Winchester Model 12 --12 Gauge shotgun

[blackthorn]

Does anyone have information on when a Winchester Model 12--12 gauge was made? Number the guy gave me over the phone is 700397508. I will get to see it tomorrow to see what kind of condition it is in. He was asking about value and I told him I needed to see it at least. Thanks.

[Kraschenbirn]

That's not a valid Model 12 s/n. According to Winchester Arms Collector's Ass'n, highest Model 12 s/n (1980) was 1970885.

[FLINTNFIRE]

http://www.mchenry-sc.org/Engineering/Model_12.htm look here but your number is way high

[pete501]

Maybe it is from the future.

[JoeG52]

Is it possibly a reproduction model 12?

[blackthorn]

I will get to look at the shotgun this afternoon. My friend is not a gun-nut like me so he may not have given me the proper serial number. He apparently got the gun in some sort of trade and I think he likely wants to sell it. More later.

[GaryN]

One of the best shotguns ever made. I love mine.

[dale2242]

I got mine when I was 15.
I am 79 now.
I still love that gun.

[blackthorn]

Looked at the shotgun yesterday afternoon and it is in VERY good condition. Thanks to the information on years of manufacture provided by Filntnfire we determined the gun was made in 1925. Thanks to all who replied to my request for information. My friend gave me a large box of mixed brass, some gravel-pit pickup and some once fired, from someone he knows. There is a lot of 303 British military stuff marked 1944 and several of those have cracked necks. I may try annealing those before I do anything else with them. There were also some military 303's that are primed and I do not know if those might have corrosive primers (they are also 1944 stamped) or if the previous owner primed them, so I likely will just put them aside for a rainy day.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Does the 303 have Boxer primers?

[blackthorn]

Does the 303 have Boxer primers?

Yes it does. At least all the ones I checked so far do. There was a bunch of commercial brass as well and I was a bit low on 303 so it is a welcome addition to my stash.

[FLINTNFIRE]

Glad the info worked for you , both mine are 1941 dated , have a good day and those are great shotguns .

[Bigslug]

I worked the gun shop scene from 1992 to 2005. I have a memory from the earlier part of that period of Miroku manufacturing Model 12's in Japan and selling them maybe through the Browning name? That particular serial number structure seems a lot more like later Browning rather than vintage Winchester.