My daughter (12 years old) shoots trap with a 1100 that I have cut down the monte carlo stock to shorten the length of pull, and Jones pad to take care of her canting problems. The problem that I have is that it shoots factory shells just fine, but not reloads. I have shot the same reloads thru my Beretta auto with no problem. She lays the shell in closes the action raises to shoot and nothing happens, I dont even here a fire pin click. Then I have to pull like crazy to get the breech open to get the shell out. Help!

Sounds to me as if you have a chamber/hull base size problem. If you're making your own reloads, and using hulls fired in your Beretta, then the chamber on her 1100 is smaller. The hull is being fire-formed and the base expanded when you shoot it, and your reloader is not resizing the brass back to factory standards.

Her 1100 won't fire because the bolt is not going completely into battery, and you're having trouble ejecting it because the brass is stuck at the face of the chamber.

I shoot 1100's, and I reload with a MEC 9000 that resizes. All the good reloading manuals show proper hull dimensions.

JMHO

Kip

Like stated above, you need to size the shells when you reload.

ss

I reload with a MEC Sizemaster but I think the resizer needs to be adjusted to size the brass smaller I noticed that it doesn't have hardly any resistance when I pull it down in the resizing station.

Ypu may need a new re-sizing die, in the meantime, keep the 1100 hulls seperated and try that. Rem 1100s have TIGHT chambers! Hap

I shoot an 1100 too and have had problems with reloads that are not resized properly. Try this, insert the shell into the chamber and see if it slides in easy or has to be push in to seat. Some reloads I have used have to be shoved with some force into the chamber and then the bolt still will not close all the way. I have to use a separate deprimer/resizer (mec) to make sure my reloads(pacific 366) run thru my 1100. good luck

+1 what Hap says, keep your Beretta and 1100 hulls separate. Wayne

as per above a good resizer or green for 1 gun & gold for the other, steel headed hulls give many guns that problem. Ross

I would suggest getting a new resizer for your pacific. I shoot AA's and STS in numerous guns including two 1100's and I have no problems. What kind of hulls are you using?

I have had this problem whenn I first started reloading with a mec 650. I got a mec sizing guage and a size master, adjusted the size master so the hulls fit faily loose in the go part of the guage. I check the setting about every 1000 hulls. You might run a good chamber brush through the barrel a carbon build up will also not let the shell go all the way into the gun.

The collet sizer on the MEC Sizemaster and MEC's dedicated sizer do an excellent job re-sizing the case head. My method for setting the sizer is to insert a factory shell (you must remove the de-prime punch from the Sizemaster) and adjust the collet until you can feel a slight amount of pressure on the operating handle when you pull it down. This should re-size the case head to factory specs.

I run all my hulls through the sizer on a MEC Sizemaster before loading them on my Hornady 366's or P/W 900's. I find that removing the primer as a separate operation makes the progressive loaders run smoother.

Jim Skeel

The Mec guage is a good thing. Or, the proper size for 12 guage is .809"

When I got my 90T it would not take shells the Beretta had used ok. I found I was only sizing to .812 and the Beretta took them fine due to some chamber wear.

Measure or guage the reloads to see where you are.

I don't reccomend opening the 1100 chamber, that will happen soon enough.

HM

Are your reloads Rem Gun Club hulls ?? Try resizing and reloading STS hulls and maybe the brass will have some give and size better as the steel base may expand outward making them tighter to fit into the chamber . Always resize all shells !!!

It seems the only problem hull is a Fiocchi (6 star crimp) everything else I run thru it Remington STS, Gun Clubs, Nitros, Federal Top Guns, Win AA drop in the chanber just fine. Guess I will just dump the Fiocchi hulls!

434, Do check into getting a Mec gauge checker. Its a very good investment for the money. Do make sure your resizer is totally closing and the nut on the bottom of the machine is good and tight 13/16ths., so that it stays that way. Good Luck and Break-em all. Jeff

Resize them to a minimum spec. I think the 12ga is average at about .805" for resizing. Mec has the spec in their manuals. The Mec collet type sizer can be adjusted to give that dimension rather easily. Mec sells a wrench that fits the nut, so you don't have to bugger it with something else. You can buy the maintainance kit with the wrench and some other tools and supplies. If the collet is worn or broken, you need to replace it. I listed Dillon's specs in the link above. Here's another url: http://www.dave-cushman.net/shot/shotshellloads.html If you need to, you can probably size down to .800" if the chamber in the 1100 is tight. You want about .005" clearance between the chamber and the head of the shell, at a minimum. Some hulls require a little less, but pumps and autos can benefit from a little more.