Extractors and barrel springs and friction rings might wear out, but they are still available. Keep lubrication on the two notches in the action that guide the barrel, and the rest of the gun is pretty well an 870, from what I've seen, and hard to wear out. If I'd bought that Mohawk 48 back in 1973, I could have used it all these years, and never needed another shotgun, and likely not have worn it out, either.Ī few years ago, there was some guy in Kansas that's shot over 200,000 crows with an 870, and with good care an 11-48 ought to last as long as an 870. He sold it later on, but I'll be he likes my Mohawk 48. The oldest member of our regular skeet group is 87, and the first good shotgun he could afford was an 11-48 that he paid $130 for in 1952 when he was working for $30 a week at a gas station. When they came out, the gun writers considered the 11-48 a modern improvement, and they were very popular. They remind me of an Ithaca Model 37, with between the hands balance, more of a bird gun than a target gun.Īnd while the 11-48 will forever be the cheaper replacement of the Model 11, which was the cheaper version of a Browning Auto Five, the 11-48 is a very reliable shotgun, on par with a Model 11 or Auto Five. The nice thing is that Remington fiberglass lined the spit prone fore end with fiberglass, full length, and used some good walnut on this one.Īn 11-48 doesn't handle like an 1100. This one has a nice piece of straight grained, dark, well seasoned walnut on it, but doesn't have the hard, DuPont poly finish that you'd expect on a 70's Remington shotgun. I've seen other Mohawk 48's, but all those had birch stocks. The 11-48 was the highest priced, the Sportsman 48 was the first bargain label, with some dimples in the magazine tube to limit the capacity to three shots in stead of five, and the Mohawk 48 was a 1960's "Express" bargain model sold through the big box retailers. I wonder how late Remington actually made the 11-48?Ĭlick to expand.Remington's site says they stopped 11-48 production in 1968, but the barrel code A means March and the X means 1973.Īn 11-48 is an 11-48 whether it says 11-48 or Sportsman 48 or Mohawk 48. 710 modified choke makes for a nice all around farm, beater, or loaner gun. The gun functions 100% and is low usage, lightweight, and the. I will strip the peeling varnish, and the walnut seems of high enough quality to take a nice boiled linseed oil finish, and I might recut the pressed checkering while I'm at it. I've said for twenty years, or more, that the 11-48 is the best shotgun for less than $200 in the pawn shop, and this one was marked $199.99, so it barely qualified. Barrel is marked MOHAWK 48- 12 gauge for 2 3/4" OR SHORTER SHELLS. The magazine tube is four shot, and there's a factory wooden plug to limit capacity to two in the magazine. One very good thing about this Mohawk 48 is the interior of the fore end is fully reinforced with fiberglass, and it shows no sign of cracking. This one is really nice, with typical early 70's high polish and gloss bluing, and press checkering, nice straight grain walnut stock, no recoil pad, no rib, modified choke, gold plated trigger, but the walnut seems varnished instead of the "bowling ball" DuPont Imron finish (which is peeling). I'd read somewhere, the Mohawk 48 was a parts cleanup gun, sold through big box stores like Walmart and Kmart. Remington's official site says the last 11-48 series recoil operated semi auto shotguns were made in 1968, but this one didn't get the memo. Yesterday afternoon, I saw a nice 11-48 for sale at Lincoln, Missouri, and was surprised to see that it was marketed as a Mohawk 48, and the barrel date code reads A X, which is 1973.