One of the things you need to be careful about with this gun (and all old hammer guns) is to make sure the hammer does not strike the firing pin (or the pin doesn’t move forward on its own) before the slide is fully engaged in the chamber. Apparently hunters didn’t like the high-gloss tube on the 98, so that was updated on the 19.
WINCHESTER MODEL 25 12 GAUGE VALUE UPGRADE
The 19 was an upgrade on the Marlin 1898 and came with a matte barrel finish. It’s a bit of a complicated process if you haven’t done it before (tech wasn’t as advanced a century ago), but basically you just pull the fore-end backward, flip a switch, push the fore-end forward, and the threaded barrel unscrews from the chamber.
It’s also a takedown, so you can remove the barrel from the action. What’s cool about the 19 is it’s a hammer gun, so that means as you slide the fore-end back, it cocks the hammer, and after you pull the trigger, the hammer strikes the firing pin, sending the shot downrange. This pump-action shotgun is over 100 years old and was only in production from 1906 to 1907. Marlin 19 More than a century old, the 19 was only in production for a year. 1962001) while those made after 1972, the so-called ‘New Style Model 12’ with stamped parts, will begin with a letter prefix (e.g.
WINCHESTER MODEL 25 12 GAUGE VALUE SERIAL NUMBERS
Pre-1966 made guns will be all numeric serial numbers (e.g. Winchester themselves maintains a serial number/production date range list that can help with appraising. Relatively new shotguns are out there as good economical shooters while older pieces are solid investments. There are so many of these classic old shotguns out there floating around in obscurity that now could be the best time to go searching for one at a good price. Riddled with stamped parts rather than milled, hand-fitted ones, it was not ‘the perfect repeater.’ Collectability The very similar but cheaper designed Winchester Model 1200/1300 was introduced in 1964 as a low-cost aluminum receiver replacement for the venerable Model 12. In all some 2-million of these guns were produced. Winchester closed the line on these guns in 1964, but small batches were released occasionally since then as late as 2006. While officially replaced by newer Remington 870s and Mossberg 500s, since then these old vets still continue to get spotted in pictures of US soldiers in harm’s way as late as the recent conflicts in Iraq. They served as riot guns with military police, trench guns in the front lines, and in support duties. Guns to World War One (700) World War 2 (over 68,000) and Vietnam. Unnamed soldier, reportedly in Iraq, with Winchester Model 12. Speaking of Winnie 12s in the military, while the Winchester 1897 was the better-known trench gun of its day many Model 12s were bought to help fill the ranks.
Herb was so fast a shot that he was even called to serve his country in World War 2 as a gunnery instructor, teaching young men the basics of shooting down aircraft with Winchester 12s among other guns. Herb Parsons, a well-known exhibition shooter, would often break seven clays thrown into the air with one of these shotguns, firing one round per clay. The lack of a trigger disconnector (who would want one of those anyway) meant that the gun could fire as fast as you could pump the action-which proved pretty fast indeed. The gun was fast, which made it one of the most popular on the market. While the Model 97 ‘hammer-gun’ was still in production as late as 1957, the hammerless M12 outsold it by more than 2:1. Selling it first as the Model 1912, after WWI they simply marketed it as the Model 12. Winchester pushed the guns out to its salesmen and to good effect, becoming one of the most popular shotguns of its day. This gun continues to find it’s way on to battlefields. Model 12 seen here in the hands of a Marine in the Pacific during WWII.