Winchester Model 120

[Colecgg]

Hello, so recently I aquired an old Winchester 120 ranger chambered in 12 gauge and i had a couple questions. If any body else has this gun out there can they please tell me what ammunition they found to be the most accurate in their gun for turkey, and waterfowl, also it came with 3 chokes using the win choke system which area improved cylinder, mod, and full, i was wondering if i could use steel shot in any of these since they are rather old and wouldn't want to damage my gun or go out and buy an expensive choke for no reason.
Thanks for the help!

[Doyle]

120 Ranger is the same gun as the 1200 but with a cheaper birch stock. For ammo, match it for the game you are shooting at. (For your enlightenment, you don't talk about accuracy with a shotgun - you talk about "pattening"). For steel shot, never use a full choke. Use your modified or I.C depending on your decoy distance.

[PetahW]

FWIW, every various gun - yea, every various smoothbore barrel - is a tale unto itself, when it comes to what each patterns best with a particular shot/type load.

It's best if you can try a small sample of various different loads, and then go the what Mikey Likes.

FYI - Take care with removeable choke tube install, as if a tube isn't fully-seated to the exact same position as when it was patterned, it may throw the pattern "off", due to machining variations.

(I once bought a tubed shotgun for a pittance, because the "barrel was bent". NOT - The prob was the choke tube was machined a tad offline with center, throwing the charge Waaay off to on side. New tube = new gun @ full price )

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[zippy13]

I acquired an old Winchester 120…

Wow, that caught my attention… with the years of production being from 1984 thru 1986 for the Model 120, I'd hardly consider it an "old" gun. To us graybeards, an "old" gun was made before WWII, or earlier. Of course, with Winchesters, some use "pre-1964" as a more recent benchmark. That was the year Winchester made drastic changes to modernize their production techniques. And, 'Chesters made after 1983, like the 120, can be considered "new" guns because they were made after US Repeating Arms took over Winchester.

When Winchester came out with their new line, in '64, the 1200's V-cut at the stock/receiver joint looked dorky to me. Because of that, I've been prejudiced against them ever since. With a straight joint, you can typically tweak a stick gun's stock with a pinch of woodworking -- with Winchester's V-cut, it's a lot more complicated, if not impossible. The factory engineers will probably claim the V-cut receiver is a quantum improvement.

(I once bought a tubed shotgun for a pittance, because the "barrel was bent". NOT - The prob was the choke tube was machined a tad offline with center, throwing the charge Waaay off to on side. New tube = new gun @ full price )

Congratulations, a knowledgeable used gun buyer can get great deals. Briley used to sell (may still) an off-axis choke tube -- custom made to correct errant barrels. I'm guessing, with one of those puppies, indexing the tube was paramount.