Me & a friend each bought new Rem 1187 "Special Purpose" back in early 1988. (we had to order them from a LGS) They both had "dull" wood stocks/for-ends with matte black recievers & 26" vent rib "Rem Choke" bbls. We were into turkey hunting big time back then & the 1187's killed many a gobbler. I no longer own that scatter-gun & now use 20 gauge bores for turkey.

 

I bought one for my son around 1990 brand new from a friends hardware store. It has a wood stock and fore arm. It is an amazing firearm. Lives thru 30 years of salt water duck hunting; mud and sand; decoy bags piled on top of it; and wet Labrador retrievers anointing it. I have redone the wood using Lin-Speed oil a few times. Its a better gun in that its gas system will not only handle heavy duck loads but also ejects my wimpy 7/8 oz. trap loads. Not all 1100's will do that. Its still going strong. Enjoy it.

 

I have seen 11-87 Special Purpose shotguns with 26" and 28" barrels, birch stocks or plastic stocks, and SP deer guns that had oil finished walnut stocks. All of them had matt finish receivers and barrels.

I always thought the special purpose guns were no frills hunting guns. The Premier model was the high gloss blued gun with nicely finished walnut stocks.

 

Thanks for the info. I continued looking for some info, and I found a few minutes ago that the Model 1100 is being produced along with the 11-87. I thought the 11-87 replaced the 1100.

So, whats the difference between those two models and the newer ones? Why are they still be produced?

My 11-87 looks almost the same as my Dad's 1100. The only difference I saw was the matte finish and no engraving on the 11-87. So, I think there must be something that differs between the 1100 and the 11-87... For me, there's no sense to produce two models that are almost the same. And also other semiauto models.

I tried to find those differences at the Remington's website, but there's nothing about shotgun models. Only ammo.

 

First off Remington is currently out of the gun business. They were making 11-87's and 1100's both before shutting down. At the end 11-87's were more matt finished hunting models that would shoot 2 3/4" and 3" or 3.5" shells and 1100's were 2 3/4" high gloss, nicer finished target or sporting guns. There is an almost 60 year history of the 1100 and over a 30 year history of 11-87's. Both guns have evolved with numerous options available thru the years. The 11-87 can shoot 2 3/4" inch or 3" or 3.5" shells interchangeably with it's gas operating system, the 1100 could not. The 11-87 also had a stainless steel magazine tube.

 

Reviving an old thread so Please bear with me. Remington 11-87 shotguns do NOT shoot 3.5" shells. They shoot 2.75"- 3" shells. The 11-87 "Super Mag" which came out quite a few years after the original 11-87 can shoot all shells from 2.75" up to and including the 3.5" magnum. Not only that, the original "Special Purpose" models bring a premium in the used market over the "Super Mag" 11-87's.

 

Ok. It just didn't make sense for me to have two models that technicaly were almost the same.

I'm more into C&R guns, so I'm not up to date with more modern guns.

Only shotguns that I have that aren't C&R are two Baikal OUs, a Silver Eagle semiauto 20ga and the new to me 11-87.

Any 11-87 part prone to fail? I haven't fired it yet, so I don't know if it works. But it looks good after a good cleaning.

 

11-87s are not prone to failure. They are sensitive to ignorant owners, as are most semi autos. Download an owner's manual and read it.
The 11-87 was originally intended to replace the 1100, but the early RemChoke barrels were heavy and the guns lacked the sweet feel many of us were used to. That forever killed that idea. In later years the 11-87s were targeted more at the less expensive less polished "hunting" market and the 1100s were more upscale target shooting market.

 

11-87s are not prone to failure. They are sensitive to ignorant owners, as are most semi autos. Download an owner's manual and read it.
The 11-87 was originally intended to replace the 1100, but the early RemChoke barrels were heavy and the guns lacked the sweet feel many of us were used to. That forever killed that idea. In later years the 11-87s were targeted more at the less expensive less polished "hunting" market and the 1100s were more upscale target shooting market.

Now, this make sense. This was the answer I was looking for. Thanks!

 

Some of the earlier Special Purpose guns (870's, 1100's, and 11-87's) were actually parkerized with the typical greenish gray finish. They were/are highly resistant, but not impervious to rust. I have an 870 and an 1100 mag. with that finish. They are heavy guns though. The later year Special Purpose guns were matte blue without the Parkerized finish......more like an Express.

 

Sometimes a more “tactically” oriented LGS will mistake a Special Purpose for an Express because of the matte finish I benefited from that misunderstanding a few years ago and got a 1990 870 SP at a great price. The hang tag was marked “Express” and priced accordingly even though the receiver clearly said Special Purpose and the stock and forearm are clearly walnut. I pointed out the difference but they sold it to me at Express prices.

 

I bought a 870 SP walnut back in the 80's; still have it. I was told then the SP got all the internal benching the Wingmaster received along with the parkerized metal and matt wood finish.