless the ammo. If it’s 2 3/4″ ammo, the gas operating systems has more than enough latitude to accommodate all and I believe I have collected enough empirical data to accept that notion.

While I am not normally a fan of high gloss finishes, I admit they serve a good purpose when it came time to wipe the gun down at the end of the day. I like the cut checkering, location and pattern. Just enough grip without grating and definitely no slipping in handling. The extended chokes were easy to remove without the aid of tools and the produced patterns as would be expected.

Conclusion

I’m glad Remington is still making so many shotguns in such a wide variety of configurations, but this in particular is a great model. Quality wood and hardware, reliable and good performer and still a good looker. I guess millions sold suggest that isn’t much of a secret. I’ll be back with Part 2 and more specific live fire performance.

Remington’s Model 1100 Sporting 20 Part 1
Remington’s Model 1100 Sporting 20 Part 11