Winchester Model 12, back to life

[MBTcustom]

I have permission from the client to show pictures of this beauty. I spent waaaayy too much time on this, but it came out so dad-blamed good! (at least I thought so)
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[220swiftfn]

Yes, but what did it look like *before*???? I can say "nice job", but ??????


It *does* look nice, BTW.....



Dan

[MBTcustom]

Yes, but what did it look like *before*???? I can say "nice job", but ??????


It *does* look nice, BTW.....

Dan
It looked like every other model 12 I have seen. Not good, not bad, just used. I wondered what it looked like on the rack brand new in 1930. I believe I came pretty close.
I hand polished the parts with sandpaper and a block, followed by sparse buffing just to make it shine a little more. This preserved the stampings very nicely, and I would not be able to tell that it was reblued based solely on the condition of the stampings.
The recoil pad is the oldest that I could find. It's a new old stock Pachmyre from about 1970.
The stocks are hand rubbed true oil, and I made sure to clean the finish out of the pump grooves completely.
I polished the carrier, and the bolt with 400 grit, which seemed to match the original pretty closely.
All in all, I like the way it turned out.

[waksupi]

Wipe off your finger prints next time! [smilie=1:

[MBTcustom]

Well at least I wiped off all the rust pits and the place where the guys dad put his name in the barrel with an electric pencil LOL!

I do apologize for the crummy pictures, but I was anxious to give it back to my client because he has waited a while for it. Of course, he waited that long, and another day wouldn't have made a difference, but my whole focus was getting it back in his hands, and pictures were an afterthought.

Oh well, That wasn't the first, and it wont be the last either. I'll start taking "before" pictures more often, its just that I don't consider myself a restoration smith. I'm just putting it right again no matter what it is.

I'll tell you one thing, back in the day, holding a new model 12 must have been a real thrill. I always new them to be old junky looking guns because that's all I have ever seen, but holding this one, I realized that they were very elegant firearms and very easy on the eyes.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Back in my salad days there were other brands of pump guns, and then there was the Winchester Model 12. I don`t rightly recall what a standard model cost, but it was worth it when the counter man handed you a nice new box with that pretty puppy inside. I recall the Model 12 "Featherweight" I bought back in 1960, I think. It cost the princely amount of $89.95 if memory serves. I later acquired a full choke barrel to go with the modified that came on it. Quite a few pheasants and mallards have fallen to that sweet puppy. Now days I take it out of the safe and put 5 rounds thru it to clear the spiders out of it.Robert

[Bo1]

Very nice work Goodsteel..

[GaryN]

That's my favorite shotgun. I had one for about 30 years and let it get away. Now I have another. Nothing as smooth as a Model 12.

[FLINTNFIRE]

Have a model 12 I think it is 1940 vintage , it was trimmed back on the barrel , then I saw one on outdoors trader for 150 or so , was well used but not abused , same vintage , which I thought was nice.
You did a very good job , looks nice , mine are as I got them showing their years , a pleasure to see a gun with sentimental value brought back to shine again

[USMC87]

That's some fine looking work on a fine old shotgun.

[429421Cowboy]

Beautiful work Tim! I like seeing things that end up so nice, especially on such a sweet old gun. There is nothing like a model 12 in my eyes, my great grandfather used one made in '38 I believe to shoot trap which my brother still has with the 7 inches of lead in the stock he added to make it butt heavy. My bro still kills a pile of geese with it each year and sees no reason to own any other shotgun besides that old 2 3/4 12 gauge. With seven rounds in it once the plug is out and holding the trigger down it only takes 3 seconds to empty it like a jackhammer and I would not want to be on the other end of that thing! As you say, most that you see are pretty battered old workhorses but let me tell you is sure was hard to walk past a factory riot barrel m12 on the used rack in great shape for $399 last week!

[220swiftfn]

It looked like every other model 12 I have seen. Not good, not bad, just used. I wondered what it looked like on the rack brand new in 1930. I believe I came pretty close.
I hand polished the parts with sandpaper and a block, followed by sparse buffing just to make it shine a little more. This preserved the stampings very nicely, and I would not be able to tell that it was reblued based solely on the condition of the stampings.
The recoil pad is the oldest that I could find. It's a new old stock Pachmyre from about 1970.
The stocks are hand rubbed true oil, and I made sure to clean the finish out of the pump grooves completely.
I polished the carrier, and the bolt with 400 grit, which seemed to match the original pretty closely.
All in all, I like the way it turned out.

Thanks for letting us know all that went into it, you did a decidedly fine job on it (I *was* just bustin' your chops, BTW....)


Dan

[mac60]

Very nice work. I doubt it looked that good when new.

[MBTcustom]

Here's some better pictures. My client has a very good quality camera, and brought me a disk with pictures that he took (mighty upstanding gentleman IMHO)
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[Spokerider]

Very nice work indeed. Beautiful deep blue.

When you polished the bolt and carrier with 400 grit, is that the same a slicking the action?
I just bought a model 12 that is in pretty darn good shape. I would like to slick the action, to make it even more smooth than it is now. Is that all there is to it?

[alrighty]

My favorite shotgun as well , no other shotgun feels like a model 12.Tim the gun looks great , thanks for sharing the pictures.

[Love Life]

I think the bluing job is VERY nice. Kind of makes me want one, but alas the long range thumper you will be building me has to be all tacticool...

[izzyjoe]

very nice work, that bluing is awsome! the M12 was the standard of shotgun's, and still has a great following. as always, keep up the good work!

[kenyerian]

Nice work Tim!!! Looks like a new one. it was a sad day when Winchester dropped the Model 12 and came out with the 1200.

[MBTcustom]

Very nice work indeed. Beautiful deep blue.

When you polished the bolt and carrier with 400 grit, is that the same a slicking the action?
I just bought a model 12 that is in pretty darn good shape. I would like to slick the action, to make it even more smooth than it is now. Is that all there is to it?

Let me be very clear. These shotguns are a piece of history. It was not too long ago that doing what I did, even with the care that I took, would have stripped quite a bit of value from the gun. Now, performing a restoration like this actually adds value. Know why? Because they are getting harder to find in perfect working order.
If you have one that works, please realize that you are holding one of the slickest actions ever devised by man, and while improving it might make it a touch smoother, the possibility of removing too much metal is ever present, especially if you are not a professional gunsmith.
Just look at the availability of parts and what they cost if you can even get them, and leave it alone!
The parts I buffed with 400 grit were the parts that show and I was extremely careful not to touch anything that had rub marks on it. I found a burr on the carrier, I left it alone! I found rust on top of the bolt, It was brushed with Eds red and a bronze brush.
You go and strip .002 inch off the wrong place, and you could render the gun unsafe, or dysfunctional.
There was a time when I would have attempted something like what you are asking, say 15 years ago, but now, no way.

[izzyjoe]

I had a J.C. Higgins M20, it had an action smooth as a M12. don't be knocking the M1200, those are great shotguns. there not the quality of the M12, but it's still one tough shotgun.