I wonder if I scored?

[madmo44mag]

Here is the story; I don't own and never owned a shotgun. Never had a need and only shoot clays every now and then. Although I do enjoy shooting clays just hated borrowing a gun.

Anyway last week a friend of mine asked if I owned a shotgun knowing I did not. I said no and he hands me a like new Win model 1400, vented rib barrel and plain stock.

Now my buddy has lots of shotguns and none of them low end either.
He tells me go shoot it and if I like it we will work some sort of deal out and it will be more than reasonable.
Every deal I have ever done with him has been more than fair.

Well I have read all sorts of reviews of this shotgun and they are pretty mixed.

What I have seen of GB and other action sites this is at best a $200.00 gun.

Any of you ever own one of these and are there any tale - tale signs of failure I should look for on diss-assembly?
How reliable were they if you did own one?

[jaguarxk120]

You have to look at the 1400 this way, some people swear by them-- greatest semi-auto made.

And some people swear at them, greatest piece of junk ever made.

There is one known problem the magazine throat is made of plastic and has broken for many people, parts are very hard to find. Maybe some here knows where the replacements can be found.

How you will use the gun it should last a very long time.

Please also note there is a reason they sell for $200, look at the prices of Remington 1100's.

[BigJimP]

Win 1400 ....with all due respect to your buddy...is not a great gun / certainly not a high end gun...

It's probably a fixed choke....so it depends on what its choked at in terms if its of much use to you or not.../ if its choked Mod then it might be worth $ 250 - $ 400 depending on condition.
------------
You can casually shoot clays with almost any gun - as long as it fits you / a Mod choke is ok for Trap singles, a Skeet or Imp Cyc is ok for Skeet, and an Imp Cyc or Mod is probably ok for sporting clays.

2 3/4" chamber is fine for clay targets ...and upland birds...
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Every gun club has a bulletin board full of guns for sale...while Over Unders own the market for "clays" guns...you can use a pump or semi-auto...and since you're talking about entry level semi-autos at least look at the Browning Silver series, the Hunter model /its a solid entry level semi auto ....maybe some used Beretta 390's or 391's.../ they're solid guns as well...but you'll find a number of pretty good guns out there...even the Remington 11-87's or 1100's....for $ 400 - $1,000....

Don't be in a rush on that Winchester 1400....( Winchester today is owned by FN ..along with Browning.)..and it looks to me like Browning is running their shotgun division / but look at some of the Browning / Winchester offerings...

Another good solid gun for the money - is the Browning BPS ( pump gun ) Hunter model ....Browning gives you a lot of gun for the money.

[madmo44mag]

I dd not mention he had all 3 chokes for the gun.

I suspect my buddy had this gun for other people to use because he never buys on the cheap - hes got more money than the Davey Crockett

He is in his early 80's and over the past few years been sell me some of his nicer guns. None of his kids really shot and I suspect he dug this one out knowing I shoot clays every now and then and knowing I don't own a shotgun figured I could use a cheap one for light use.

Thanks for the input.
I'll take it apart and inspect later this week and check the plastic ramp out.

[jaguarxk120]

We keep a Mossberg as a loner, I really do not want a clutz (bubba shooter) handling my Fausti or Beretta O/U's

[Shotgun Slim]

Let me say that if you intend to get at all serious about shooting clays you will wear that 1400 out rather quickly which means you will need parts available to you. Where a gun like that might last a hunter a very long time you may find out very soon how many rounds it was designed to take.

[BigJimP]

With changeable screw in chokes it'll be fine ....unless you're talking about the cutts compensator...which is a different animal.....but still serviceable.

But even if it has a cutts on it....its still worth a couple hundred bucks probably...

[dwaawd]

The 1400 shares various parts with the Winchester 1200/1300/1500 and parts are available:
http://www.midwestgunworks.com/page/...0-online-parts

I was looking at the 1400 about 2 years ago to convert to a "home defense" type s/g just for a cheap backup. Prices on them have gone up since then. People seem to like them or plain hate them.

[madmo44mag]

Thanks for all the input.

I'll never be a big clays shooter and never been big on bird hunting. Love to eat them just not big on hunting them.

Geo it stripped down last night and internally the gun looks almost new.
Hardly any wear present.

Now to go shoot it and see how it runs.