winchester defender

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paystar5000

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hey there, thinking about a winchester defender for my collection and was hoping if anyone here could help with the technical aspects of it. What to look for, the best years made, the model, the price and anything else anyone can help with that would be awesome.

Thanks a bunch
 
Which defender are you referring to? The current production defender or the winchester 1300 defender ?

My current deer gun is a winchester 1300 " defender" with a short rifled barrel, very fast pump with the back assist, never once FTF or FTE. I also have a standard smoothbore barrel for it too, probably 2000 rounds of target loads and probably 300 sabot slugs still functions perfectly
 
i havent done much research on it but is it the model 1200 that is the older one im not sure, i like the older stuff i think it has more character than the stuff and made better, i guess what im asking is if there are certain ones that are better than others like the pre 64 94 vs post 64. and im looking for value as well.

Thanks a bunch
 
IIRC, the 80's production ones had issues with the long ejector jumping off the roll-pin stud at the back of the receiver. Or if there was no care when putting the barrel back on, the ejector could be pinched inside the chamber. The early bolts also had a screw that would get it's head sheared off, allowing the plate to come off, releasing the firing pin. Not the greatest shotgun in my opinion.
 
I bought a new Defender1200 back mid 80's. Wood with 18" cylinder bore, bead sight and had that typical Winchester pneumatic feel when pumping the action, smooth and a mild build up of resistance like a bicycle pump. I had a new 1200 from the first generation @1980, previous to this one..

It carried great for grouse and worked flawless albeit it may have only seen 250 rounds of field loads. At the time I believe it came in three versions, hardwood full stock like mine, mag cap was 7 IIRC,.... a black synthetic stock set.and a synthetic pistol grip only model at 4.25 Lbs!! A real "Thumb" experience with heavy loads and an unsuspecting shooter! I saw a black Synthetic like mine at a gunshow last year "as new" listed for 325.00.

Good luck in your search.
 
What I didn't like about the defender that was the action didn't stay locked after the trigger was pulled, it was like they tried making a pump action attempt to act like a semi. I have seen many people eject live rounds, or re chamber the empty hull after firing the first shell. Horrible design if you ask me.
 
Cleftwynd said:
What I didn't like about the defender that was the action didn't stay locked after the trigger was pulled, it was like they tried making a pump action attempt to act like a semi. I have seen many people eject live rounds, or re chamber the empty hull after firing the first shell. Horrible design if you ask me.
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And yet well tuned, it would fully extract and eject the hull when shot. I loved the 1300 action.
 
Love to know of a pump that stays locked after the trigger is pulled, and see someone pull the trigger to have a full load ejected. Dang this is funny.
1300 was the fastest action made up until Winchester's newest made is Turkey that I have yet to try which is claimed to be even faster.
 
It depends what you're looking for. I bought a stainless marine 1300 defender barrel for the new defender I had PLANNED on buying. Then I found out that due to U.S. capacity regs the new SX3 PUMP 'defender' isn't made with the extended tube like the older 1300 DEFENDER! The mag tube ring on the older 1300 barrels is farther away from the receiver so the two 'defender' models are NOT compatable.
 
After reading a few comments here I hesitated to post. I bought my Defender back in 1982. I've lost count of the hundreds of miles walked with it, and the hundreds of slugs, OO and the typical miscellaneous shotshells put through it. Old corroded Imperials, new Winchester ammo doesn't matter mine shoots it all and I've never had an issue. She's a never sell.
defender.jpg
 
M77 said:
After reading a few comments here I hesitated to post. I bought my Defender back in 1982. I've lost count of the hundreds of miles walked with it, and the hundreds of slugs, OO and the typical miscellaneous shotshells put through it. Old corroded Imperials, new Winchester ammo doesn't matter mine shoots it all and I've never had an issue. She's a never sell.
defender.jpg
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Mine was my first shotgun.. And their market value does not represent the quality of the firearms...as such mines a never sell either...

Upon the reading this thread I took a look at my service records for my guns (is it weird to keep these?) and up until last night I was 1500 rounds without cleaning and it still functions.. I trust it more than my benelli and if it ever came down to a grab 1 gun and go situation it would be that gun.

Take it for what it's worth
 
Ok, locked might be the wrong term, point is the action will open when fired leaving the shooter not knowing if is has ejected the spent round and started to pick up another, or if the spent round is what is still in the action unless you stop between each shot and look. This is, if you didn't notice an empty hull get tossed.
 
That seems to be more of a shooter problem than a gun problem.. I usually just make sure I rack all the way back before going forward. I've never had the situation you describe happen
 
skip1600 said:
That seems to be more of a shooter problem than a gun problem.. I usually just make sure I rack all the way back before going forward. I've never had the situation you describe happen
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Which quite often will eject an unfired round as it has already ejected the spent round and had started to pick up the next round.
 
It really to me sounds like shooter error.. The gun won't pump itself back then pump itself forward only for you to pump it back again to eject the live round.. Mine only sends the action back 3/4 on target loads and I need to push it back forward, as with every other winchester action I've ever shot. I can't remember ever ejecting my live loads
 
The design was marketed as "recoil assist" and toted to be the fastest & smoothest pump gun at the time. It is still the the fastest pumping shotgun out there in my opinion and a skilled user will demonstrate it even more. The action is nice and smoth as well. I run two defenders: a mid and a late '80's model. One is always with me in the UTV ( and is still my go to gun for two / three gun events) and the other is always at the camp. I have shot lots of ammo from both and they are still as trustworthy as ever. In my opinion it is perhaps the most underestimated pump gun out there.. and in part I think its due to the fact that it never got the Mil/LE contracts like its competitor the 870... btw I had a few 870's and by far the 1300 Defender is still my preference. That being said I can't speak on the newer genration defenders as I have yet to test fire one.
 
skip1600 said:
It really to me sounds like shooter error.. The gun won't pump itself back then pump itself forward only for you to pump it back again to eject the live round.. Mine only sends the action back 3/4 on target loads and I need to push it back forward, as with every other winchester action I've ever shot. I can't remember ever ejecting my live loads
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Now try that with heavy 3" loads and it will travel farther than 3/4 of its cycle.

The defender always works perfect with 2-3/4" target loads, however if that is all a shotgun operates properly with, then I won't own it for long. Maybe the 7 or 8 defenders I played with were all from the same defective batch in the late 80's, who knows. If the new models are more reliable than I would love to own one, but for now I am content with my 870 marine magnum.
 
i thank everyone for there advice and expirences with the defenders, ive done some more research with them and i think with the stuff ive read here and my own research i can make my decision.

Thanks to everyone for the help and will keep u guys posted
 
Reading this thread takes me down memory lane. First shotgun I ever owned was a synthetic 1300 defender. I agree with M77 in that I have fired quite a few rounds down the tube with that puppy and never had a malfunction - very fast too. Mine too is on the never sell list.
 
I have a new winchester sxp defender and love it. Only 12ga I've owned. I had to get used to it auto ejecting the spent case and sometimes not picking up a live round. The shooter still has to do their part. After a little bit of practice I have corrected my problem. Thank goodness I didn't take the plug out as I tend to go through enough shells as it is. What a fun gun to shoot.
 
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