Model 12s are great guns and of a quality not found in modern pump guns. This one is definitely not a collectable but is a shooter. If the seller is trying to pass it off as original or "like new" or never shot, they are lying to you and I would pass just for that reason alone. The corn cob forend did not come with a checkered buttstock and the colors are not even close. What it's worth as a shooter, only you can decide. But you can find nicer ones for $500.
I know some would say I overpaid recently for a 1954 Model 12 converted from a field gun to a trap gun. It has a Simmon's rib, it's been nicely reblued and has a nicely figured and matching checkered Monte Carlo trap stock. I paid $600 for it. I have a soft spot for M12s as my Dad had one and I shot my first bird on the wing with it. I shot this one at trap before buying it and it shot exactly how I like my trap guns to shoot. It's meant to be a back-up gun and I'm shooting it now while my Krieghoff is off to Ottsville PA having the barrel re-blued. My scores haven't dropped off, so, for me, it was worth it and I have no intention of selling it.
