Any love here for the old Winchester 1300 Defenders?

They're cool, but there's a reason they were an also-ran beside Remington and Mossberg.
 
870P said:
They're cool, but there's a reason they were an also-ran beside Remington and Mossberg.
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What's the reason? I've owned all three, ran them hard, and got rid of the Remingtons and Mossberg. The 1300's faster, lighter, and in my experience, just as tough and reliable.

At present, I can see going with an 870 or Mossberg, as there's a lot more aftermarket (and factory, as they're still produced) support, and the current Winchester SXP isn't great. But back in the day? No contest.
 
CobraGT said:
What's the reason? I've owned all three, ran them hard, and got rid of the Remingtons and Mossberg. The 1300's faster, lighter, and in my experience, just as tough and reliable.

At present, I can see going with an 870 or Mossberg, as there's a lot more aftermarket (and factory, as they're still produced) support, and the current Winchester SXP isn't great. But back in the day? No contest.
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It didn't hold up particularly well to military and police use, and suffered from being perceived as being cheaply made compared to the Model 12, which it was, although that was true of of the other post WW2 designs as well.
 
I'll chime in-a 1300 Defender (identical to the one in the top picture but with darker wood) was maybe the first shotgun I bought with my own money, boy did I lust for one of them at the time. It was the first high-capacity shotgun I'd ever seen tbh, and we're going back a couple decades+ now probably? Anyway, I only kept it a few years, probably left the house less than 10 times and only in the first year or so. Reliable? Yes, but that's the best thing I could say about it.

The rotating bolt design/"speed pump"=didn't know the gun had this feature and I didn't like it or get used to it. A bit unnerving to use, and I wasn't new to shotguns. You can Google the mechanics if you're feeling it, but basically the moment the round goes off the bolt unlocks and will travel rearward to initiate the cycling process for you. (maybe not describing perfectly?) If you knew nothing about it and took a shot, you might think it's a pump that's trying to auto-eject the empty or something. I remember disliking that so much I'd try to force the pump forward on firing. You couldn't really have much authority over it, or that's how I remember it.

Buttstock felt too big @ the wrist=too chunky in my opinion, and I have relatively large hands. Functional, but a real mitt full.

Buttstock/receiver fit poor=stock was proud of the receiver by a visible amount on the both sides, and worse on the top.

Cycling wasn't smooth=this is trickier to describe, but mine almost felt like it was binding a little? Meaning, the pump stroke seemed to require a little too much effort to initiate, THEN complete the cycle stiffly, but normally. It wasn't binding, but in hindsight might not have even been broken-in?

In those days, I didn't know shotguns were made of anything but steel, and was disappointed to learn the receiver was made of aluminum. I got over that pretty quick, but found the finish on the receiver so glossy and smooth that it always looked smeared with finger prints. It's an aesthetic thing, so subjective and not really a measure of how good the gun is/isn't.

Had some fun days shooting with it, and the experience left me knowing what to look for if I were to consider a different shotgun one day.
 
.22LRGUY said:
The rotating bolt design/"speed pump"=didn't know the gun had this feature and I didn't like it or get used to it. A bit unnerving to use, and I wasn't new to shotguns. You can Google the mechanics if you're feeling it, but basically the moment the round goes off the bolt unlocks and will travel rearward to initiate the cycling process for you. (maybe not describing perfectly?) If you knew nothing about it and took a shot, you might think it's a pump that's trying to auto-eject the empty or something. I remember disliking that so much I'd try to force the pump forward on firing. You couldn't really have much authority over it, or that's how I remember it.
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Valid points if you're not experienced on the platform, and are used to 870s or Mossbergs. In full-stock form, I agree that the "speed pump" doesn't offer much - though it is faster, once you get used to it - over either of those platforms. It works a lot better if you're already pulling the pump back toward yourself when you pull the trigger, which is counterintuitive if you're used to other platforms.

What you described is actually the best feature of these guns, though, in pistol-grip form, with no stock. Pretty much any other pistol-grip shotgun, you have to absorb the recoil with your hand and arm, then operate the pump.

With the 1300, you can (if I can describe this accurately) push the pistol grip away from you while aiming, while simultaneously pulling the pump toward you. When you fire, the bolt instantly unlocks, the recoil pushes the barrel up as you eject the round and are pushing the gun forward with your shooting hand, and in a fraction of a second you're back on target as you slam the pump back forward and the barrel down. With practice, it's very controllable and scary fast to empty all 6 or 7 (or more with mini shells, which run great in these) rounds accurately onto the target with some practice. NO other pistol-grip shotgun I've tried can do this.

Not trying to convince anyone, this is just why I like them. The only other guns I've personally used that I can oprate as quickly are Fabarms.
 
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back in the days of my youth, several buddies had them. The recoil pad was as hard as hockey pucks on all of them. Never had any issues with them, but stuck with my Mos-500.
 
Great shotgun, I had mine threaded for chokes. In the end it failed
me on a backwoods trip and I moved on to something with better aftermarket support.
The plastic mag throat wearing out is a common problem and what ultimately failed on mine.

Slide release was also really small and hard to manipulate.

Other than that a great shotgun, enjoy..
 
Never owned one, but I’m in need of a new to me tactical style pump and was actually looking at one of these on GP last night lol. I was running a 590 Retrograde and foolishly sold it thinking I needed a semi auto to compete. Turns out I much prefer a pump for tactical type shooting, slower times for sure but I feel way more connected to a pump, and enjoy the experience more. My only caveat is I need chokes, can you find these threaded for chokes or am I able to thread these barrels?
 
Was the first shotgun I fired when I was a kid. It doesn't get much trigger time anymore but its become our camp companion when camping/quadding in grizzly country

PXL_20251024_151251355.jpg
 
DBeato said:
Great shotgun, I had mine threaded for chokes. In the end it failed
me on a backwoods trip and I moved on to something with better aftermarket support.
The plastic mag throat wearing out is a common problem and what ultimately failed on mine.

Slide release was also really small and hard to manipulate.

Other than that a great shotgun, enjoy..
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I wanted one but i heard about the plastic piece where the mag screw in so i lost the interest. I am happy with my mossberg 590A1,Ithaca 37 and my model 12.
 
svt1940 said:
I wanted one but i heard about the plastic piece where the mag screw in so i lost the interest. I am happy with my mossberg 590A1,Ithaca 37 and my model 12.
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Model 12s are decent too, in their own way.... I inherited one from my grandfather, and thought the slamfire thing was cool. I've always been tempted to buy another one...
 
I haven't touched a 1300 in probably 20 years. I think they were great for what they were. Model 12s had their day and were obviously much more expensive to produce. 1300s offered plenty of cheap, reliable and speedy action but I think they never caught on en masse to the ubiquitous 870s and 590s pumps.

I stuck with 870s, not because I thought it was particularly better but simply better supported (replacement parts and aftermarket).
 
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