

This man, who was way larger than life to me as a kid, held the Winchester Model 12 as possibly the greatest shotgun ever made. “Finest pump gun ever made,” I can still hear him say when he would catch me handling one of his collection.
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He had a house full of guns, but the Model 12 Winchester was his hands-down favorite. He was a Model 12 man all the way, though he had other shotguns, and lots of them. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever be able to shoot like him. He did all of this with a battle-worn Winchester Model 12 that had an action as smooth as newly churned butter. If there was more than one bird on a flush or he needed a second shot, I could hear the cha-chank of the action between rounds … but it was lightning fast. I’m sure he missed sometimes, but I can’t remember it. He always had good dog, either a skinny pointer or cat-footed setter with a bloodied tip on its tail - and let me tell you, they were some kind of deadly. We had ruffed grouse in my part of the world back then, in numbers far exceeding what we have now.

I can see him ahead of me, a Winchester Model 12 casually resting on his shoulder as he disappeared behind some big oak or tangle of brush. This gave the Model 12 its reputation for a smooth action with excellent reliability, and it’s the primary reason why so many of these guns still work and see the fields today.Īs a boy, I have a distinct memory of following him and I was almost always running, running to catch up. The internal parts of the Model 12 action were all hand-fitted and machined to precise specifications. His long legs gave him a stride that was seemingly impossible to keep up with. He could walk in the mountains all day and he didn’t seem to tire. Tall and lanky, he was one of those guys who seemed all disjointed and clumsy, but he wasn’t. I will never be able to look at a Model 12 Winchester shotgun without thinking of him. Overall graceful lines that make it a real looker.Bolt locks directly into the receiver, making the action exceedingly strong.Internal parts are all hand fitted giving it an extremely smooth action.Internal hammer streamlines an action made from a single billet of forged steel.What Makes the Winchester Model 12 An Exceptional Pump-Action:

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