fs: 1940 winchester model 12 16ga skeet 26" solid rib, mint

this is my all original pre war WS-1 gun. its an amazingly clean speciman. most others out there are beat up to a pulp. been in my gun cabinet for over 30 years. smooth as butter. last time i shot it i went 50 straight, cleaned it, and put it up. a firm 3000.00 plus ship. as is. ffl to ffl. lower 48 only. thanks for looking.

 

btt...

 

Bob did you purchase this new if not what year of was it manufactured ?
Thanks.
Sgoose

 

Curious about the "highlighted" lettering. Was the lettering enhanced after production or was it done at the factory ? Can you advise if the gun has been reblued or the wood refinished ?
Lastly, would like to know the measured bore diameter and the choke constriction.


TIA

 

was not purchased new.
ad states made in 1940.
was purchased from a winchester collector.
don't know or have ability to measure bore diameters. they are unaltered and not ruined. standard restriction for a WS1 marked gun was 003. WS2 was 005. gun shoots 60-40.
early m12's were two tones. receiver and bbl extension were blued together separately during production. bbls were blued at a different phase of construction. this gun shows the result of the blueing differences during production. i see no indications of being reblued or rebuilt. if it was, then i need to retire from Winchester collecting.
white typing fluid filler was added by previous owner to highlight correct factory marks at guns shows decades ago. it will come out with common cleaning solutions. (it was part of a Winchester display at large shows.)
wood shows no signs of refinishing. grip is proud, and sand marks go thru to the plate.
grip cap is the early winchester logo style and has old lacquer on it to protect it.
no idiot scars on the takedown channel.

all the above mentioned info is why I bought it; and, I couldn't bring myself to wearing it out by using it.

hope this helps.

 

btt...

smooth as butter.

 

btt...

 

My receiver has Skeet stamped on it. Pictures are dark so please guide me to where that is

 

only guns that were skeet grade were marked skeet on the receiver.
believe it or not, there were trap grade skeet guns too.
mine isnt a higher grade of wood thus, its not marked.
note mine is straight grain for strength, not beauty.
hope this helps.

 

I

Mine is pretty standard and marked skeet.

Yours maybe was out put together by that collector you purchased it from ?

 

what year is your gun?
fyi...

winchester made:
skeet guns,
skeet guns in skeet grade,
skeet guns in trap grade,
skeet guns in pigeon grade,
and pigeon skeet guns in plates 1/2/3/4/5.

all similar to the model 21.

the confusion is people tend to think its not a factory skeet gun unless its marked skeet on the receiver. the markings on the receiver define the grade, not the game it was designed for.
the practice of defining a guns grade with skeet or trap (or even deluxe) was discontinued sometime just before or after ww2.
hope this helps.
it was not put together.
maybe someone took off the nice wood off of yours? its possible.
the fact that mine is unmarked with plain wood solidifies it being correct as a basic skeet gun.
but having a skeet grade marked gun with plain wood appears more suspect than mine, as to not being original.
even that isnt solid, since it was a common practice to use straight grain on skeet and trap guns for strength. function won out over pretty. pretty was usually requested. otherwise the assemblers just grabbed the next wood set in the bin and... on it went.
just an observation.

 

Here is my 16 ga "SKEET" grade. It is a full choke. I think mine may very well have after market (Winchester) upgraded wood. View attachment 80308

 

yes.
your gun is a good example of correct aa/aaa select wood.

 

btt...

 

perfect specimen for a collection.
smooth as butter.

 

btt...

 

btt...

 

I cant believe no one has bought this gun yet. 84 years old and will most likely outlast anything currently being used in the market today.