Hey guys. I just bought a used 1187 for home defense. It is marked as a sportsman. It has an 18.5" barrel, an extended magazine tube, and an add-on picatinny rail that mounts with screws through the holes where the trigger assembly push pins normally sit. Finally, securely mounted on the forearm, it has a SureFire light that can be switched on by squeezing a rubberized mechanism on the forearm, right where your fingertips would fall when you grip the weapon. All in all a pretty good package for the price. I took it apart all the way down to removal of the link, inspected and cleaned everything, and put it all back together, by the book. It looks to be well cared for, with no excessive wear points that I could see.

Now the concern (I'm hoping someone here will tell me this is normal):
When I rack the chamber full open, I can shake the weapon and hear "stuff" rattling around. One thing I think I hear is the piston and piston seal sliding back and forth on the magazine tube. This seems OK to me. I also hear something rattling in the breech area - this is my concern. This rattle goes away when I close the action. Shaking the weapon with the action closed produces no noise at all - tight as a drum.
Could someone here tell me if I'm good to go? sam

Welcome to the Remington Owners Forum Sam !!

Sounds like you're GTG...

Thanks, I was hoping that would be the case. I did some research on my Surefire light/forearm setup and found it on the Surefire website for $560. I hardly ever get the best of deals, but seeing this made me feel I had gotten my money's worth on this one.
Safe homes to all for 2013. sam

Post a range report soon...OK !?

Shooter,
I had also asked Remington about the rattles at the same time. They took longer to respond but they see it as GTG, just like you did:

>>Subject
1187 Rattles

Discussion Thread
Response Via Email (Jonsie) 01/07/2013 06:50 PM
Hi Tom,

Thank you for contacting Remington about your 11-87! You ARE good to go. These are normal "rattles" that you have identified.<<

Safe homes to all, sam

Glad you got a second opinion Sam !!