Fan of the forsaken

Shotgun an ill-fated pleasure

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BRYAN HENDRICKS
The Remington 105 CTi has a distinctive profile defined by the lack of an ejection port on the side of the receiver. A carbon fiber hood over the titanium receiver displays a holographic checkerboard/basket weave pattern. The trigger group comes out by removing the two drift pins behind the Remington logo.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BRYAN HENDRICKS The Remington 105 CTi has a distinctive profile defined by the lack of an ejection port on the side of the receiver. A carbon fiber hood over the titanium receiver displays a holographic checkerboard/basket weave pattern. The trigger group comes out by removing the two drift pins behind the Remington logo.

While the Remington 105 CTi is probably the most maligned shotgun ever made, it does have at least one fan.

Introduced with great fanfare in 2006, the 105 CTi was a commercial dud, and Remington discontinued it in 2009. You never see it afield, at ranges or in competition.

“Revolutionary” is a cliche in the outdoor industry, but the 105 CTi really was. It is the only bottom-ejecting autoloader ever made.

Chambered to shoot 2 3/4-inch and 3-inch shells interchangeably, the 105 CTi features a skeletonized titanium receiver with a carbon fiber hood. The vent rib is also carbon fiber. At 7 pounds, a 105 CTi with a 28-inch barrel weighs a pound lighter than a comparable Remington model 11-87.

Other features include an oil-filled shock absorber in the stock, which Remington claims reduces recoil by 48 percent, and a speed-loading feature similar to that of the Browning Auto-5 and Browning Gold. A simplified gas system eliminates the nylon O-rings integral to the gas systems on Remington’s Model 1100 and 11-87. The machinery on an assembled 105 CTi appears to be hopelessly complicated. In reality, it is astonishingly simple, with few moving parts.

The cut checkering is fine and sharp. The 105 CTi logo is laser cut into the bottom of the forearm. An attractive, engraved aluminum cap adorns the pistol grip. The Remington and 105 CTi logos are engraved tastefully in gold on the receiver. The carbon hood displays a holographic checkerboard pattern of black and gray, perhaps an impressionistic nod to Remington’sdalliance with NASCAR.

It comes packaged in a hard, green plastic case embossed boldly with Remington. The unpadded case has two molded loops for attaching padlocks. Also included are three Remington Pro-Bore tubes choked full, modified and improved cylinder.

If the 105 CTi had a fatal flaw, it was probably its price. The manufacture’s suggested retail price was $1,300-$1,500. Hunters don’t spend that kind of money on new, unproven designs.

Furthermore, the first generation 105 CTi reportedly cycled shells unreliably. Remington supposedly corrected that with the also-discontinued 105 CTi II, but it did not rehabilitate the gun’s reputation.

Reviews of both versions on Internet blogs and message boards are vicious, but like most things on the Internet, criticisms are always vague and never in first person. “A friend of a friend says ...” Two consistent complaints, however, were that the 105 CTi does not cycle light loads, that it’s too hard to clean and that it looks too weird.

Nevertheless, the 105 CTi always intrigued me. It’s so racy and sleek, and I have an inherent weakness for underdogs. I finally found a new one locally that was marked down to almost half its value, according to Fjestad’s Blue Book of Gun Values. The dealer slashed another $50 and sealed the deal. It’s a first generation model with a low, four-digit serial number. If the 105 CTi was truly a problem child, this early model would probably be incorrigible.

The owner’s manual states that the gun will not cycle 2 3/4-inch shells with loads lighter than 1 1/8 ounce with 3 1/4 drams and a published muzzle velocity of 1,290 feet per second. That excludes all but the heaviest field loads.

My son Daniel and I shot 100 clay targets with three different loads, including 1 1/8-ounce Remington SureShot dove loads and a box of Federal 1-ounce Field and Range shells. The 1-ounce Federal shot charge was lighter than the recommended minimum, but the requisite 3 1/4-dram powder charge was hot enough. We also used one box of 1 1/8-ounce reloads of Remington STS hulls stuffed with 17.3 grains of Hodgdon Clays powder. That’s a target load I developed for a Remington Model 300 over/under. I didn’t expect the 105 CTi to cycle them, and half the time it didn’t. However, it digested all of the factory loads flawlessly. The Federals produced no discernible recoil.

The gun’s is center balanced and swings like a dream. Better even than my Winchester Super X2 Light Field, and that’s saying a lot.

Though it happens in a flash, gas guns have a subtle two-stage recoil in which you hear and feel the bolt open and close as it ejects spent hulls. The 105 CTi does not exhibit that sensation. It barks with a sharp crack, compared to the concussive roar of side ejecting guns.

Contrary to its reputation, the 105 CTi is easy to clean. The trigger group comes by punching out two pins in the receiver. The bolt assembly comes out removing the action tab on the side of the receiver and sliding it and therecoil spring off the magazine tube. The action bars clip to four tabs on the bolt. Reassembly is equally simple if you remember to push the carrier to the top of the receiver before reinstalling the bolt assembly.

On the minus side, the interior machine work is too coarse for such an expensive gun. It makes the action feel rough, but friction will smooth it with use. The light titanium makes the gun feel delicate and fragile. Then again, the same can be said for the lithe Winchester Super X3. The Super X2 Light Field, in comparison, is lighter than both, but it feels strong and solid. The action release tab is a pointed sliver of metal that is hard to manipulate.The two sight beads on the rib are misaligned, and the rib is misaligned with the receiver. The R3 recoil pad is not durable. Anything it touches - shirt fabric, carpet fibers and grass - sticks to it and degrades it.

Because it was so unusual and produced in such low numbers, the 105 CTi has high potential for collectors. The Blue Book of Gun Values estimates the value of both models in 100 percent condition at $1,250. Some retailers are selling them at cost to get them off inventory.

Daniel, a stoic and skeptic, pronounced the 105 CTi the “coolest” gun he has ever fired. For me, that would be the H&K MP5, a 9mm submachine gun. But the 105 CTi is definitely in my top three.

Sports, Pages 30 on 06/24/2012

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