I present to you the fun you could have from 1897 to 2006 with a Winchester.  

I love these three shotguns and I need to get out and shoot them a bit more.   In Vietnam I believe a few 97 were still in use likely guarding things  with some 12's and a small amount of 1200's after 64 so all three fought together albeit not shoulder to shoulder but they were there.

Check out my video if you wish you were shooting and are too bored to do anything but reload.  

[video]https://youtu.be/BdRBtDeUlOw[/video]

Snapshot 1 (15-06-2015 10-26 PM) by Don'tkillbill, on Flickr

No 1893? Tisk, tisk.

I love shotguns but if I had his access to guns I don't know what I'd choose.  

I've sold or traded off a lot of guns over the years.  The only one that I regret selling is a Winchester '97 take-down.  It was made in 1906 and had nice patina to it.  I cut the barrel down to 18.1", cut the butt stock down and added a recoil pad so that both halves were equal lengths.

I love 1897's, they stand out.

I need to go finish my trench gun now.

Yes a worthy project! Love to see a pic when it is done.

I think the Model 12 was the best pump shotgun ever made.  It just got two expensive to manufacture at an affordable price.  I have a 3" Heavy Duck Gun version with solid 30" full choke barrel that is a family heirloom.

I have a Model 12 take down manufactured around 1926.  The barrel is marked "full choke", but the previous owner put one of those after-market select chokes on it.  That pretty much cut the value in half.  It has a small chip in the heel of the butt stock.  It is still a great shooter, though. Because the after-market choke reduce the value so much, I did think about having a gun smith shorten the stock, at least down to the small chip and add a recoil paid as well as cut the barrel down to 18.5 inches. Since then, I've changed my mind and am going to try to shoot some skeet with it and try it out dove hunting.

What I've noticed, how the whole gun is made of steel, but it seems balanced so well.

What do Model 12's go for these days?  Are they affordable, or have they become too collectible?

There are a lot of variations and, of course, condition is extremely important.  I was offered $1500 for my Heavy Duck solid rib (more desirable than vent rib), a number of years ago.  I turned it down.  I really don't know what the going price is for different variations today.

I have a WW1 arsenal refinish or never issued that for some reason wasnt used after. I bought this a long time ago but it was expensive then. Almost 400 bucks. I always wanted a shooter so I built a copy with original parts out of a 26 inch cyl bore gun. Numrich had the heat sheild.   Years later I notice they where less than 1000 apart on serial numbers. So its poost WW1. So maybe the original was never issued.

like to see a picture of your old gun.

Very affordable still. I just saw one in very solid shape for like $350.

Yeah with almost 2 millon laying around and really these were hunting guns so steel shot has put them in the back of gun cases every where a good deal can be found.   Still great short guns and for trap and skeet if you dare with a pump.  

300-500 for most.

I have a Model 12 that my Grandfather gave me about 40 years ago. I won a lot of turkey shoots with it when I was a kid. Great shotgun.

Dupe.  See below.

My 1956 3" Model 12 Heavy Duck. 30" full choke, solid rib.  Note original "Winchester Red" solid rubber recoil pad.  NRA 95-98%.  Original owner was my father-in-law.  Took more than a few geese with it in pre-steel shot days, but never let it get scratched or dinged.  Bluing is almost totally intact.  I don't think solid rib Heavy Ducks in decent condition can be found for $300-$500.  I do agree that with 2 million 12s out there, mostly 2-3/4" standard barrel models, well-used version of the standard type are available for reasonable prices.

One interesting feature of the pre-64 versions was the absence of a trigger disconnector in the fire control system. This permitted slam firing.  If you hold the trigger down it will fire every time the slide goes back fully foreard and the bolt returns to battery with no new trigger pull. They could be fired faster than semiautos.  Not that such shooting is necessarily very accurate, however impressive it might be to bystanders.

love my 20ga model 12.

The unmolested lower production or special order specimens are more in the collector realm. But most M12's were 12 gage field grade. Most were used hard and then they were refinished or Bubba'd up. Most of the these locally will run $185-$225. I like to revamp the messed up ones into 20" barrel riot guns. Best, most reliable pump ever made.

Since steel shot requirements have pushed the M12 into the cobweb corner the values dropped from years ago.

I would jump on EVERY M12 I could find for under $250.  A finer field gun has YET to be produced.  Locally, in SW Florida, I can't find one under $600.  For that price, my M12 Trenchgun project will have to wait.  I did pick up a Norinco (I know…) M97 Trench clone recently.  It makes me want a real (copy) one really bad.

Don't get me wrong, I've got modern shotguns, both field and tacticool, but a M12 or M97 are PERFECT for most situations…the field, the skeet range, or home defense.

ka

I have it in the overflow safe. It's has a humidity monitor. However it in a non climate controlled area. I hate to open it since humidity has been 80-90 % here the last few days. I do have the replica where I can get to it. Try to snap a pic when I can.

I bought my first 1897 back when I was around 20, long before CAS made them "cool". Nobody wanted them. It's a 1913 manufactured full choke takedown that someone had chopped back to 25". I spent many years shooting skeet and sporting clays with it. Before I found Modern (Wobble) Skeet, shooting 100 straight was a boring, weekly occurrence. Modern Skeet is a little more challenging. It's usually 22-24 for me now.

I'm hooked on the 1897 shotguns and now have 7 of them, ranging from 18-1/2" to 32". One is a factory "Brush Gun", solid frame, 4-shot magazine tube, 25" Cylinder Bore manufactured in 1898. That was my 1st anniversary present from my wife.

After all these decades of shooting the 1897 I decided to modernize and started looking for a good shooter grade Model 12. I ended up buying two of them the next gunshow. I won't chop down an original gun. There's too much of that going on already. I have a nice 30" full choke and found one that someone already butchered by installing a Polychoke. That one is now 18-1/2". As much as I try to like the Model 12, it just doesn't fit me as well as the 1897 does. Maybe it's because of the many thousands of rounds I've put through the 1897, but the Model 12 just doesn't do it for me.