Grr!

Twice now, I’ve lost the charging handle from my 11-87. The first time seemed completely random, and I figured it was a one-off. It’s an almost-40-year-old gun. No sweat… hit up Numrich for an OEM-style replacement and all was well.

Two weeks ago, at a skeet shoot, that replacement vanished during a round. WTH?? I’ve got another one coming, this time a Choate from Midway. But the underlying question is, “why the heck do these things keep coming out?

Paint your new one fluorescent green, so it will stand out against all the clay pigeon pieces downrange.
And attach an Airtag.

I like the idea of painting it bright!

Not sure about that airtag attachment thing, though...

I would replace these two parts, though MGW shows out of stock on both. Remington should have them. I didn't see them on the Brownells site.

Remington 1100 / 11-87 Operating Handle Detent Spring, 12ga

Remington 1100 / 11-87 Operating Handle Detent Ball, 12ga

Numerich has all 3 parts in stock.
Parts 63, 64, 65

Linkage

Since two charging handles were lost, it's almost certainly the spring (most likely) or the ball detent (less likely but still a possibility on a 40 year old shotgun.)

I notice that the spring being offered by Numrich is an aftermarket part. I'd be inclined to check first with Remington.

There might be corrosion or debris in the spring channel, inhibiting spring movement. Soak that bolt, flush it well.

Para and KMitch: thank you for the research.

I'll place an order this evening.

As for bolt-soaking: what's your recommendation for what to soak it in?

- - - - -

I did try to scavenge a charging handle from a [much newer] 11-87 in The Lovely Girlfriend's safe... I couldn't grip/pull it hard enough to remove it. That one's attached WAY better.

Whatever you have on hand, as long as the bolt is chromed and not nickel plated.

Para:

quote:

I'd be inclined to check first with Remington.

There are no parts Remington has anymore.
Any parts for an 11-87 will come from anybody but Remington.

Of course. That makes as much sense as anything.

They really do suck these days.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Whatever you have on hand, as long as the bolt is chromed and not nickel plated.

Easy enough. I’ve got a pint bottle or two of Hoppe’s on hand.

Well, here’s a fun twist!

When I got to the clays range this evening, one of the fellas who run it got up and walked away. I thought it was odd, but didn’t think about it much.

A moment later he reappeared with his hand extended. In it was my original charging handle. Someone had found it a couple of weeks ago and set it in the clubhouse window sill.

A great finish to a nice day.

Nice!
I turned in a Kreighoff somebody left on the trap range. I don’t know how you forget a shotgun worth north of 15k but there it was.

Three months old, I guess this thread qualifies for the OLD THREAD RENEWAL alert.

I finally made time today to go about replacing the spring and ball detent on this charging handle. And now that the kitchen counter is covered in parts, I’m in that “how exactly do I do this??” stage.

I removed the action bar setup, and stuck the charging handle in place. Seems pretty secure here on the counter, but obviously it’s not secure enough to stay in place during use.



Removed it again, and the ball detent is visible.



Really ugly close-up:



There’s a pin sticking out at the end (outside my pics, to the left) that appears to be item 79 on the diagram below. (Link to diagram).

On that diagram, it looks to me like 64 is the ball, 65 is the spring, and parts 15, 16, and 79 go together on the “rear” end of the spring. Does 68a go in from the right side to hold those pieces in place? It looks that way to me. It also looks like it’s a permanent assembly — as in, there’s no method for removing that pin (68a) and in turn, the spring and ball.

Am I correct here, or am I overlooking something more?

I love the disclaimer. Charts is for parts ID not for reassembly. That’s good because that is one busy diagram. lol

There must be a way to remove that pin 68a. It's difficult to believe that this Remington design would not allow for replacement of those parts.

https://forums.brianenos.com/t...ging-handle-problem/

quote:

"The later style is retained by a cross pin at the rear of the carrier, which retains the little spring-loaded bolt buffer sticking out the back of the carrier, the spring, and the detent. I would recommend removing these parts and cleaning all the gunk out of the hole as well. As somebody else stated, rust or oil goo could be keeping the detent from moving freely. "

Thank you for the link and quote.

Gunk in the hole may be a thing… I’m wondering if I can dunk or soak that whole mechanism and clear out some gunk. I just don’t see a way to remove 68a, for the other side of the assembly is solid.

Part 79:


The pin hole for 68a:


The opposite side:


Part 79:


Carving this notch deeper should be easy.


Now that I have that “opposite side” pic on screen, I’m trying to get a better look at it. Maybe that’s not a blind hole that 68a goes into….

Here it is: admittedly a crummy, zoomed-in pic, but… maybe this is the “other” side of that hole (or the other end of 68a)?

Take a pick and scrape that spot. If it lines up with the pin hole on the other side, that's gotta be it.

I believe we’re on the path now.

I’ll take this action-bar setup to work in the morning and kluge up a way to hold it securely so I can press that pin out.