16ga.com ~ View topic

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1381 Location: Denver, Colorado

I was out shooting with my son and his buddies home from college just before Christmas. Neither of them had ever shot much, one was from LA(!) and had never shot anything. I took a selection of guns to the range, all in 12 except one. Any guesses which gun they all gravitated too?

In my seemingly-eternal quest to find the "right" birdgun for me, I keep coming back to this one. The weight and handling is exceptional (a 16 on a 20-gauge frame usually does that). It is/was a basket case gun I went through a few years ago just to put it in order and accordingly, it's not pretty. We even had to lop off 1 1/2-inches from the 28-inch full choke tube & reset the bead because a prior owner had likely shot steel through it, cracking the muzzle (it now has 10 points of choke). It's also had the ejection port opened up to allow it to eject modern 2 3/4-inch shells.

I've got almost no money in it and I could kill grouse with it all day long (it would efficiently kill lots of other things too).

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If I'm ever impoverished and have to sell everything, this one will be the last to go.

Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1310 Location: Western WA

What a great project. I found a very similar 1929 16 ga M12 in a barrel a few years ago at a local gun store marked “as is” for $225 or thereabouts, and took it home. Blueing totally worn off, firing pin was badly eroded and it didn’t like to fire. But a thorough cleaning and re-surfacing the firing pin (no simple task) brought it back to life.

It is very lightweight 6 lb 2 oz and perfectly balanced. The stock has excess drop and exaggerated pitch typical of that era making it awkward if not useless for clay targets. I have shot 25s with it, but our club experts shake their heads and say leave it home.

It would make an awesome skeet gun but I can’t bring myself to ream out that near perfect IM that it has. So now it’s been semi retired as my pressure test gun, wired up with strain gage and cables, kind of sad.

It is such a natural shooter that excels in ease of carry and downing birds, and explains why the 16 ga was so popular. However of late, 16 gauge repeaters became so much heavier that their advantage was diminished. Those wonderful old 16ga M12s are disappearing in the mists of time.

V/R

B.

Brewster11,

Even though my 1st love is SXS double guns, I still own a Win Model 12, 16 gauge that I picked up mostly as a home defense gun. That is until I saw how the gun destroyed Clays and put Grouse down, in the thick forest. The gun weighs in at just over 6lbs, I opened the choke on the old gun to IC and the girls love carrying it in the Grouse woods, and they think they are Annie when they put a Grouse or Woodcock down on their 1st shot. The gun is so worn that it almost cocks itself after the shot.
Its the only pump gun we own, and it will be here forever.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1381 Location: Denver, Colorado

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As the years go by, the lubricants in the action mix with dust and turn to sludge. After disassembly and a good cleaning, everything works again. If you don't want to tear them fully apart, I hear that a long soak (a week?) in diesel fuel will do almost the same thing.

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The toe had been broken off and the gun was a little short for me. I reshaped it and added the later Winchester pad for an additional inch or so.

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My two 16s. Shockingly similar dimensions, eh?

Lloyd3,
Good job on the old model 12, enjoy! Mine was/is in almost perfect shape so I did not need to rework her.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Just hard for me to pass up old Hammer Guns, to purchase any kind of pump gun!

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1381 Location: Denver, Colorado

Cool Elsie hammer! I have almost nothing in this M12 as it was my mother-in-laws long-dead uncle's gun. It had been unused for years (maybe 50?) and sitting in a closet falling apart. I basically swapped her an early M12 in 20 (another basket-case gun that I had restocked & re-blued) for it, a sweet little circa-1913 gun that I had redone for my son (which he immediately out-grew) then... I had a buddy help me get this one roadworthy. The dainty little 20 fits her perfectly and this 16 now fits a more full-sized person (such as myself). A win-win situation IMHO.

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Love that William's "Big Head" safety. In a situation where more shots can count (like 6?), this gives me that option. I've only encountered that once before (on a local gamefarm) but the experience was enough to precipitate this project. Different horses for different courses, right?

Joined: 09 Feb 2020 Posts: 64 Location: Southern Illinois

Love the stock set.

Lloyd3,
The other reason for a 6 shot M12 pump gun is home defense, no need for 6 shots when bird shooting. Also when taught how to use the pump gun, not shotgun is faster working.

The 16 gauge Hammer Gun pictured in the prior post, is an old Antique Crescent Hammer gun!

all the best,

Pine creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1381 Location: Denver, Colorado

Dave:

My bad, looked like a Smith to me.

LM

Lloyd3,
As much as I talk about fine L.C. Smith double guns, I can see why you made the mistake, no big deal buddy!

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man