Not for my money. They are not a good model for light loads. For close to that money the Dick's Diamond 3 1/2" (Franchi 912) would be my choice.

 

With the provided barrel seal activator installed the 11-87 Super Mag will cycle fast (1500fps) 1 oz loads.

 

While they lack shooting the lightest loads what they do best is sucking up some of that harsh recoil of the heavier loads due to there overall weight. Normally fitted with a nice recoil pad besides makes them pleasant for most loads until you get up into the 3.5" . Of which I don't think any could be called pleasant. A real fast 1oz cycles them most of the time. A good 1 1/8oz does too. Cleaning them is paramount after a good day shooting. I imagine your looking at a Sportsman model. Sportsman's run cheaper normally since they come with just a MOD choke. So with one there is the investment of other chokes. Sort of the Express line of 11-87's. Though not a bad price you can often find used cheaper so your out of pocket is less. Super simple in design and any parts you might require to freshen one up are cheap and readily available. It does make it attractive enough if your expectations of it doesn't require it to shoot light 1oz or less loadings which most will not do at all with out tweaks and frequent cleanings.

 

I was at Dick's today and they have the 11-87 Super Mag black advertised at $599 plus 2-$50 mail-in rebates that make it $499.

 

I was at Dick's today and they have the 11-87 Super Mag black advertised at $599 plus 2-$50 mail-in rebates that make it $499.

Dang, that price it would be pretty civil even for the used market. I'd make a road trip to a Dick's store if I had cash to burn.

 

As an answer to your original post, if you read the previous posts the answer is it will NOT cycle "ordinary" loads reliably. Nor was it designed to. The model name should give you a clue, "Super Mag"....Jack

 

As an answer to your original post, if you read the previous posts the answer is it will NOT cycle "ordinary" loads reliably. Nor was it designed to. The model name should give you a clue, "Super Mag"....Jack

:roll: Oh please. It is the same design based off the 1100 up-graded into an 11-87 and stretched to it's limits and given a name implying the upper end of those limits. Yet it was so designed so it could shoot many 1 1/8 loadings on up.

Not the lightest of them is a fact. Pop in a nitro27 1 1/8 it will cycle all day long. STS of the same weight worked. It probably works fine with AA's and Federals of like loadings to. Most don't do 1oz reliably out of the box at average velocities used normally for clays. Faster ones seem work in it, but your stretching it's normal limits with them or less. It isn't perfect, but it isn't a horror story neither.

 

I was at Dick's today and they have the 11-87 Super Mag black advertised at $599 plus 2-$50 mail-in rebates that make it $499.

If I need a new gun I would jump on it.

 

BarkeyVA, This is just my personal opinion, but if you plan on shooting mostly 3.5 inch shells you might want to look at a different model. My brother has a 11-87 premier super mag, and I shoot a Beretta Xtrema 2. All we shoot are 3.5 inch steel shells hunting geese, and ducks in fields.
The Beretta has been flawless so far, while the Remington has given him nothing but problems. He has had the carrier broke twice, slides broke twice, ejector broke, fore-end split, and friday it turned into a single shot again we have to find out what parts are broke in it this time. Don't get me wrong I like Remingtons I own three 870 pump guns, but this super mag just does not seem to hold up very well. Maybe he just got a lemon, I don't know, but after this hunting season it will go back to Remington for repairs. We talked to two local gunsmiths that told us they had a lot of problems with this model when people were shooting mostly 3.5 inch stuff. The price seems great on the gun, but I hope you get a better gun then my brother has. Good luck.

 

I own one and I like it. It's the Black SPS version. I've used mine on Ducks, Geese, Squirrels, Pheasant and Doves with out cycling issues. I know when to use and not use the barrel seal activator. It's not my choice for small game but I have used it.

Broke mine in on informal targets, bought it used (barley) from a buddy on the cheap. Sometimes on here (SGW.com) they have gotten a bad wrap but, I believe guys were not using the barrel seal activator correctly. It cycles my trap and skeet reloads without any problems. These are what I use for doves.

BUT, #1 - you don't buy a 3 1/2" SuperMag to shoot feather weight loads. And in my opinion the gun would be high on your priority list for duck/geese if that's your bag. Not with small game and targets. I would not recommend it for an all around gun. The 2 3/4" - 3" 11-87 I would recommend as a better choice. Search around for the SPS version if possible. Finish is a bit better and probably cheaper now that they don't offer it for 2009.

 

The 11-87 supermag is my trap gun, turkey gun, pheasant gun, and will be my deer gun next year (didn't have the funds for a slug barrel this year, guess the good ol' Ithaca will have to do). Mine cycles 1 oz. loads ok for the most part, and I havn't had a problem with 1 1/8 oz loads since I took it out of the box. I also find shooting heavier loads in this gun isn't a problem since there is virtually no recoil. Great gun for hunting and clay games. Only problems mine has is that the chamber seems a little tight, and sometimes it won't cycle Federal Gold Medal shells, and black Remington shells split at the base and completley jam the gun.