After my brother passed away I took his 1187 home to clean it. I'm a pump gun man so don't have much knowledge about semi-autos. I watched a you tube video several times before tackling the job and I'm pretty sure I did it all correctly.

This morning I decided to hunt with it after it setting up all season and the most I can get is two shots but typically only one because the gun won't reload from the magazine. The bolt just locks to the back. I can press the button and cycle it and sometimes it'll pick up the next shell and sometimes it wont.

You guys got any suggestions?

Most likely it sounds like a bent carrier release. Most of them are bent because some one pulled the trigger when the trigger group was out of the gun. The magazine spring also needs to have enough force to trip the carrier release. The gun is designed to lock back after every shot and the shell coming from the magazine tube hits the carrier release and the bolt moves forward. Just try bending it a little.


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Or...you could have some crud inbetween the release and the receiver.


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That gun is picky about what ammo you put in it as well, or at least the 2 I have are

Sandy, I haven't found that issue with duck loads. One of mine doesn't care at all, the other doesn't like light target loads. Are you having that issue with the duck loads as well?

Kill any birds?

Kirk, it's not been exactly glorious. Had a couple good woodie shoots, but Tuesday was the best besides the openers, and it didn't amount to much besides the woodies.

My 1187 wouldn't cycle for anything, it even had the receiver remade. Talk about a long process, sold mine shortly after buying.

Those 1187 fit me like they were made for me. I'm trying to remember if I ever had any trouble with mine. Could this be a gas problem? I traded mine off years ago.

If it's locking open, the gas piston is pushing the bolt back all the way. If it was not locking open or not ejecting, then, I would say clean the ports and the piston/piston area.


Most liberals seem to suffer from the same mental condition....it's called stupidity!

check around where the barrel goes over the mag tube. There should be a rubber o-ring. If its missing (they do decentigrate) it can leak the gas and prevent the bolt from operating properly.

The oring is good to go. His issue lies in it not kicking another shell, and cycling back forward. Bolt is locking to the rear.

I bet there is rust Inside the mag tube. It's pretty common on 1187's . Either the spring or the shell is hanging up on the I side of the tube. Also if the gun has been sitting awhile make sure the pivot point for the "ramp"is clean and oiled and that the spring for the ramp is not broken. Which is also a common problem. If you address all these things I bet you'll be in business. Another thing is the outside of the tube. I just fixed an 1100 that was so dirty the exact same thing happened. Breakfree powder blaster and hornady on shot afterwards fixed it. And lots of scrubbing. If you need it I can take my 1187 apart and show you all the key parts to clean In a message or over the phone. I bet yours is just far dirtier than what you think. Alot of people don't k ow bit them, and 1100's are incredibly dirty operating guns as far as the gas system is considered.

It's simple. get a mud motor. shoot ducks in the face.

I hunted with it opening day of the 1st split. Shooting Fiocchi 3" #3's. I use them in everything I shoot. The gun was flawless that morning. When I took it apart, it wasn't extremely dirty with exception to the outside of the magazine tube. I took it completely down, wiped everything down with a lightly oiled rag cleaned the gas ports, inspected the O-ring and reassembled carefully. I didn't brush or swab the magazine tho but did inspect the mag spring, which was mildly rusted. The only thing I didn't take down was the butt stock. I'm gonna go thru it again when I get home after the weekend. I'm too busy killing ducks right now to bother with it. My trusty 887 Nitro Mag pump gun never lets me down!!

Here's a question....what should the split position in the two gas rings be in? I made sure they weren't lined up when I put it back together as it seemed logical for them not to be lined up.

The gas system is working fine if the gun is locking open after the shot. The split position doesn't matter- up, down or sideways.

If the gun is locking open after the shot and a shell is on the carrier, this is the piece you need to look at.



If the gun is locking open after the shot and there is no shell on the carrier, this piece will need some adjustment or there is crud between it and the receiver.



Most liberals seem to suffer from the same mental condition....it's called stupidity!

Shell is still in the magazine. If I release the bolt forward, then pull it back the next round will chamber. As I said originally, mostly one shot...occasionaly two before it malfunctions.

Sounds like to me one of the parts that's around d the tube is getting hung up. That's exactly what the 1100 was doing that I fixed/cleaned. And they are almost identical guns.... what blur said also has ground here. If you are 10000% sure you cleaned everything effectively, the release button or the carrier bars may be bent

It's simple. get a mud motor. shoot ducks in the face.

If the bolt is locking open, then it is not being triggered to close. The next shell coming out of the magazine triggers the close when it hits the carrier release (part in the top picture from above).....or you push the release up from the bottom.

The next shell is released by the feed latch (part in the bottom picture from above). The part has a bend in it for a reason. It works on a hinge point that fits in the recess of the receiver. It is made of spring steel and acts like a spring. The feed latch keeps the next shell in the magazine. When the carrier returns to the lowered position, it applies pressure to force the latch over, allowing the next shell to pop out onto the carrier, hitting the carrier release, feeding the next shell up as the bolt is returned.

Sounds like the feed latch is not being moved over during the action cycling. I don't think that has anything to do with the gas system if it is ejecting the spent shell and locking the bolt open.


Most liberals seem to suffer from the same mental condition....it's called stupidity!

Update...took the whole thing down again, wiped it all down, again, and inspected everything. It all appears to be in good shape, but still wont release the next shell. After watching another you-tube video on reassembly, I did notice this gun only has a single, two piece gas ring, whereas the video showed two individual rings. It appears to be the larger ring, flat on one side, beveled on the top, and another ring fitted around the outside of that. That's the way it was when I took it apart initially, so I didn't change anything. Is that the correct allignment for this component or should that outer ring be setting on top of the larger ring, instead of around it?

The feed latch didn't appear to be removeable, so if it needs to be adjusted, how do I go about doing that? It has good spring to it and doesn't seem to be gummed up at all. That piece just drops out of my NitroMag when disassembling.

I've never beem fond of using alot of oil on my guns, just using an oily rag to wipe everthing down, but again, that's on my pump. Does this thing require more oil in certain places?

The joined gas ring assemblies are supposedly interchangeable with the earlier two-piece variety. My older 1187 has the two piece setup and is aligned as pictured.



No special oiling required on mine and I don't put any on the magazine tube; just keep it clean of powder fouling. The feed latch on mine will pop out with a little persuasion.

Might want to check Recoil spring in stock, tube and spring may be full of grud. Also bolt buffer on back of bolt may be worn. Sp 10s were bad about breaking them. Can't say if 1100 uses the same system.

Not the same system. SP10's were the Ithaca platform. Gas operated, and yes, that buffer broke on all the Ithaca auto loaders! I had a 16 gauge that I had to replace one.


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I would guess it is in the release lever thing blue posted a pic of. I have had mine get bent and wasn't meeting properly to get pushed back to release the next shell. It would stop in the open position like you are talking about.

The rails that the bolt sits on should catch it and push it back to release the next shell. I bent mine back to were it worked took a couple times assembling the gun and checking before I got it back were it should of been.

I just poped mine out with a screw driver. Not sure it should come out that easy or not. My gun is heavily used.

Yes, once you drop the trigger/carrier assembly out, it will pop right out.


Most liberals seem to suffer from the same mental condition....it's called stupidity!

I use to shoot a 1187 had the same problem . Sold it bought a Beretta AL 391 tecnacus 2nd generation . It don't care what load it given it just don't jam. Still have 1187s in 20,28,410 sporting molds.

The end of the shell latch breaks easily on 11-87s, especially magnums and super magnums. It will slowly to get a point that shells to do not release from the magazine. $20 part and easily fixed. You can look in the receiver with the FCG out and see if it's broken or not.

It can be fixed at home if you have the staking tool. A spring loaded center punch can be used to re-stake the latch into the receiver but it isn't as easy due to the small spaces. I've heard of people using epoxy to hold them in place as well.

I've examined the latch pretty closely. I dont think the tip (bent end) is broken. I don't see any new metal there to indicate material is missing. It's making contact with the shell, just not moving out of the way to let the shell drop onto the ramp.

I'm still not sure how to or what kind of adjustment can be done, tho.