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Remington 105CTi shotgun review
By Jason Harris
Thursday, 14 June 2007
Jason gets to grips with this totally re-designed semi-automatic shotgun from Remington.
Remington has produced a highly unusual new model to commemorate 100 years as a maker of auto-loading shotguns.
The 105CTi birthday-boy breaks with tradition by ditching the almost universal system of loading and ejecting cartridges through a side port. Instead, cartridges are fed in from underneath and then ejected through the same trap door. It's a feature left handed shooters will love because even though the bolt handle is still on the receiver's right hand side the cartridges eject downwards - not across the face.
Loading the gun is easy: the first cartridge is automatically fed up into the chamber and the next two cartridges are pushed in the same way but stay in the magazine tube until the gun is fired.
My first thought was that the mechanism would be slow to recycle because a spent cartridge has to travel in the opposite direction to a fresh shell being fed into the chamber. But this is certainly not the case - the gun functions extremely quickly.
As a matter of interest, empty cartridges are thrown forwards and down with shells being tossed quite some distance when shooting overhead birds.
However, as with this gun's famous predecessor, the 1100, the mechanism can prove a little cartridge sensitive. It worked perfectly with CCI loads, but a number of other brands proved troublesome: one would not chamber properly in the gun and eventually left a case jammed in the gun. Because of the design it proved difficult to remove, which is not the sort of thing you would want to happen out in the field. In use the bolt stays back when the gun is unloaded and is released when the first cartridge is inserted.
The gun is very light weighing in at around 7lb 2oz but while this makes it quick handling, it does mean the gun is a little jumpy when fired. Maybe this in part is due to the downward direction of the ejection creating some degree of muzzle flip in the process.
The trigger blade is quite wide and therefore helps produce a relatively crisp feel to the trigger pull so far as semi-autos are concerned. The manual safety catch - as in previous models - is conveniently placed behind the trigger. No problems there, then.
This gas-operated gun works in much the same way as the 1100 but has a simplified piston and bolt spring arrangement on the magazine tube. And further weight savings have been made by integrating an attractive carbon fibre shell into the action frame.
The gun has a similar feel to both the Remington1100 and 11-87 but, from our tests, it seems the newcomer still suffers ejection faults.
Handling? The Remmie 1100 was probably the best gun of all in this respect and, I'm happy to say, the 105CTi shares some of its predecessor's pedigree.
However the comb is very low at 48mm and 66mm at the heel which means that, with a slightly raised ventilated rib, it is easy to lose sight of a target if you push your head down too far down on the stock.
Woodwork is finished with a satin lacquer and is machine chequered in rounded contempary patterns which suit the gun well. The fore-end is quite chunky by modern auto standards but this has always been the way with Remingtons, and I think it partly explains why they point so well. The slim hand through the stock also helps.
Stock length is 14.1/2in to centre finishing with a black recoil pad that's curved into the butt of the stock. This may be fine in most respects but from a gunsmith's point of view it doesn't exactly lend itself to future length adjustments.
The 28in over-bored barrel has lengthened forcing cones for 3in high performance steel shot magnum loads.
FACT FILE
JASON'S VERDICT: There are lots of Remington fans out there and this very different gun will certainly appeal to them. Left-handers will also like it, for obvious reasons. It's well made but there could be something of a safety issue here: the gun does not have a side ejection port which means there is no quick way to see, even close up, if the gun is unloaded. Even with discount on the retail price, this is going to be an expensive semi-automatic
PRICE: rrp £1600
Build Quality 7
Handling 7
Styling 8
Value for Money 6
STOCKIST DETAILS: From the importers, Edgard Brothers, Heather Close, Lyme Green Business Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK11 0LR. Telephone 01625613177 or email: admin@edgar-brothers.co.uk
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Comments
Lionel Parkes
September 23 08:18