albanygun,
I understand the good points and bad points of both guns. I've own both and agree with the quality points you speak of. Most shooters don't mind the extra couple on minutes to clean an 1100 and most don't experience staked in parts coming loose... I certainly don't. Most shooters, especially skeet shooters, LIKE the forward weight of the 1100. Most shooters agree that the 1100 recoils less than a Beretta.
What I don't like is the fact that Beretta changes their design in order to force you to buy a new gun. Sure, parts are available for 391s and maybe for 390s, but not so available for the older guns and THAT is by design. If I do need a part for my mid '60s 1100 I can buy one. If I want an extra bbl for it, I can buy one.
You may not see 1100s on sporting courses, but you don't see too many 390/391s on trap & skeet fields as compared to 1100s. On trap & skeet fields, the guns take a LOT more pounding.
You are correct about Remington changing some models in the past, but that was during the era when autoloaders were being refined to the point of reliability. Once that was reached, the 1100 hasn't changed other than a variety of configurations over the years. Beretta wasn't even in the autoloader game when the 1100 was developed. Now that autoloader reliability has been reached, you need to buy a new gun every five years if you want to shoot Berettas.
Bottom line.... shoot want you want to shoot.