Hey Ron good choice on the Rem 11-87. I've had one for 12 years or so great gun.
Now to answer your questions. I haven't had any real problems with mine. No parts have broken. Hardly any malfunctions. When I received my shotgun it wasn't assembled and on assembling the gas rings I put the o-ring on the bottom and it still fired and functioned.
Now a few parts that I'd reccomend you purchase. You can get all these parts from Brownells
www.brownells.com
these part numbers are out of Brownells #52
MUST HAVE ITEM
1)DMW easyloader 260-100-000 pg. 73
I don't know how I survived without this on mine. The best accessory bar none for the
11-87 and the 1100 Remington. Fairly easy to install. Took me about 30 minutes including dissembly, installation, reassembly and testing.
2) Scattergun Sidesaddle 800-303-780
pg. 73
3) Choate Combat Bolt Handle
159-101-112 pg. 74
There are alot of accesories for the 11-87 but the ones above are probably the most usefull. They all make using the 11-87 more user friendly for deffense and hunting.
I keep a couple of the gas rings around just in case. They are fairly sturdy and the one that came with my gun is still in it and still working fine but without it the gun becomes a real expensive singleshot.
Barrel Seal 767-158-990 pg. 365
Good Luck