Winchester Model 12 Pump Shotgun Review

Above, the Winchester Model 12 shotgun after I first brought it home. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The only gun I bought this year was the Winchester Model 12 shotgun. It was manufactured in 1919, but age hasn't caused any problems with shooting it (since I had Loeffler's Guns Etc. in Grants, New Mexico coached me on its workings). I had to buy it in April as New Mexico started imposing a 7-day waiting period in May.

I shot it last month and it worked great. It hit what I was aiming at (an old political yard sign). Not bad for a shotgun over 100 years old.

Before buying it, I was on the lookout for a shotgun best suited for trap shooting. I bought a Remington Model 870 Express last year, but that wasn't suited for trap shooting. I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn when we went trap shooting in Lake Havasu, Arizona. I did much better with a borrowed shotgun during a previous trap shoot. Still, I like the Remington for regular target plinking.

Guns.com (where I bought the Winchester Model 12) posted a review of the Model 12 and it begins with:

The Model 12 is a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun that is iconic in that it has the classic features that make a pump gun so appealing. It may not be the first, but it certainly trained generations how to shoot airborne game among many other things. The Model 12 was also used by the U.S. military, with roots going back to before World War I.

My father grew up shooting an old Model 12, and he was barely a teenager when it was given to him by my grandfather. He used it for hunting pheasants and ducks in the marshy wetlands beyond grandpa’s pasture. As a child, I remember seeing dad tinker with it amongst his other guns.

The Model 12 uses traditional wooden furniture, with an easily identifying ribbed front grip. A shallow rib runs the length of the barrel, with a targeting bead on the muzzle end. The barrel itself is 30 inches long and has a 3-inch magnum chamber. It features a familiar safety at the front of the trigger guard and an action release just behind it. The tubular magazine holds six 2.75-inch shot shells, and it is clamped to the barrel at the front of the tube.

I looked up the serial number and, if the internet is to be believed, this gun was manufactured in 1917, making it 105 years old.

To read more, go here.