Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Tell me about 42's

I haven't owned a 42 before but bought one on the church auction yesterday. '59, all original, 26" PB and full choke. What do I need to know about them?

Bk they are just a 25 to 30 yd gun and the ammo is damned expensive.
Mb

Maybe so, MB, but they are way cool little shotguns. I still regret letting go of the one I had. You are truly blessed to find one at a church auction!

I inherited one many years ago and have put about ten rounds through it, if that many. But they look neat. Mine is from the late '40s.

The Model 42 is the only gun I have used that justifies the existence of the .410. Nothing quite like it. Use and enjoy.

My last pheasant fell to a Model 42 and I will remember that point and shot as long as I live.

The one I have was my dad's gun. The last time I hunted dove with him many years ago, he used the 42 and actually killed dove. I doubt I could hit the ceiling in my office using a .410.

1949 CYL bore

What GF1 said. Me, I have eleven just now. Get a loader. Suck it up and buy a couple flats of AAHS shells. The HS hull is the best, figure on about 10 reloads per hull. The loads you crank out will be considerably less expensive than the naysayer's 12s and 20s.

I love to set targets for .410 5-stand and shoots locally. That "full" barrel will break 35 yd incomers and dropping battues. I usually figure on other stuff max break points of 25-30 yds. Rabbits to about 20 yds. You will completely outclass 12, 20, 28 ga shooters in coolness. The first time you vaporize a 35 yd incomer your big gun squadmates will pause, stand in awe. Nothing is more cool than a 42. Nothing.

Congratulations BK! I don’t think you will be disappointed with (or regret) owning it! I’ve handle and admired many and they exude elegant lines and smooth mechanics in my opinion.


I’ve been interested in finding “the right” 42 for years. Mainly for partridge on the wing (behind dogs) at ranges of about 5-15 yards. Im primarily interested in a 26” barrel in either modified or full choke.

My question to anyone who has used their 42 for similar shooting, and hopefully has experience with more than one flavor of barrel length vs. choke:
What is the expected pattern performance difference between a 26” modified vs. a 26” full choked variation?

Maybe Sam_H will have this insight?

Thanks

Used 42s for grouse and woodcock for many years. Always took a "mod" stamped 26" plain barrel 42 out several days in October. Not the thing for late season grouse in Maine (runs to 12/31) when shots can be very long.

A 42 is no handicap whatsoever on woodcock. I've taken them dropping 30-35 yds out. Best 3" domestic shell is Remington, #7.5s.

Just about everyone who uses a .410 for grouse or preserve phez discovers 25 yds is about the outside for clean kills. Which means you will pass up some shots. Matters to some.

Most useful field choke is "mod" or "skeet". Examples I've measured fall within the same constriction range. Ditto Remington 870s. 42 skeet guns are generally more expensive, you can sometimes find a prewar field grade stamped "skeet" - catalog designation 4209. But that won't be inexpensive either. I'd look for a 26" "mod" stamped gun. They generally bring $100-$150 more than "full" equivalents.

"Full" stamped 42 are less desirable for field use. Least constriction among mine is 14 thou....which is alot. OK for NSCA subgauge, but not what I'd use in the Maine woods.

had a clean up 42 skeet gun vr. fun, but I let it go. well built of course, but it was like shooting a toy.
we'd be interested to know how much you paid for it because most people who buy them, buy low and flip high....since they are 'money in the bank' guns.

I killed my first bird-on-the-wing, a mourning dove, with my dad's 42, nearly 50 years ago, and it seems like yesterday. I didn't realize how difficult that can be to do. My father had bought it to shoot dove, and was often frustrated with his hitting ability.

By the next year I had transitioned to grandad's 16ga FN Browning, which I found even more success with. My dad went back to his M12 12ga. when he wanted to race me to a limit.

I don't own any of those guns today, but of the bunch I hold the most nostalgia for the 42. I should have kept it, tho I likely wouldn't have shot it much.

The church auction was/is on gun broker through lock, stock and barrel. A guy left about 200 guns with instructions to sell them on a nationwide internet auction, all the proceeds to the church. So easy for me to justify. I had handled the gun when they were picked up, its in excellent original condition. $1950

My father in law, gone almost 25 years now and not a gun guy or a hunter told me once that he wished he'd bought "a model 12 in .410"

I'm sure I'll find some pheasants to shoot with it this fall. Looking forward to it very much.

You will love it!
No gun feels like or points like a 42!

I have a 1959 M42 that 26" full choke that Simmons installed a rib and upgraded wood before I owned it. What a dandy little shotgun! I hunt it about one day per year on grouse with Remington Express 3" #6 ammo. Shoot a few rounds of skeet with 2-1/2" AAHS hull #9 reloads every so often. I agree that it is a 25 -30 yard gun on clay targets depending on how much face you see of the target. My one attempt at trap wasn't pretty but I am not a quick shooter either.

Not the M42, but shot a limit of SD opening day wild pheasants with my Huglu/CZ tiny Generation 1 Bobwhite (26" IC and Mod barrels) about 17 years ago. Same Remington 3" Express #6 mentioned above. Had a great Vizsla at the time and only shot at a rooster if I could see it's red head and white ring and it was within 20 yards. Killed 3 with the 3 shots I fired. Also a few grouse with it over the years...all pointed and flying.

Sam_H,

Thanks for the feedback. I hunt mostly northern NH in dense spruce so the shots are frequently CLOSE. It sounds like the 26” Modified is the right choice. Now to break down and buy one.

BKinSD:
It sounds like you found a gun you can be happy with, for money that will go to a hood cause. Congrats!

This turned out to be a great post! Thanks everyone. I had planned to shoot Winchester shells through it, are they any good? I don't shoot many green shells

shoot brass base hulls. itll work best.

a lot of people forget that that gun was designed, built, and became obsolete around paper hulls. be nice to it. give it gourmet ammo.

Choke is a long standing joke in a 410.I break clay's just as hard with cyl as mod or full in my 42's.Less deformation.

Makes me laugh but I'm totally taking this gun to the trap range some night