Opening up gas ports in a barrel should only be done with a complete understanding of the consequences and what ammunition will be used in that barrel hence forth and forever more. It's a rare situation where I'll open up gas ports, and I urge anyone thinking of doing so to exercise extreme caution. It's awfully easy to get into trouble and ruin the barrel or the gun.

Two areas that can have a major effect on the proper functioning of an 1100 with light loads are, believe it or not, the inside of the action-spring tube and the magazine tube. The action-spring tube is located at the rear of the receiver and houses the action spring. That's the spring that pushes the bolt back into place against the face of the barrel. I have seen a number of guns where the inside of the action-spring tube was just plain filled with dirt, rust, gunk, carbon, bits of weeds, and other assorted debris. Anything that will inhibit or slow the movement of the action spring can cause a feeding malfunction.

The same holds true with the inside of the magazine. I have seen more than one 1100 with the inside of the magazine rusted and the magazine spring rusted to the point that the spring wire had broken. This obviously would make movement of the shells out of the magazine difficult if not impossible and would lead to feeding problems. Many times, the owner incorrectly thought the feeding problem was caused by something in the gas system.

One other "cause" of problems with light loads is the use of a barrel designed for a heavy load. A barrel designed for 3-inch magnums will have a single, small gas port, while a barrel set up for standard 23⁄4-inch field or skeet loads will have two larger ports. The magnum barrel will vent out less gas because it's under greater pressure. If you use light loads in that same barrel, you'll not get the amount of gas you need for proper functioning.

While it would be great to have a semiauto that would function reliably with every possible loading under every conceivable condition, it isn't likely to happen. The Remington 1100 is a great old gun, but even it can't do the impossible. Given a little care and attention, it'll come darn close, though.

Until next time, good luck and good gunsmithing!