On our last trip to Goltry to clean out my Grandmother's house, we finally found the last of my grandfather's firearms, his 1966 Remington 1100, 12 gauge semi-auto shotgun.

First introduced in 1963, the Remington 1100 shotgun is still in production today and is the best selling semi-automatic shotgun in American history. The Remington Society of America has a great history of Remington Model 1100 Autoloading Shotguns.

I took the shotgun to a trusted gunsmith who detail stripped it, replaced the o-rings and the trigger spring, lubed everything and reassembled it. It's in great shape. No rust or excessive wear, but the gunsmith said it was no safe-queen. Grandpa had used it a good amount.

I put 100+ rounds through it without incident. The recoil isn't bad, but the 1966 stock has no recoil pad. By the end of the day, I'm not too proud to admit, my virgin shoulder was sore!

The most prominent story I remember involving the shotgun was when my Grandfather's rooster attacked my father. Grandpa thought that was the funniest thing, the city boy being attacked by a little old rooster. It wasn't too long after, the rooster attacked my Grandfather. That wasn't funny. Grandpa walked to the back porch, got his shotgun, took aim, and put an end to the rooster.