Remington 1100 competition master - Out of the Box

Guns Magazine, August, 2003 by Charles E. Petty

If there has ever been an all-around champ of shotguns it must be the Remington 1100. It was the first widely successful gas-operated semiautomatic shotgun; heck successful isn't even close to being superlative enough. Hugely successful is modest praise.

From its introduction in 1963, it took only nine years to sell a million of them, the second million passed in 1977 and the third in 1983. The basic design has been made in 12, 20. and 28 gauge as well as 410 bore and in configurations for every type of hunting and all the competitive shotgun sports.

Such success is easily understandable. The 1100 was an incredibly durable and reliable shotgun that sold for a very reason, able price. The latest addition to the line is the 1100 Competition Master, which recognizes the growth of shotgun events in three gun or practical competition. Those events need high capacity, fast shooting shotguns. The Remington 1100's gas operation moderates recoil -- a real plus when shooting lots of buckshot.

Remington has adapted the basic design to fit the specific demands of this type of shooting. The most notable feature is a magazine tube extending the full length of the 22-inch .barrel. A barrel band is needed for support near the muzzle, which also provides an attachment point for a sling swivel. A plain stud is also located in the stock.

The barrel is threaded for Rem-choke tubes and three (improved cylinder, modified and full) are included. Unlike many of today's shotguns which are chambered to accept the 3-inch magnum loads, this one isn't. It holds 8 1 2 3/4-inch shells only.

The metal wears a bead blasted black finish. The stock and forend are gray synthetic. There's a full-length ventilated rib with a Hi Viz fiber optic front sight. The front sight' comes with a series of interchangeable fiber optic inserts allowing a wide choice of colors. The florescent green insert was in the gun when it came, I found it really effective shooting on a cloudy day although it might be a bit much in real bright sunlight. This thing really gets your attention. But changing it isn't a problem.

Speed shooting events often require fast reloads, so Remington has modified the carrier release a bit to facilitate loading. It's one of those things you'd never notice if they didn't tell you, but you can tell something is different when you try to load without looking at it. Without taking the gun down from your shoulder it's a snap to stuff shells in the tube. There's also an oversize operating handle which really makes it easy to control the bolt in unloading or clearing a malfunction.

The 1100 Competition Master is equipped with Remington's new R3 recoil pad. This is some very cool, high-tech stuff that makes an incredibly effective pad. It is called R3 because it' absorbs, compresses and redirects recoil. It has a combination of new material and internal design that dramatically reduces how you feel the recoil. I was able to do a direct comparison by shooting a pair of Remington Model 700 rifles chambered for the 7mm Ultra Mag. I don't know how to quantify this, but you could sure feel a difference.

One of the great advantages of gas-operated shotguns is the moderating effect the system has on recoil. At 8 pounds, this gun isn't light, but the combination of weight and the new recoil pad make shooting heavy buckshot loads a whole lot more pleasant than normal.

These reports are not intended to be exhaustive tests but they're a lot more than canned stuff from a press release too. The test gun was fired with everything from the lightest skeet loads to some rather hot near magnum loads with 12 pellets of 00 buck. I even tried mixing the two extremes in the magazine. The gun didn't care -- it functioned with everything I tried. Even though it is designed for a specific competitive event the Model 1100 Competition Master wouldn't be a bad choice for any defensive role.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Remington Arms Co.

800 243-9700

Weight: 8 lbs.

www.remington.com

RELATED ARTICLE: TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Capacity: 8 1 rounds

Model: M1100 Competition Master

Material: blue steel

Caliber: 12 gauge

BarrelLength: 22'

Overall Length: 42 1/8"

Sights: Hi Viz front, steel bead middle

MSRP: $932