Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns who likes model 12's?

i shoot a few. how about you?

Yup, just bought another one..

lets see it!

not high tech enough to do pictures.

I sort of do Mine is a browning repro 20 ga.

I have an old nickel steel 12ga made in the late 1920s. I also have an Ithaca M37 and I like it in some ways more.

A well worn 20 gauge Model 12 is my favorite quail gun.

I have 3 Model 12s, 2 Model 31s and 1 Ithaca M37 20 gauge. I like them equally well.

LOVE me some M-12!

Been known to use one on occasion.

Who doesn't like a model 12? What great shotguns, along with the Ithaca 37.

I have 5. Does that count as likin' them?

Here's two of em. And an old Husky double.

Here another one of my favorite Model 12 photos. This one is my nightstand gun I put together at the shop on afternoon. Sent several loads of "blue whistlers" thru these porkers one night. Went totally Guadacanal on them from behind som prickly pear!

A model 12 16ga. was my hearts desire when I was getting my first shotgun... Begged my folks for one for Xmas.. No luck.. Later I lusted after a m12 12ga. mod. choke.. My dad talked me into something else. Sorry I didn't pick one up..Then the price of model 12's skyrocketed and I never did own either.. Probably never will.. Did have one with a PolyChoke.. Had it for a about 4 years..
Presently, I only own one.. A solid rib 3" heavy duck.. I often hunt turkey with it or duck with Bismuth.. A fine old gun..
It with my old 870, model 31, and model 97 are my favorites..

I like them, had one version or another for years. I'm down to two in 16 gauge; one MOD the other POLY.

I love the looks of those 16 gauge model 12s. Not much of a shotgunner but getting one of those is on my list of guns to hunt.

Theirs lots of them around, art least around here. I love the 16 bore M-12 but prefer the older ones and ejection issues are common as the chamber is 2 3/4 but the ejection ports are of the smaller variety. Its an easy fix though.

Im on the hunt for one myself.

I'll take the 37 every time over a 12. Have my Pop's 1949 piece. Great guns. I have owned a couple of 12's over the years.

I got my first Model 12 last year. Really like it and now I'm on the hunt for more. This one is a 12ga 30" Full choke.

I think that the most common "old school" shotguns here in Nebraska are Browning A5s, Remington 11s, and Winchester 12s. Who doesn't like Model 12s? OTOH, I instantly developed a strong dislike for Model 1897s after chopping a chunk of flesh out of my right thumb the first time I cycled the action.

I like Model 12's so much I fashion my Rems to look just like one!





DMc

37 must be loaded into the mag first then pumped in. a 12 you just drop one in and close it.

Not much of a problem until you get down to the 28ga and then it can be if you are trying to be quick about it and have big fingers.

I've had several but last fall I picked up a field grade plain barrel in 12 ga. ,26" Imp Cyl choke in the 99x,xxx range. the open choked ones don't seem to be very common. 1 st round of low gun skeet was a 23, I think it will be at home here for awhile. Magnum Man

I've just come into a pair of old,family Model 12's, a 16 gauge 26 inch full choke and 12 gauge 30 inch full choke. The 12 gauge is from 1925 about and the 16 from 1917 or so. I'm assuming duck hunting is out, unless I could find some Bismuth shot loads, but trap or bird loads with lead should be OK, am I correct? They been checked out by a 'smith for fit and function, and seem OK. Owned an 870 in my youth for ducks, birds and trap, shot lead everywhere prior to the toxic ban. A little leary of pulling the trigger without asking. They've been sitting in the safe for about 5years now and thought I'd get them out and work 'em.

They are good to go with lead. What they made for.

Thanks, that was my thought as well, they'll probably get out this September for blues and ruffs in the timber. Stevek

Do I 'like' Model 12s? Sure. Do I think that they are a whole lot superior to other pump-guns of their era? Not so much. But then I like all of the old pre-war pumps.

I myself have been known to own only model 12's. And like yours, I like the plain barrel, though I have a soft spot for my solid ribs. Your bluing is getting thin, but not as thin as mine. I take great pride in the fact I wore that bluing off while in pursuit of birds.

I have a 12 ga and a 42 , if that counts. I'm on the look out for a 20 or 16 ( or both ) to pare off a bit of weight.

One of my dear friends, an old west Texas sheriff, used the same 16 ga, if we were chasing crooks or quail.

Jack

12's are superior in the fact that they will outlast anything out there today. they were made with steel.

I yearned to get one in 20 gauge. Finally found one. Didn't fit me and I didn't like the way the action felt. Prefer my Rem 31 in 20 gauge.

in 2014 I got a 1920 Model 12 12 gauge for $120 at a gun show.
I could not talk the guy down one cent. He was firm.
I have not shot it yet.

hey, if you got another one of those slip on pads, i use them on my guns. same brand too. hard to find not rotted. lmk!

Will the model 12 not shoot steel - even in a modified or improved cylinder barrel?

model 12's are great I have only one now.. they were in production what ?? 52 years?? The 870 has been rolling along for 65 years.. I have had less trouble with my 870's than my model 12's..

My 1920's Model 12 16 ga 25 inch Full Choke

Bea, 2 3/4"??? Rare one I would guess with a 25" full choke..
Sure miss that tree squirrel hunting..

2.5 inch 16 ga. I use the B&P 2.5 inch 16 ga shotshells

My uncle bought a Model 12 Trap new in 1947. It was sold t my dad in the mid 50s and passed to me in the 60s. Despite having a couple of Beretta Xtremas, I still take it out for ducks every season. I love that old scattergun, I feel my Dad and Uncle close by every time I pull the trigger.

So was the Winchester Super X model 1, the semi auto version of the model 12. I shoot a summer 5-stand league and brought one of my Super X's up for a 14 year old to shoot. He ran out of shells so the club manager had spare ammo but said my Super X would not likely eject his 3/4 oz 12 gauge reloads.

I said the shotgun would feed his light reloads...he said it wouldn't. Of course the Super X did with out a hiccup. Gotta love the old Winchesters.

Doc

The Rem 870 is about as trouble "Free" as any shotgun ever produced.

Doc

Huge difference between the old Wingmasters and the newer 870s, it's like comparing the Model 12s and the Model 1200s. Not even close so even though Remington kept the 870 designation the "rolling along" ended some years back.

I absolutely agree. My 870's have the silver spoon lifters so I know their well built.

Doc

I just found this forum. If you're talking Model 12's, I'm in! They have been my passion for 35 years!

I would like one in 28ga.

The M-12 in 28 gauge has always been the classic gauge to own. Yet for the $3,500 to $5,000 and up I would rather have a sporting Caesar Guerini in 28 gauge with 32 inch barrels.

Doc

never been a big fan. Seems whenever either i or someone else shows that it breaks down it never seems to go back together correctly.

Certainly not as easy as an 870 to put back together, but do it a couple times and it isn't that hard. In addition there are some directional arrows to help along with paying minimal attention when you break it down. The Model 12 also has the ability to adjust head space in case one would shoot it enough to cause that much wear.

As much as i like the Model 12 my favorite is the Win Model 97

97's cut your knuckles. thats why they invented the model 12, from all the 97 complaints.

remember you 16ga owners, early m12 16ga guns were 2 9/16" chambers. have a smith check them before you feed them 2 3/4" shells!

I use nothing but B&P 2.5 inch in my early Model 12 16 ga. It was in the 1930's if I'm not mistaken when Win started cutting the 2 & 3/4 16 ga Chambers

The change occurred in 1926-1927.

You are right it was around 1927 when they started the longer chamber in the 16 ga.

I have maybe 8-10 M12s. My current grouse gun is a 16 built out of parts. I think about half a dozen guns made contributions to the finished gun. I had a barrel with a potato on the end that I swapped for an old solid rib skeet 1 barrel. I got an unpopulated receiver from a guy from Iowa, I don't remember where the magazine came from. The rest of the metal parts were just picked up here and there over a few years. The stock came from a guy who just happened to have a gorgeous piece of the old Herters wood that was very well figured and a very rich chocolate color. I got a color matching fore arm from a place n Missouri. I am still adjusting it to fit me exactly the way I want.

I have a 1913 16 with a solid rib that's all original. I have a '30s vintage 16 that's beat to hell that will get restored. I have a 40's vintage 16 that's been cobbled together, sand blasted and reblued that I don't have a clue what to do with, but it's tight and shoots well. Whoever did the work understood M-12s.

There's a couple three 12 gauges, one of which I bought with a thumb hole stock just to spare it the indignity of heavng to wear that thing.

One of the favorites in my collection is an all original 20 gauge with a very early serial number. Most likely produced in the first week of production. I was thinking that the 16 gauge guns weren't sold until 1914. Does your gun have a serial number below 32,000?

I somehow managed to buy a neighbors old firearm collection including a number of Model 12's, old ones. They are cool old guns. The collection includes a heavy duck, a 16 gauge plain barrel and best of all, an honest to God first year production (1937) Model 12, 28 gauge field. The 28 gauge is really cool, very lightly used, all original unaltered, no Cutts, it's absolutely cherry and not a fake. I'm going to sell it, I just don't have a use for it, going to keep the others, buy my wife something nice.

That's going to make somebody very happy!

Keep the 28 gauge...sell the rest..

Doc

My wife bought me my grandpas Model 12 for Christmas. He bought it new in 1958 and it's only had a few boxes shot through it. Last Sunday it had a couple more shells go through it on wild Kansas roosters.

That looks like a sharp model 12!!