I did some more work on my Remington Sportsman 12 Auto

[Big Frank]

I did some more work on my Remington Sportsman 12 Auto today. This is Remington's unfinished low-budget version of the M1100. I put a cleaning rod down the formerly 28" long barrel and marked it with a permanent marker to get a measurement. As near as I'm able to figure, the barrel is 18 13/16" long. That's where it ended up when I cut however many spaces off the vent rib and left a little bit of the barrel sticking out past it, about 1/8" past the flat end of the rib like the it originally was.  I put a Samson Manufacturing Swivel Stud QD Adapter on the rear sling swivel today. I bought a pair of these and already put the other one on my 10/22. I have a Choate Remington 870/1100/1187/VersaMax 12ga 7 Shot Mag. Ext., Blued on it with a Nordic Components Standard Barrel Clamp, 12ga., with one of their Picatinny Rails for Barrel Clamps on each side. Next I put a Magpul RSA QD - Rail Sling Attachment QD on the right side and a free Harbor Freight flashlight on the left side. I had that light on my 12.7" AR temporarily, but it's a short-range light, better suited to a short-range firearm. I'm switching all of my long guns to QD slings, except my Winchester 94 Trapper. It's leather sling still has Q/R swivels, at least for now. The swivel is attached to the stub of the .44 Magnum's half-magazine tube.

I already had a Williams FireSight Ghost Ring on it and finally got around to putting a FireSight bead on the front today. But the bead is only .250" high and now that I see what a set of them looks like, I think should have bought a .375" high bead. I have the big Vang Comp Dome Head Safety switch that I can disengage when I put my finger on the trigger. And I'm still running the Choate fiberglass filled plastic forend, and matching pistol grip stock with the butt that looks like it belongs on an FAL. They quit making that stock a long time ago, when the skeletonized stock came out, I think, but still make the forend. I have a Choate High Visibility Hunter Orange Color Shell Follower, too. It has a no tilt tail that keeps you from compressing the spring too far if you try to load an extra shell. Not long ago I swapped out the Choate Remington Combat Bolt Handle 1100/1187 for a GG&G Steel Matte Enhanced Bolt Handle. The Choate bolt handle made it really easy to reach over the top and rack it with the side of my left hand, but I didn't like how tall it was.

I have an Adaptive tactical Receiver Mounted Shell Carrier for Remington shotguns that keeps six 12 gauge shells at the ready. I also have a TacStar Sidesaddle mount made for a Mossberg 930/935 that I'm going to screw to the right side of the stock so I'll have another 6 extra rounds on board. That will help balance out the hollow synthetic stock. I chose the Mossberg 930/935 Sidesaddle because it's rectangular and doesn't have the typical part extending off the back end of it. I think I'm going to cut a little bit of the lower front corner of the backing plate off before I screw it to the stock with drywall screws, or coarse thread exterior screws I have, then attach the intact shell holder to it. Once I do that and get some more QD swivels for the sling I think I'll be all set.

https://www.samson-mfg.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SS-QD-ADPT

https://magpul.com/rsa-qd-rail-sling-attachment.html?mp_global_color=118

https://nordiccomp.com/categories/standard-barrel-clamp/

https://nordiccomp.com/categories/picatinny-rail-for-barrel-clamp/

https://shop.williamsgunsight.com/ecommerce/p/wgos--remington-pre-2003shotgun--rifle-ghost-ring-firesight-set-070916

https://vangcomp.com/product/vcs-remington-dome-head-safety/

https://adaptivetactical.com/collections/shotgun-accessories/products/receiver-mounted-shell-carrier-for-remington-shotguns

[Big Frank]

Too bad the Strike Shotgun Barrel Clamp for 12-Gauge shotguns wasn't around when I bought my first barrel clamp. At least I didn't know about it until years later. To take my barrel off to clean my gun, I have to take off the barrel clamp and unscrew the mag extension. No problem, except I have to take both Picatinny rails off to get to the screws, and I have to take the Magpul QD sling point off to get to the screw on one of the Picatinny rails. So, I have to take off 3 extra things before I can take the barrel clamp off. But I don't want to put $38.95 into another barrel clamp.

The Strike Shotgun Barrel Clamp for 12-Guage helps to add strength and rigidity to your feed tubs with the ability to add accessories and a sling point. One side of the barrel clamp features a Picatinny (Pic) rail to mount a weapon light or other accessory. On the other side you have a 360° free swivel quick detach (QD) socket for an easy sling attachment point. The user can pick which side you want the Pic rail or QD to be. Compatible with the most common 12-Guage barrels and feed tubes, this lightweight barrel clamp is machined from 6061-T6 aluminum. This Strike Shotgun Barrel Clamp for 12-Guage provides additional support for your magazine feed tubes with the bonus of having a QD sling point on one side and a Picatinny rail accessory on the other that is quick and easy to install. Available in anodized SI BLACKLINE, FDELINE or TITAN EDITION colors.

I'm already waiting on an order from them. I remember liking their Gunpowder Soap so I ordered a few bars of that too. It's shaped like a Reuleaux triangle that's a constant width in any direction, not like their logo that I just made "gunpowder" color. The triangle shape was easy for me to hang onto, which is always a plus, even if you shower alone. You know what I mean. The box it's in looks kind of like an ammo box, but despite the name, there's no gunpowder in it.

https://www.strikeindustries.com/si-sg-bcl-12.html

https://www.strikeindustries.com/si-gpsoap.html

[Big Frank]

Here are some pics of what I've got so far. I put the UTG (Under The Gun) Detachable Swivel With Picatinny Mounting Base that was on the CCU on the right front rail temporarily, just until I get the Strike Industries barrel extension clamp. I'm putting the front of the sling on the right side of all my weapons that have side-mounted lights on them, so I can use my left thumb to turn them on and off. One or two came with pressure switches, but I'm not running wires and switches just to go from one side to the other. If I was going from closer to the muzzle back, I would use one. Since this will be used for short range if I use it at all at night, I only have the free 9 LED Harbor Freight flashlight mounted, and have good lights on longer range weapons and my VRF14, which I'm more likely to use at night. I'll probably put the NcSTAR VISM tactical light back on whenever I get it fixed. I think it's half as many lumens as my Streamlight, which will go on my shortest AR. On the two WMLs that are bottom mounted, it doesn't matter what side I put the sling on.

[Big Frank]

I put the Strike Industries barrel clamp on, then put the Nordic Components barrel clamp back on in front on it, without the Picatinny rails. I put a layer of Gorilla Tape on the Strike Industries barrel clamp so I don't have metal on metal contact, but didn't bother when I put the Nordic Components barrel clamp on. I'm not sure I'm leaving it on. That one is so tall it has to go between the base of the ribs, which put it flush with the end of the mag extension. If I ever need to bop someone on the head with my shotgun, I'm not worried about bending my mag extension now.   There's 1" of muzzle protruding beyond that. I put the Harbor Freight flashlight on that I accidentally crushed in the Magpul mount before. The flashlight that was in the mount will be going back in my Mechanix Wear bag in the car.

I know I need to clean my barrel, but maybe I'll wait until I zero in the sights with the Brenneke slugs I have a bunch of.

[Big Frank]

I couldn't stand looking at that dirty shotgun anymore. Everything except the forend, receiver/stock, and mag clamps is in the bucket. Not everyone has a bucket of gun cleaning solvent in their kitchen, but I'm not everyone.   I soaked one end of the barrel, and action bar with sleeve, overnight then flipped them over. I'll flip them over again when I get up in the afternoon/at night, whenever, after I get some sleep. Then maybe again the next day, and clean everything the day after that. I'm going to put Gorilla tape on the second pair of mag clamps too. And if I get a bug up my @$$ about how the barrel looks, I just might spray paint the whole thing, minus the front sight bead. The small round thing in the pho-toe is a plastic strainer I got from my mom's housse. It's made to fit over the end of cans of vegetables and such, but it works well for holding small parts. I usually throw parts in the bucket and swirl them around with my hand, rather than put them in the strainer, but I have used it to drain them .

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

The magazine tube got into the act now. Everyone into the pool! Uh, bucket. It fits halfway in, and although it doesn't need any help getting clean, I figured why not, I can't put the lid on with the barrel and action bar sticking out anyway. I put the mag extension, spring, and follower in yesterday. I did some light sanding on the blaze orange follower a couple weeks ago and smoothed it right out.

[Big Frank]

I finally got my gun cleaned, lubed, and reassembled, with Gorilla Tape on the old mag extension clamp. The tape sets it far enough away from the vent rib that it no longer hits the rib supports. It was only hitting on the right side, maybe because the barrel and forend can rotate slightly before they're clamped down. I moved this second mag extension clamp back a hair from its previous position.

I had a hard time getting the gun apart, which is usually extremely easy. You have to reach into the bottom of the receiver and depress the end of the Feed Latch to take the bolt out and to put it back in. The shell lifter moves out of the way so it's easy to reach. The feed latch is a long flat piece of spring steel with a "hook" on the front, that's staked into the right side of the receiver at the rear. But it moved forward a little bit. I slid it back in place and use one of the sidesaddle 2 piece screws to hold it in place to stake it. This is one of those jobs where you need a special staking tool with a big U-notch to go around the other side of the receiver and back inside so you can pound it straight down.. But I don't have one and used a center punch to stake it. The angle was so extreme, it was barely able to get into the steel of the receiver without sliding away. And the rough texture on the side of center punch chewed up the edge of the receiver on the left side. It looked like it was attacked with a rasp. I didn't even try to hammer the metal down in place before I started filing it down. It looks bad but everything is back in working order. A Sharpie Fine Point permanent marker helps disguise this and other scratches, etc.

The TacStar Mossberg 930 Sidesaddle is mounted to the right side of the stock, just ahead of the butt pad, which only extends 1/8" into the stock. I measured the spacing of the 2 holes meant for the screws that replace the Mossberg trigger group pins, and added 2 more with the same spacing, and 4 with the same spacing on the other side. The spacing of the 1st and last hole from the end on both sides was different, but the top and bottom mirrored each other by 180 degrees of rotation. Then I made 3 more holes down the middle, halfway between the other holes. It ended up being 3 diagonal rows of 3 holes, plus 2 holes in opposite corners. I counter sunk all 11 holes and used 1" drywall screws to fasten the aluminum backing plate to the stock. I had to leave 2 screws out because they were hitting the recoils spring tube inside the stock. I stripped 1 or 2 screws but there are still 7 or 8 holding solidly. I ran out of blue Loctite a few days ago, and used a little bit of Permatex high strength RED threadlocker. I hope I never have to take it off, because I'll need to apply heat, and the shell holder is molded from plastic.

I have 6 spare rounds of buckshot on the left side of the receiver, and 6 Brenneke slugs on the right side of the stock in the pics. It really helps balance the gun out, because the hollow stock makes it even more muzzle heavy than the wood stock. I put the slugs away and but the 00 Buck in the shell holder on the stock and it feels so much better that way, I'll probably always carry extra shells there, even if I take the shell holder off the receiver.

[Big Frank]

I got the Briley +1 mag extension on and put the QR swivel I had on my factory magazine cap on it. It's an Uncle Mike's brand but they don't make it anymore. It looks similar to the ones they make for Remington 7400s and other rifles in that line, except it has a short screw and a hollow tube for a nut inside, with a small screwdriver slot on it. My screwdriver kept slipping off the hollow nut and I didn't get it as tight as I wanted it, but it has blue Loctite on it so it's not going anywhere. I put a Samson Mfg. QD swivel stud adaptor on it, just like the one on the stock. Now, with the light mounted under the barrel instead of hanging off the side, it fits in the Condor shotgun scabbard. But I still need to get a non-snag front sight so it quits tearing up the lining and getting thread jammed into the sight base. I'd like to get one of these Ruger 10/22 M1 Carbine front sights and paint the blade with fluorescent paint, but I can't find the sight anywhere. The M1 carbine 10/22 was a TALO exclusive and they don't sell parts. They just sell guns to dealers. I just realized I have 2 screwdriver bits with notches in the middle in my Callahan 123-piece gunsmithing screwdriver kit. The wide one just might be wide enough to fit over the end of the screw so I can tighten the nut. Probably not, but I need to try it. The balance point of the unloaded gun is right behind the cocking handle now. It used to be muzzle heavy even when it was unloaded.

https://www.briley.com/p-62048-remington-tac-14-and-870-one-shot-extension-12-gauge-only.aspx

https://www.unclemikes.com/search?q=remington&search-button=&lang=default

https://www.samson-mfg.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SS-QD-ADPT

[Big Frank]

I got a Sure Cycle system upgrade kit for my shotgun in the mail today. It's all stainless steel and aluminum. A stainless steel hex nut replaces a much larger steel fastener that takes a big screwdriver. All I have to do is take the gun apart, clean the inside of the recoil tube really well, and install it. I have to remember not to oil it. It come with one spring for normal to heavy loads, and a lighter spring for shooting clay pigeons, etc. The thicker spring is already assembled to the s.s. follower and aluminum spring retainer. The s.s. is the type that you cap tap against a magnet and it bounces off. The thinner spring is 1 1/4" longer than the heavy spring.If it wasn't for the difference in thickness I'd think the long spring was more powerful, not less powerful. I shouldn't have to worry about any of these parts corroding even if my gun falls in the water.

https://www.surecycle.com/products/shotguns/sure-cycle-systems/

[Big Frank]

I installed the Sure Cycle system Friday night (?) and it took way longer than it should have. First of all I couldn't take the stock off because one of the wood screws in the side of the stock was stuck against the recoil spring tube. I had to take the plastic shell holder off to get to the screws in the metal plate. The head of one of the tiny hex screws stripped out, so I had to drill the head off of it. When I got the shell holder off I used a pair of Vise-Grips to get the rest of the screw out. Then I started taking screws out of the metal plate until I figured out which one was stuck in the tube. I ended up using bolt cutters to shorten that screw and the ones farther back, between the end of the tube and the butt. I didn't like all those pokey points sticking out where I had to put my fingers to get the nut on the tube. I just cut them in half with bolt cutters and used the grinder to put a little point on the end. I left the front screws that weren't causing any trouble alone.

After I got the stock off, took the spring retainer out, and got all the old parts out, I tried putting the new parts in.  But the new spring follower only went in halfway before it stopped. I could force it in but it still wouldn't go up the tube like it should. A few of the screws in the side of the stock indented the tube badly enough to mess it it up. So I took the biggest drill bit that fit inside the tube and slid it back and forth. All the places it hung up were in the rear half. So I took the next size drill bit, 1/2", and clamped it in my vise. I grabbed the receiver with attached recoil spring tube and magazine tube, and screwed it onto the drill bit. In and out several times, drilling deeper and deeper until it was ~4 1/2" deep. All that twisting set my carpal tunnel pain ablaze in one wrist, and I ended up putting a stick in the receiver for leverage to finish drilling. I was afraid I'd screw things up even worse if I clamped the receiver in the vise and used my big 1/2" drill motor to do the job.

The good news was, the new parts fit after that. The bad news is, I "rifled" the tube with the drill bit. So I got a long rod, actually the paint stirrer that goes in my drill motor, taped a piece of sandpaper to it and wrapped it around. I then proceed to "lap the rifling" inside the tube. It's not pretty but it should work. The follower shouldn't come back far enough to hit the rifling, and I don't think it's bad enough to make the recoil spring bind. My butt pad is rubber molded over a plastic plate. It was coming apart at the edges, so I pulled the plastic plate out, put some Goop on the pad, and stuck the plate back in. As with some other things, it's not pretty but it works, and all the ugliness is on the inside where no one can see it. (Insert ex-wife joke here.) The recoil spring feels stiffer than the 40-year old original. It looks like it was a day shy of 3 weeks after I hired in at GM on Tax Day, 1985 when I bought it. It's been a really good gun those 40 years, but doesn't get much use anymore. BTW, it cost me $289.99 + 4% state sales tax, $301.59 out the door. Now for 300 bucks you can only buy a gun made someplace I can't find on a map, like Turkey-stan. I don't remember how much my younger brother paid for his 870 Wingmaster the same time, but I think it was more. My older brother had a Winchester 1400 that he had to keep pulling his comb out of his pocket to unjam, but I think he finally got it fixed.

I have so many of these projects that take a lot longer than they should, because something unforeseen nearly always comes up. Like when I finally got my 20" AR put together. Under the front of the bipod mount is a plastic washer held on with an M-LOK nut and flat-head screw. The screw was too long and looked like it was hitting the gas block. So I took off the bipod and its mount, and took the screw and washer off. I have a couple extra M-LOK nuts and several screws, but only one flat-head screw and it was the same length because it came with the same part as that screw. The plastic washer is counter-sunk on one side so I needed to use a flat-head screw. So I hung onto it with a pair of needle-nose pliers and ground it down with the bench grinder. It kept slipping in the pliers and I had to use my finger to push the screw against the grinding wheel. It got hot in a hurry and I had to keep dunking it. When it looked short enough I put the screw in the vise using the padded jaws, and filed the end down. It wasn't fun when I tried to file off the burrs and bevel the edge. I took the screw out of the vise and dragged it across a file to do it. Then I just had to put everything back together.

I'll haver to do some shooting before I recommend the Sure Cycle system, but it looks a LOT better than the factory parts.