16 ga Winchester Model 12

pump guns

a couple of years ago when I borrowed my friends mod. 42, besides the safety being in the wrong spot, was the stupidity of being unable to remember if you wanted to shoot the second shot ya had to pump it. other than those few things the gun was a hoot. it also had a factory rib on it which made it a pretty scarce pricey toy

cheers
 
Winnie's First Rooster

This is the first rooster shot with the 16 ga. Model 12 I recently picked up.

20141106_113108_zpsfb7bbe15.jpg
 
Headin west said:
Perfect what load did you use?
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We were on public land so I was using some of the Kent Tungsten Matrix I bought several years ago when Kent was closing out the 1 1/4 oz. loads. They are 1 1/4 oz. of #5 shot at 1,265 fps. Two shots and two birds dropped dead. Guess they worked pretty good. :)
 
barrel lenth

I'd question your choice of length, 26 is kinda out of date, but then you have been around awhile but today longer seems to be better. the barrel walls I am sure are plenty thick to have good choke tubes installed, the value goes to hell, but then you probably don't care and will have a great time with it in spite, just don't let your finger get cramps resting on the safety

cheers
 
mustistuff said:
I'd question your choice of length, 26 is kinda out of date, but then you have been around awhile but today longer seems to be better. the barrel walls I am sure are plenty thick to have good choke tubes installed, the value goes to hell, but then you probably don't care and will have a great time with it in spite, just don't let your finger get cramps resting on the safety

cheers
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I think regarding barrel length for a hunting shotgun you are 100% wrong. The trend has been for shorter barrels. Years ago about all you could buy in any kind of shotgun were 28" and 30" barrels. 26" barrels were difficult to find. But in the past 10-15 years you see many more shotguns with 24" and 26" barrels. But, barrel length is a personal choice. I, myself, have always preferred shorter barrels. My Benelli Montefeltro and Stoeger 2000 both have 24" barrels. My Citori has 26" tubes and my Sweet Sixteen has a 26" barrel. Having a 28" on this Model 12 just seems too long.

You can have all the 28-30 inch barrels you want, but for me I'll take something shorter every time.
 
Longer is always better:)................Wait oh you guy's are talking about barrel length. I'm with you Zeb, shorter has been the trend for awhile. I can't hardly shoot anything longer than a 26
 
trends

trends don't kill birds but you guys are off base on 26" barrels being in vogue. recently in one of the popular sporting mag. a pretty serious study was done on shooting the various barrel lengths and they looked at speed, pointing, shooting and overall how the gun handled and in just about every instance the 26" barrel came up short (no pun) except if you got tangled up in the alders. on lighter guns, the 30" was impressive. when I bought my 686 15 or 20 years ago, the rage was 26" and that's what I have, a long time before that everything in the auto and pump line was in the 30" range and full choke to boot, times change and now the 30" at least in the lighter guns are back purely because they handle better and factually are quicker to the target in part because of balance and stability.

cheers
 
Heck, Zeb, it's your shotgun, do what you want. :)

Only considerations I'd have would be collector's value, and I don't know that it would be a real issue with a user shotgun. I have only shortened one shotgun, and that was a beater single shot 12ga. I think it comes up faster, but it really doesn't make any difference.

And discussing "trends," well...some of us used to wear bell-bottomed pants and we were the cool guys. :D

So much for trends.

Just have fun with it.
 
mustistuff said:
trends don't kill birds but you guys are off base on 26" barrels being in vogue. recently in one of the popular sporting mag. a pretty serious study was done on shooting the various barrel lengths and they looked at speed, pointing, shooting and overall how the gun handled and in just about every instance the 26" barrel came up short (no pun) except if you got tangled up in the alders. on lighter guns, the 30" was impressive. when I bought my 686 15 or 20 years ago, the rage was 26" and that's what I have, a long time before that everything in the auto and pump line was in the 30" range and full choke to boot, times change and now the 30" at least in the lighter guns are back purely because they handle better and factually are quicker to the target in part because of balance and stability.

cheers
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A study may say one thing but what hunters actually prefer is another. I can see longer barrels for waterfowl hunting but for most upland bird hunting I'm going to say the majority of hunters would prefer barrels of 28" or shorter. Guess we could start a poll on the site and see what people here prefer?? The only problem is comparing length of pumps/autos with break open guns.
 
I like a little longer barrels on doubles, they are more graceful. But on a Model 12... with the long reciever... I would use a shorter barrel. One thing we need to consider, the idea of shorter barrels came about when there were no choke tubes, shorter meant less choke, 28" was M/F and 30" tighter. The result was most hunters shot lightly choked guns better than tighter chokes, because hunting most birds get up a whole lot closer than you think. Bigger pattern, even with the starling flush and sometime to get committed to the target, is the secret, at the end unless brush busting, barrel is somewhat superficial, choke makes more of a different. Those 16 ga. 12's are the cats meow, quite abit lighter than the standard issue 20's, with best patterns. Enjoy, if you choose to shorten, there are a gazillion barrels for model 12's if you want to reconsider.
 
oldandnew said:
I like a little longer barrels on doubles, they are more graceful. But on a Model 12... with the long reciever... I would use a shorter barrel. One thing we need to consider, the idea of shorter barrels came about when there were no choke tubes, shorter meant less choke, 28" was M/F and 30" tighter. The result was most hunters shot lightly choked guns better than tighter chokes, because hunting most birds get up a whole lot closer than you think. Bigger pattern, even with the starling flush and sometime to get committed to the target, is the secret, at the end unless brush busting, barrel is somewhat superficial, choke makes more of a different. Those 16 ga. 12's are the cats meow, quite abit lighter than the standard issue 20's, with best patterns. Enjoy, if you choose to shorten, there are a gazillion barrels for model 12's if you want to reconsider.
Click to expand...

I'm considering purchasing another barrel in 26". I found one choked Mod. I have no problem with the Mod choke although I would prefer an IC. I just prefer the way a shorter barrel swings for me. I actually believe a 26" barrel choked Mod would enhance the value of my gun. It would make it a lot more rare. Tough to find a 26" barrel in a 16 ga. Model 12.
 
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