[seanmid]

Hello and thank you for reading over my post. I know absolutely nothing about firearms. I actually just purchased this shotgun and I'm trying to establish its value. It is dirty and it does need a good cleaning. The stock seems to have some modified wood work. It seems like a nice gun and I bought it with the intention of keeping it for home protection but after looking over some of the dates on it, I'm wondering if it doesn't belong in the hands of a collector. There are several dates on the barrel of the gun that date back to the late 1800's. Any and all help, or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Thanks,
Sean

 

[Millwright]

Pictures and details of its markings, etc are needed. >MW

 

[seanmid]

Sorry about that. Did the images load up this time?

 

[BillM]

It's a standard grade model 12 Winchester 12 ga with a nickel steel barrel.
Made in 1926. A little rough, but not terrible. They have some collector
valus, but yours has more value as a shooter.

 

[Telcotech]

It looks like an after market recoil pad was added at some point in its life. I have one of the same yr. w/ the 32" tube, full choke. I purchased it in S.Dakota in 1977, for $170. I like the mod. 12's, well built shotguns that will last several lifespans, if taken care of, and now I have 2 mod. 12's and 2 mod 97's. 7 yrs. ago Cabelas in Owatona, Mn. offered me $300 for it, on trade for a Ruger M77 in 22-250. I passed on the trade-in and just bought the Ruger outright. Attending several auctions and gun shows over the last several yrs. in my local area, I've noticed that the mod. 12's and the mod. 97's prices have 'softened' some. I would guess my mod. 12, 12ga would bring around that $300 mark still, but not much more. The 16 ga's seem to bring more $$ in the mod. 12's & mod. 97's, as I've seen them go for as much as $600-650 within the last yr. Of course, a good condition 20 ga. mod. 12..will fetch a bit more $$ still. A .410 mod 42 (same style pump shotgun) will generally go well north of 1k. All depends on condition, of course. They still are great shotguns...it just seems like the older pump style shotguns are falling a bit out of favour, since most folks like the semi-auto's w/ changeable chokes.

 

[GunnyGene]

The Model 12 is a great shotgun. A shorter version was in use for a long time with the military. I carried one in Nam, in fact. You should be aware that it does not have a trigger disconnect, so if you hold the trigger back it will fire every time you jack a new shell into the chamber. Somebody that's good with one can fire 2-3 rounds per second. Very handy sometimes.

Have the chamber length checked by a gunsmith (as well as the rest of the gun), since it may have been modified to accept 2 3/4" shells (originally 2 5/8").

 

[CHW2021]

In addition to the above, please notice the 2 arrows shown in your 10th picture; they are witness marks used during reassembly for your gun. The shotgun does "take down" into 2 pieces quite easily.
The 1890's dates ypu are looking at on the barrel are the patent dates, not the production date for your shotgun.
Model 12's are well made and hand fitted guns that were built for (several) lifetimes of use. Clean it up and get a new recoil pad and have fun shooting a nicely made gun.
Be aware that you will need to pattern the gun to see how tight the parrern will be with a full choke; some full choked model 12's seem to shoot a very tight pattern, mine does.

 

[HAGEN442]

The Model 12 Winchester will become Legal for SASS Wild Bunch as of 1/1/13.
Sources for the Model 97s have been drying up and something had to be added from the era for New Wild Bunch Shooters

If you want to part with it, get it to someone who has Cowboy Action connections in your area.
I have seen some "Shooter" Level 12 Gauge guns go for 175.00 -300.00 depending on the Gun.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

The gun is not nickel plated, it's blued.
"Nickel Steel" was a special steel containing higher amounts of nickel to add strength.

 

[Bert H.]

The serial number indicates that it was manufactured in August of 1925.

Bert H.

 

[muddober]

Bert, weren't all model 12 12 gauges 2 3/4" with the exception of the 3" duck gun?

Ron

 

[Telcotech]

Ron-
I think you might be correct. In my 35+ yrs of looking at mod. 12's I never ran accross one that wasn't a 2 3/4" chamber.....but ??

 

[bobg`12]

I have one my father bought about 1936. Bought it used and i think he said he paid $7 for it. It is in a lot better shape than the one in the photos. In the pheasant hay day in the early 60's i sure did kill a lot of birds with it.

 

[Jim K]

That gun is not really in good enough condition to be of much interest to collectors, but it should be solid and reliable. Before using it for defense, though, I would find a range or someplace to fire it enough to make sure it works reliably and that you are familiar enough with it to handle it. Some folks claim that just the sound of a pump shotgun being "racked" will scare off an intruder. Maybe, but in case he doesn't scare, it is better to be sure you have a good gun and know how to use it.

Jim