I just spent a couple of days chasin guns over Couer d'Alene, Idaho way and of all things I had never seen (or knew of!), there on display was a minty Winchester Model 37 (single shot break open) shotgun in 14 gauge!
Right next to this shotgun in a gauge I had NO idea they made was a box of Winchester 14 gauge shot shells!
I was quite taken and impressed with this nifty (and I am sure rare!) piece.
I did not want to take the shotgun down from its place in the table holders large display of Model 37's but did look it over pretty closely on its stand.
The table holder was very busy throughout the two days of the show I was there (Friday and Saturday) and I did not get to talk to him. I was busy tending and sharing three tables with a guntrading buddy of mine.
Anyone else ever see one of the Model 37's in 14 gauge?
I have owned Model 37's in 410, 12, 16, 20 and 28 gauge in the past and still own a mint unfired Model 37 in 16 gauge that I just can NOT bear to part with.
Live and learn I guess.
By the way the Model 37 in 14 gauge had a price tag of $2,000.00 (two thousand dollars!) on it!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
Interesting. Well, I would have lost this bet (that there is such a thing as a 14 gauge shotgun).
Thanks for sharing.
Friend of mines father brought back a single barrel 14ga from Germany at the end of WWII. Another brought back a 32ga bolt action.
TraderVic: My Winchester books are mostly Rifle stuff.
So I went to "Wikipedia" and they do not show the Model 37 as being made in the Winchester Model 37?
Maybe they were suffering under the same blanket of ignorance as I was when they wrote about the Winchester Model 37?
Is the 14 gauge a European (Italian?) thing?
Anyway I seen'em both (the 14 gauge shotshells by Winchester and the minty Winchester Model 37 in 14 gauge!).
Websterparish47: Now there is another one I am not familiar with - 32 gauge - I wonder if that is a smaller or bigger case (hull?) than a 410?
Live and learn.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
I've read that if a 410 bore was actually measured as a "gauge", it would be a 67 gauge, so a 410 is smaller than a 32 ga.
TraderVic: Thank you for that.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
I have an empty [never loaded] paper 14 ga hull made by UMC Co.
It was given to me by an old neighbor that had collected rare Lefevers
and wrote for Double Gun Journal.
Somewhere in my mountain of magazines I have a Double Gun Journal with an article on a Winchester 21 double in 14ga. They also did an experimental semi-auto (1400 me thinks) in 14ga. The ammo they produced were aluminum shells. I'll have to go digging and see if I can find it.
I would think $2,000 for the 37 would be reasonable for such a rarity. Hell, 28ga 37s bring more than they should.
My BIL has a rolling block 14 gauge shot gun. Im not sure who made it.
Buy buy buy!
Be the only kid on your street.
A 14 is new to me but I have seen a handful of 32 and 24 gauges over the years.
A few model 12's were made in 14 gauge as well. There also was a 24 gauge but I think it was only in double barrels.
Moosemike: Thanks for that bit of information - I did not know that either!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
I have an old Stevens single shot in 14 Ga.
Seems like I remember seeing a Winchester 9mm Shotgun at a Gun Show long ago ..... is that possible ?
The things we learn each day, if we're lucky.
14 gauge scatter gun.
the 14ga was an english thing.
believe it or not, it was designed to be sold to their territories abroad so the users could not steal them and use them for personal use on farms or revolts....12/16 etc...being the worlds common ga's.
making them 14ga limited their use to one unit, one district, one country, etc...
many prisons had 14ga so friends couldnt mail 12ga ammo to the prisoners to take over the prison with 12ga shotguns off the dead guards etc..
the favorite of african units was the falling block 14ga single shot shotgun.
as late as 1976, i saw gate guards in africa still using 14ga shotguns. and too, guarding post offices.
military guards were still using 303 british bolt actions too!
winchester tried to revive it but it flopped. last attempt was with the model 50. it never made it past X-division.
Bobski: Thank you for that additional information bobski!
I was not aware of any of it.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
its along the same reason the 303 was invented. it could only be used in british issue rifles.