Remington Model 11-48

The Remington Model 11-48 is a semi-automatic shotgun introduced by Remington Arms in 1949 as a streamlined successor to the long-running Model 11. Where the Model 11 was based on John Browning’s iconic long-recoil Auto-5 design with its distinctive humpback receiver, the 11-48 smoothed out the profile into a more conventional, rounded shape while retaining the proven long-recoil operating system. This gave shooters the reliability they had come to expect from Remington’s autoloaders in a package that looked and handled more like the sporting shotguns of the postwar era.

Chambered in 12 gauge (as well as 16, 20, and .410 in other variants), the Model 11-48 feeds from a tubular magazine and cycles shells through the recoil of the barrel assembly moving rearward within the receiver. The stock and forend are walnut, and the gun has a clean, balanced feel that made it a favorite among waterfowl and upland hunters throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s. Remington produced the 11-48 until 1969, when it was replaced by gas-operated designs like the Model 1100, which offered softer felt recoil and greater versatility.

The Model 11-48 occupies an important place in the evolution of American semi-automatic shotguns, bridging the gap between the Browning-patent humpback autoloaders of the early twentieth century and the gas-operated guns that would come to dominate the market. It remains a capable and pleasant-shooting shotgun, and well-maintained examples continue to see regular use in the field more than half a century after production ended.