Hey, I'm a dog, and even I know better than that. Nobody should have to take a night pizza delivery job just to afford the consumable o-rings (AKA "barrel seals" in Remington-ese) that keep your Remmy 1100 or 1187 running. And quite frankly, charging over $5 for a silly o-ring is total nonsense. Our barrel seal...ahem!...o-ring is made of pure Viton and costs less than 1/10 of what the competition charges. Now, there is no reason not to always have a fresh seal in your shotgun.

No, it is not coated with "teflon" or any other substance of dubious benefit to the application. The ring is made of 75 durometer Viton and is just a tad softer than the factory barrel seal for a superior seal between the barrel and the magazine tube.

Viton has superior chemical and heat resistance. Do not confuse Viton with Buna-N, which is a general purpose material with much poorer characteristics. When you buy an o-ring at the local hardware store, you're getting Buna-N. Buna-N is only rated to 270F and is not suitable for use in your shotgun. It will cook to death in short order. Viton is rated to 400F and will hold up to the heat thrown at it by the practical shooter or law-enforcement user.

But!!....But!!!...They're not coated with Teflon!!

Exactly. Teflon encapsulated o-rings were created for the food industry to prevent contamination (and for extreme chemical resistance) - not because they seal any better. In fact, Teflon-encapsulated o-rings are generally Viton at the core, so the actual thermal and mechanical properties are no better than pure Viton. Both are rated to 400F. Ironically, Teflon-encapsulated o-rings are specifically recommended not to be used in dynamic applications (read: the gas system of your shotgun).

My personal opinion: Teflon o-rings are a "pay more, get less" deal. There's no way that the harder, Teflon ring seals any better than the pure Viton counterpart. And since you're practically hocking the family silver to buy the silly things, there's always the temptation to run a substandard o-ring in your shotgun, leading you down the path to the most common reason for gas system failure: broken o-rings!

No more..

When you take down your shotgun for cleaning, your old o-ring should go in the same place the used cleaning patches and Q-Tips go: the garbage. Put on a new o-ring and forget about it. Any o-ring that's seen more than 500 to 1000 rounds should be considered suspect and discarded.

The only caveat with Viton o-rings is for those who use double o-rings in their gas system (most shooters are not in this category). The second o-ring will sit under the ports where the gas jets will slowly start to cut the ring. This is the only case where the teflon-coated ring may be of some benefit as the slick coating slows down the gas cutting - although sooner or later, the coating will crack and the ring will be a goner.

Personally, I think just using a single, brand-spanking-new Viton ring would remove the need for the second ring. Experiment for yourself and find out.