First of all, Happy & Healthy New Year to all!

I’m perplexed and hoping someone with more knowledge of the 1100 system might give me some insight.

(Side note: Some of you are aware (a couple of you perhaps painfully so ) that I am endeavoring to assist a close buddy with replacing the interceptor latch on his “standard frame” 20ga 1100 (s/n beginning with “L” and ending with an “X”.*)

Preface: all the ammo discussed below is factory new 12ga Remington Gun Club 1-1/8oz Target loads.

Well, while at the municipal skeet range yesterday I get to Station 2 with several other shooters when one of them has HIS 12ga 1100 do the exact same thing that started me down the rabbit hole with the aforementioned 20ga 1100, back in October!

That is, the shooter / gun’sowner shot all 4 targets on Station 1, no problem. He gets to Stn 2, loads 2 shells, shoots the single high house no problem and then calls for the single low house only to find: a) his gun will not fire (trigger locked up) AND more concerning, b) the action, bolt, etc. simply WILL NOT be pulled back, using the bolt charging handle! No way, no how, that sucker simply is NOT a retracting any part of the action, not bolt, bolt carrier, nothing!

We know the gun fired, extracted, ejected and fed the next live round from the mag into the chamber and that is where everything came to a locked up stop!

Close inspection reveals neither the feed latch nor the interceptor latch of as far as the naked eye can see standing on Stn 2, any other parts are bent or broken ... can’t walk off the skeet field with a round in the chamber so I carefully remove the trigger assembly and bolt charging handle which allowed the barrel to be removed from receiver and thus the live round from the chamber.

Get to the back of my truck with the gun’s owner (who is quite shaken) and now I am seeing where it appears the verrrrrrry tip of the feed latch may be broken off. No way to confirm that without drifting the feed latch back and out but, 1) it ain’t my gun 2) I don’t have any proper tools with me and 3) I don’t make a habit of using makeshift tools to disassemble other peoples belongings on the tailgate of my truck!

Now that we’re all home and out of the sun and wind, the guns owner is asking for my assistance as neither one of us is aware of any gunsmiths in our area (Hickory, NC) who are familiar with (or specializing in) working on old 1100’s.

I have a replacement 12ga feed latch and feel comfortable swapping that part out but,

HERE’s MY REAL, NAGGING QUESTION:

What typically causes an 1100 action to “lock up” completely after successful firing, extraction, ejection and feeding of a new round?

I have confirmed gun in question was completely disassembled and the action spring and tube cleaned and lubricated within the last 6-months and the gun is VERY CLEAN a and appropriately lubed in the correct places and has been working fine since it was detail cleaned months ago.

I’m really scratching the top of my head on this one ... so, Thanks in Advance!

(* - Update on that aforementioned Std frame 20ga 1100 which is subject of a different thread, these forums: I was able to obtain a rare replacement interceptor latch; however; not in any rush to do a part removal and install for my first time on his family heirloom, I still in the process of trying to locate the various thickness “shims” and “circ-clips” that go under and over the interceptor latch, respectively.

Sometimes no matter how much care you give a gun, parts will wear out or break. Make sure your 12 gauge interceptor will work in a 20 ga 1100. I'd also look around the receiver and trigger group to see if you can find the broken tip. If you decide to repair the gun, have the owner right there with you to do some of the work and/or observe you taking your time and doing it right. Good luck

Hullo there, Albany!

Good advice and every fiber of me wanted to take that gun off the field and over to my truck where I could lay out a gun case or a piece of cardboard - anything to see if that microscopic little feed latch tip dropped out anywhere. But alas, a municipal range that was crowded etc, NOT an option!

And I am glad to report having the owner right there with me is what the owner of that Std frame 20ga 1100 and I have been doing. (He is extremely appreciative for the knowledge and I am happiest that he is now capable of detail stripping and maintaining his gun (once we get it working again). He is even investing in the few items that help (butt stock socket, mag spring removal tool, etc.)

My expectation is that the owner of the 12ga will do the same.

I am very concerned as someone seems to have taken the phones off the hook at Remington in both Ilion, NY and Moyock, NC as I am searching for the circ-clips and shims for current production 1100’s without success.

The 3 times I went through the Remington LE Armorer’s Schools they were being taught by Greg Foster and Ken Nickerson out if NC and Lyle Wheelock and Jerry Beigh each of whom handed me their business cards at one time or another but, that was back in the 90’s and 2000’s before I retired in ‘16 (got out alive, YES!!!!!) and like an idiot I lost track of my Rolodex .... (regret that NOW)!

Did you ever determine what locked it up?
In all the 1100s I have worked on I only encountered two that were similarly locked up. The first had a broken piston and the broken part had wedged into the barrel gas ring, holding the action far enough open to prevent firing. The second had a broken link.
McMaster Carr has different thickness "C" clips / retaining rings for the interceptor latch available, or you could use the one you have with a washer.

I am very concerned as someone seems to have taken the phones off the hook at Remington in both Ilion, NY and Moyock, NC as I am searching for the circ-clips and shims for current production 1100’s without success.

Isn’t that Remington location now shutdown due to the business bankruptcy sell off?

Yes. See the attached thread for more details. Remington firearms is defunct.

https://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewto ... 5&t=525264

I had a jam only once when a fired primer came out and wedged in the link.

I had the same thing happen - with an 870 - and it was an errant piece of shot that slipped out of one attempts to reload a hull well past the reasonable life expectancy of the mouth crimps!

The standard frame 20ga, I think takes a different shell latch [rare]. The intercepeter latch can be bought from Brownell's. Look at it to see if the tip is broken.

I have a few Std Frame 20 ga shell latches if anyone desperately needs one

On my 1187 a year ago, 12g, the wishbone broke. One of the sides was bent and wouldn’t slide down into the spring housing at the rear of the receiver.

(Yeah, it looks like a wishbone, though not the real name... forgetting off hand)

Anyway, got the part and installed and back in business.

The bolt would go back about maybe 1”, no more. Removed the bolt handle, took off forearm and barrel. Was able to go home, inspect and find the problem.

Op, hope your issue is as easy.

Howdee Delaware!

Oh yes sir, that link is in proper order (as the action spring and tube the link recesses in and out of)

In this instance the action “locks up” wide open (the bolt and carrier will NOT ago forward, at all)

I’m now trying to track down some replacements for the “circ-clip” interceptor retaining washers that hold the linter emptor latch in place ... and any thickness of any shims that may be called for.

Not having any luck at thus far

But, THANK YOU for the suggestion and assist, sincerely!

Just thought I’d circle back and report back (I always appreciate it when thread initiators come back and provide some semblance of “closure”! )

I detail stripped and cleaned the 12ga 1100 and could find Nothing out of the ordinary. I then Function test fired it off the back deck (much to the consternation of the Jack Russell terrier - chihuahua mix afternoon napping a floor above and on the front side of the house!) and gun cycled fine.

Returned it to the owner at the range and first round of skeet on Stn 3 and the “action lock up” bolt forward reoccurs.

I knew right then to ask what I’d failed to ask a week earlier, “Are those reloads you’re shooting?” (This friend shoots factory new 12ga gun clubs so often it never occurred to me to ask before ...)

Sure enough, the ring on Station 1 of his single stage MEC Jr had somehow worked its way up (1/8” instead of the recommended 1/16”) from bottom and thus his hull’s steel heads were oversized!

So, happy ending for the 12ga.

Unfortunately, I am still trying to find replacement interceptor circ-clips and shims for the interceptor latch on the 20ga Standard frame 1100, still on my bench ...

(I have actually been able to locate an actual 20ga standard frame interceptor latch - now I can’t find the more common circ-clips and different thickness shims!

https://www.mcmaster.com/circlips/

Greetings Albany - and Sincere Appreciation!

Y’know, I have had enough challenging projects solved by an order from McMaster-Carr that two things occur to me:

1) Why the heck didn’t I ever think to look there first?! (In all honesty I never would have which would a shame except for your help!); and,

2) How would my life be different had I held out, to marry one of McMaster or Carr’s daughters?

Going to find a set of calipers now (or first, check Kuhnhausen’s manual to see if he notes the exact size needed)

Thanks again!

(I tried to reach old friends G. Foster and K. Nickerson at the Madison NC facility but alas it appears to be shuttered at present anyway ...

I took an odd ball gun screw there one time and they went through their inventory and found it. If you have a good one to take with you or one off another gun, they can probably find it for you and also find one just a bit thicker.
Lowes, Home Depot, Tractor Supply may also have one in stock.

I’m sorta close to the guys and gals at our local ACE and I’ve been banned from wandering into the aisles containing the specialty parts drawers there with odd ball screws or other hardware less than an hour before they close, haha!

I referred you to McMaster Carr on Jan 4th.