Model 12 Winchester??


If I were you, and reading these posts, you should be a little confused, I would go to a REAL GUNSMITH & get it looked at for your oun piece of mind. Not someones brother-in-law that tinkers w/lawnmowers, guns,& cars, but a real gunsmith. Invest a couple bucks & feel better. I too own a 16ga mod 12,& love it. Its worth whater adjustment or advice you get. An older gunsmith once told me he'd never seen a broken one that some amature hadn't screwed up first. Good luck & enjoy a true work of art.
 
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...and it will open, push the slide all the way back and eject just like an autoloader. Same thing happens if I try to hold the slide shut.



That is not normal. I've never had the bolt fly back unless I was putting backwards pressure on the slide with a model 12 or a model 1300. Even if I'm doing that, it just releases the tension, I still have to do some work to get ejection, even with mag. loads.

There's something wrong with your shotgun.
 
I currently have a 12 ga and have had (stolen) 12-20-and 16 ga model 12s. None function(ed) as you describe.

Take it to a gunsmith familiar with mod 12s.
 
Thanks for all the info and posts. After poking around locally for this information I hit gold...an old fella called me this morning and said he has four Model 12's he wants to get rid of and heard I was looking to buy. Not only did I buy all 4 guns but he was a wealth of info. He said that "they are absolutely not supposed to blow open at all, period." "If that happens the gun is worn out." When asked what wears he said "that was the weak link of the gun...the lug on the end of the action slide and the pad it rubs on in the side of the bolt." He showed me how it locks and all the pressure bears on a small area of the slide and bolt about 3/8" long. Sure enough when I got home I took mine apart and it is slap a$$ gone!!! He said they used to send them away and have them welded up after Winchester stopped making parts. "Before that it was easy, just order a bolt body and a slide, some minor fitting and it was right as rain." He is 83 years old and sold the guns because he can no longer hunt. He also said he believed this is why the 870 took over, "lots of guys that had 12's wear out saw those 2 action bars of the 870 and thought it would last twice as long, plus it was a cheaper gun." I ended up getting two 20 ga guns and two 12 ga's. One of each has a solid rib and the others are ventilated. The 20's almost look unfired but he said they were. Never thought I would get this lucky!! Thanks again for all the post.
 
Good for you on the purchase and on the info. Guess I came on to this post too late as you've already figured out the problem however if you want to get it fixed, let me recommend these people.

Wright’s Inc
1104 S. Main
Pinckneyville, IL 62274

They are good Model 12 smiths and they can probably build that piece back up for you, plus they won't rob you in the process.

These are great old guns but some of them have had the heck shot out of them. I currently have 3 16s and a 12 gauge the newest being a 16 built in 54. The others are 1915,1915 and 1928, none appear to have been babied but they all still work well. Wrights are who I use to keep them running.

Good to see another Model 12 hunter.
 
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