There is a minor difference in the gas system...you have 2 vent holes in the barrel as opposed to one on the 1100 and some other minor differences. The 11-87 is capable of shooting 3 1/2 " shells and is a little bit heavier.
The 1100 is truly a beautiful gun, and is a work horse also, but the 1187 was geared more towards a no-nonsense "working gun", so the metal parts were not blued, and the wood was left pretty plain. The 1187 is a "Working Machine", and was also sold as a "Special Purpose", meaning it could be ordered set up with a rifled sight slug barrel / scope mounts, or for turkey hunting
No No NO...the sportsmen model was sold predominantly thru Wallie World. there are 11-87 with gloss stocks and nice walnut(my best friend owns one) . The Tournament skeet 12 I own has one of the most beautiful stocks I have seen yet on a semi-auto shotgun and a beautiful blued finish.
11-87 I believe is just their newer lineup, not sure much was changed....
Hmmm I purchased my first 11-87 in 1988 or 1989 don't remember the exact year