[RTHOMAS]

I'm new to this forum but thought I'd toss out a question to this group before I call the folks at Remington. My father bought an 11-87 Special Purpose 12 guage sometime back in the late 80s or early 90s (serial number starts with PC). Not long after, he received a letter from Remington saying that due to a class action lawsuit involving bad barrels he should not shoot the gun and they were sending a check for $37 towards the purchase of a new barrel. First, the gun has never been used and second my father sent the check back to Remington with a few fine words about how $37 wouldn't pay for a new barrel.

Well fast forward to 2010 and my father who is in his 80s decides he wants to fix the barrel and pass the gun on. I called Remington and ordered a new 11-87 12/30" Special Purpose barrel model# 24638. When I tried to place the new barrel on the shotgun it would'nt go into the receiver more than maybe a quarter inch. The problem is the diameter where the barrel enters the receiver. I haven't used a mic on it, but looks to be maybe as much as a couple hundreths on an inch too round.

The two barrels are identical in every respect but that diameter issue. Has anyone on this forum experienced that, and is it common to have to modify the barrel to fit? My father who was a diehard Remington man is blaiming them for poor craftsmanship. I hate to see an 11-87 that's never been fired go to waste. My last resort short of sending the barrel back is to see a good gunsmith. With the cost of the barrel and the smith it might be worth just buying a new gun.

[Virginian]

I have owned 1100s and 11-87s since 1963 and have never run into such a situation. I don't mean to insult you, but are you sure the alignment stud is lined up with the groove in the barrel extension? Sometimes these are a bit of a tight fit. I just got a new Target Contour barrel to put on my 1963 Model 1100 a couple of weeks ago and it's a perfect fit. The number you ordered - 24638 - definitely should fit an 11-87. In fact I don't know of any 11-87 barrel that shouldn't fit, with the exception of the Super-Mag barrels. Does it say 3" chamber on the barrel? I have gotten a wrong barrel before, and it invariably came in a plain brown Remington barrel box with the number written on it in black magic marker. The ones with the green and yellow lables are always right. If you have checked everything else, I would call Remington. If it is a screw up, they will make it right.
The infamous "barrel lawsuit", was a class action cooked up by some lawyers to make money, and they did. Sometimes it is cheaper to settle than to fight in the good old U.S.A, even if you did nothing wrong. I have been there. As part of the settlement Remington agreed to move the rollmarking forward, they lightened it a little, and I thought they sent you a $50 check, if you filled out the paperwork. I told them to put my $200 worth in the ambulance chaser fund.

[RTHOMAS]

Thanks for replying. When my father told me the new barrel wouldnt fit I also assumed that there had to be an alignment problem, but when I checked, eveything seemed to be aligned. I can replace the old barrel in a snap with no problem, but try to insert the new barrel and you can clearly see the barrel diameter is two large for the receiver. It's as though when it was turned on the lathe, not enough metal was removed. The new barrel is stamped 2 3/4" and 3" just like the old one. I'm afraid I'm going to need to ship it back for a replacement. Thanks again for responding.

[Virginian]

They will likely send you a replacement barrel and a return shipping label for the one you have so you aren't out any more money.

[RTHOMAS]

I thought I'd post an update to the 11-87 barrel problem. I contacted Remington customer support and described to them how the replacement barrel I ordered just wouldn't fit. After confirming the part number, the customer service rep seemed as perplexed as everyone I talked to as to why it wouldn't fit. He like everyone else said he had never heard of a barrel not fitting. And I also assured him I knew what I was doing when replacing a barrel. I will say he was extremely helpful and more than willing to make things right for me. So he shipped another barrel from the factory and told me to contact him if it also didn't fit. The replacement barrel arrived and it looked identical to the first barrel and so I was sure it also would not fit. To my surprise however it fit like a charm! I never did use my calipers to measure the thickness of the two barrels, but it was obvious the first barrel was too thick to be inserted more than a quarter inch or so into the receiver. The lesson here is that even though Remington probably has quality controls in place to prevent parts from making it into the production stream that are not to manufacturing standards, it can occur. To say the least, may dad is happy with the gun and so am I.