Was looking at an 11-87 synthetic today and am considering one but am not familiar with this model as far as quality build and am concerned about rusting issues since reading posts about the matte finishes on many of these models. Can members who own 11-87 models give me they"re impressions of this model as far as feeding and the rusting issues? Looks like a nice gun and was wondering if Remington ironed out any bugs. Would be used for Upland game more than around water.

For those unfamiliar with this model setup:

http://www.remington.com/products/firea ... hetic.aspx

If it has the finish as my 870 you will never have a problem with it. Over 10K rounds and 20 some years of use and no rust or deep scratches to speak of. Most of those rounds were from skeet but this was my only gun for a long time so it saw a lot of field use in the worst of conditions. I have no complains about the finish.

I did own an 11-87 for a very brief time but that had the blued receiver, which if wiped down after each exposure to water will last forever as well.

Thanks for reply. Heard some complaints on the forum from others that experienced rust with the matte finishes. One commented on not removing all bluing salts from process. Could have been on the sportsman series. I am warming up to the synthetic stocks as being a practical move for wear and inclement weather but miss the high polish blue on some models.

I have a 1187 sportsman that I bought as a flooded timber duck gun. Got it in time for last season and havent had any issues. I wipe down as a minimum after any outing

On the guns with a matte finish that I have seen that did seem to have rusting issues (mostly 870 Expresses), in my opinion the root cause was that the rinse bath after the flash bluing did not remove all the residual salts. Oil is not a solvent for salts, so you could oil it forever and not cure the problem. A good bath in hot soapy water, a good rinse, a thorough drying, and then oiling stopped the issue.
The more recent Remingtons also seem to have a less rough matte finish.
A lot of criticism gets thrown at Remington because you cannot get a Wingmaster for an Express price, nor can you get an 1100 Sporting, G3, or an 11-87 Premier for a Sportsman Synthetic price. The gun should function fine, but it won't look fancy doing it. The 11-87 has been around for 28 years now with no changes to the basic action, and it is only a slight modification of the 1100 action which has been around for 52 years unchanged, and is the most popular semi autoloading shotgun of all time. It works.
If you ever do run into an issue, someone can usually tell you how to fix it, and cheap, and parts are everywhere. Yes, I do like them.

Good info Virginian...thanks for posting !!