who still shoots winchester model 12's?

[stuckinthe60s]

heres mine. well, one of them.

[rebs]

I still shoot trap with mine. My brother in law bought it for me when I was 14 yo. $119.00 plus tax from Dick Fischer sporting goods. Std 28" modified barrel.

[Fine Figure of a Man]

The finest pump gun ever made. I take one bird hunting occasional. I have noticed sale prices at auction getting higher again for 12s.

[old roper]

stuckinthe60s, Nice. I have model 12 20ga imp cyl that I use for quail and 16ga according to # was build year I was born 1942. the 16ga is like me well used.

[Ricklin]

The finest repeating shotgun ever made. Nothing handles like a Model 12.

I shoot a pre war trap grade, however I have modified it a bit. It wears an adjustable comb, and has some extra weight added. It also has a Simmons pad.

It's a clay crushing machine, tough to beat the Winchester chokes. Mine patterns beautifully with one ounce of lead at 1050-1100.

If I don't break 25, I can't blame the Equipment.

[bamaranger]

There's a used gun shop up in PA that I visit when traveling. Typically there will be 2-3 or more Model 12's in the rack, sometimes botched a bit with Poly Chokes, butt pads, butt stocks replaced, poor finish...but they are indeed Model 12's. Some, especially the 16 ga's have been there for a couple years.

[eastbank]

years ago i picked up a fake trap model 12, by fake i mean some one took a mint 12ga with a 30"barrel FC made in 1955 and had trap wood and a money maker rib installed on it along with a very good refinishing. and it shoots lights out at the trap range, i have shot many 25-25,s and a few 50-50,s with it and the good part i only paid 300 dollars for it. eastbank.

[Ricklin]

I shoot up North at the trap club in Bellingham WA.
They have a photo on the wall there, looks like 1950's. About a dozen guys, and their guns. Every gun in the pic is a Model 12. The Model 12 ruled the trap fields of the 1950's.

[44 AMP]

I don't shoot trap, and I don't hunt ducks (and WON'T shoot steel shot), but I still have the old, used field grade 30" full choke model 12 that was my 16th birthday present.

Made between 1922 & 1925 from the best info I can find.

I toyed with the idea of cutting the barrel down for many years, and fortunately resisted the temptation every time.

Found one at a gun show that someone had chopped off to make a riot gun, and after measuring both the barrel AND overall length to ensure it was legal, bought it, so I have a model 12 riot gun as well.

Not the slickest working pump gun (the slicker ones were all designed decades later) but its the most rugged and dependable one I've ever found.

Others have come and gone, my model 12 remains, and will, until it gets passed on, or I have it buried with me.

[paleodog]

I do and love mine. I have three, a 12 gauge Heavy Duck 3", a 16 gauge full choke, and a 20 gauge modified. The 20 was made in 1929, belonged to my aunt who was an avid quail hunter, and the 16 was made in 1941, the year I was born if I remember correctly. I love the way they point, shoot, and they are as graceful looking as a pretty woman.

[Ricklin]

My favorite trap gun is a fake.......oh wait no it's not.

The fella in the gun library at Cabela's said the trap grade I has my eye on was a fake, not a real trap grade. Since it was 300 bucks, I bought it anyway.

It's a trap grade, they marked em differently over the years, and mine is correct for the serial number. Score one for me. Wish I had the original butt stock, but the forend is original. I bought a new buttstock and with a little stain and work they look pretty good together.
The ol flat shooting model 12 benefits nicely from an adjustable comb. Mine has the old solid rib.

In addition I added some weight to bring it up to about 9.5 Lbs. Really helps with my swing, and of course eases the recoil.

[gunut]

I have 18 of them....10 12ga....2 12ga HD....2 16ga...5 20ga..one model 42 and one model 25.......they're all OK.....
sold off 4 or 5 12ga and a 16ga in the last 5 yrs.....starting to get old and time to start cutting back....

[Rifletom]

You mean they're as good as a 870 Wingmaster!?

[Oldman11]

I have my daddy's short win model 12. It's a 20 ga,has a factory short barrel and chambered for a short 20 ga. I think it's a 2 9/16 shell if I remember right. I have already given it to my grandson. Did the government issue the 20 gauge to the post offices back then?

[Hawg]

You mean they're as good as a 870 Wingmaster!?

Better! I have one my dad bought new in 53. Wouldn't take anything for it.

[JWT]

The Model 12 is one of the best shotguns ever made as fare as I'm concerned. Never knew anyone that owned one who didn't love it.

[lefteye]

Is the Model 12 essentially a Model 1897 without the hammer being exposed?

[Hawg]

Is the Model 12 essentially a Model 1897 without the hammer being exposed?

No, it's a different critter altogether.

[eastbank]

i love my winchester model 12,s and they seldom brake, but if they do they are harder to fine parts for. i also love my remington 870,s and can order any parts i may need off the internet, as a matter of fact i can order all the parts except the receiver to build a whole shotgun (all internals,stocks and barrels). eastbank.

[44 AMP]

If they stopped making 870s tomorrow and you come back in 45-50+ years, you might start finding some parts a little hard to find, too.

I like the 870, they're really good guns, they work well, and they are "slicker working" with their twin action bars than the old model 12.

But I love my Model 12. Its the premium pre WWII pump design. Post WWII, 870 design rules, but then, they had decades of watching the model 12 (and others) perform in the field, on the streets, and in war, to improve on.

[eastbank]

i tend to agree, but the 870 has been here since 1950-51, making it older than the md 12 was when it was discontued. the model 12 was a finely made shotgun with many hand fitted parts and the time of low cost skilled labor were a thing of the past and the remington,s stamped parts could be made with a hi pressure press with a less skilled laborer. over all cost killed the model 12 and had nothing to do with it not being a ex shotgun. the bean counters won again. i own a 20ga,16ga and a 12ga winchester shotguns and love them. eastbank.

[stuckinthe60s]

the quality of the gun never waivered.
the quality of the customer did.
owning a Winchester no longer was a status symbol.
shooting on the cheap became the quest.
that.... killed the m12.

[stuckinthe60s]

heres my 16ga upgraded 26" vr mod.

[Tad_T]

I shoot Model 12's for my shotgun when I shoot Wild Bunch.

Once I shot my my 1940 Model 12 for the first time, I wondered why I had never had a Model 12 before.

[Virginian]

I was never a model 12 fan, or a model 37 fan. They just didn't do it for me, whereas the first time I picked up a Remington I was sold. After I shot it, I was a lifelong devotee. The Model 12 and the Model 37 developed legions of fans because they did do it for a lot of people. It has/had little or nothing to do with perceived build quality or any such esoterica for the vast majority of buyers. Back in the pre internet era not many outside the trade ever even thought about that stuff. Winchester themselves probably shone the light bright on that for the first time with their 1200/1400 series. Other than a few inexpensive SxSs with soft internals, no one had ever worried much about the internals of an American repeater whether it said Winchester, Remington, or J.C. Higgins on it.
Manufacturing methods and metallurgical improvements wrought during the 1940s brought about the demise of the Model 12 and 37. The Remington 11-48 ushered in the era of truly interchangeable parts and no hand fitting required for reliable operation and excellent longevity. The 870 was simply a manually operated 11-48. It did not have the very close tolerances because gunmakers had learned you didn't really need those on a repeater. The AK-47 is perhaps the epitome on this design and build methodology. They went on to make many changes and improvements to the semi autos, but the 870 has been virtually unchanged in forever, because it works just fine. The same could be said of the Mossberg 500 after Remington's patent expired and they added the second action bar. The perception of most people that you could get just as good a gun for less money did them in.
In the current era of extreme pursuit of low cost and little concern for aesthetics either inside or out, they would never have a chance. Remington probably sells 50 or 100 Expresses for every Wingmaster. If it wasn't for the commonality of parts and design the Wingmaster would almost certainly be history, too.