Let's see your winchester pump shotguns

This is a M97 12 gauge Pigeon gun with 28" full choke barrel, made in 1901. Note the black diamond inlay. The engraving shows a live pigeon ring complete with shooter, dog handler, and trap operator. Look carefully and you will see the out of bounds marked with flags and a bird falling in bounds. Although the stock was short for me I had a number of successful rounds of trap before finding the gun a new home.
DSCN1919 Win M97 Pigeon Gun.jpg
 

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That is a sweet 97. I love shooting pumps at skeet. Another of my favorites is my 1913 Remington model 10 F- Grade 2 barrel set. The engraving is the best I've seen in person and it is a great shooter. 30" full and a 26' CYl both of which have the raised solid rib.
 
winchester12 said:
That is a sweet 97. I love shooting pumps at skeet. Another of my favorites is my 1913 Remington model 10 F- Grade 2 barrel set. The engraving is the best I've seen in person and it is a great shooter. 30" full and a 26' CYl both of which have the raised solid rib.
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Would love to see your F grade. Do you have any pics to share with us?
I had another engraved M97, two barrel set, but the pics have been lost.
Bill
 
Here is the other side of the M97 Pigeon Gun. Look closely on the perimeter and you will see four leaf clovers---for luck, I presume.
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After all the nice wood posted, this should make you puke!

But it is a very functional pump with the overbore and the + tubes and the fastest pump made.

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browninggold said:
These guns are outstanding, where do you find these?!
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I've been collecting for many, many years. Really interesting collector pieces are getting increasingly hard to find. This one came from a SK collector who had an amazing Winchester collection that was sold off about 20 years ago. There was a beautiful M12 in 28 ga that his family kept as a keepsake.
 
It is always surprising what turns up, sometimes even in the EE. Or in out-of-the-way gunshop shelves. The trick is to do your research, know what you’re buying, and be prepared to spend. I’ve passed on many guns over the years, thinking another one will turn up. Some 20-30 years later, you realize the folly of such assumptions.

The dilemma is that once you have the collection you want, the next generation of shooters is interested in other things, and what you thought was solid re-sale value turns out to be collector guns very few are interested in...
 
Pinfire said:
It is always surprising what turns up, sometimes even in the EE. Or in out-of-the-way gunshop shelves. The trick is to do your research, know what you’re buying, and be prepared to spend. I’ve passed on many guns over the years, thinking another one will turn up. Some 20-30 years later, you realize the folly of such assumptions.

The dilemma is that once you have the collection you want, the next generation of shooters is interested in other things, and what you thought was solid re-sale value turns out to be collector guns very few are interested in...
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How true. Generally, really collectible pieces remain collectible. M12 in 28 gauge have never been easy to find, nor have they ever been inexpensive (except when they were built). And, it is always difficult to establish a fair price.
 
You have to circulate where good guns change hands. The Calgary Easter gun show has always been one of those places.
You need to get to know the people who have a reputation for finding premium firearms.
You need to make a decision, on the spot, that you are not going to let this special gun go by.
Great guns are not often a bargain price. Sometimes you can get lucky.
With really great guns, like a lot of things in life, he who hesitates is lost.
 
I no longer own any pumps and I never kept the pics of them but I had a couple real sweet model 12's over the years. My faves were actually the Y models I owned. I had 2 trap models and a deluxe field. I had a 1932mfg field grade I had done up too. I found a monte carlo Y stock and had it taken down to a parallel comb, a beauty of a matching handmade forend to the stock, cut the barrel back to 28", added a simmons rib & briley chokes and that was my dedicated waterfowl gun for a decade. I sold all my original winchester model 12's to cgn members. I had two of the later model japanese winchester 20ga DU model 12's as well and one of each of the 28ga's and 20ga's in grades 1 & 5 in the brownings.
 
This is an early M12 in 12 gauge with solid rib. Martin Hagn restocked it and rust blued the barrel and receiver. Lovely gun.
DSCN2439 M12 by Hagn Resized.jpg
 

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guntech said:
After all the nice wood posted, this should make you puke!

But it is a very functional pump with the overbore and the + tubes and the fastest pump made.

SXP-left.jpg
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Here's 2 opposite ends of the scale.
Mine started out like Dennis' but I rattle canned it for turkey and deer and to prevent nausea.
The Model 12 was my grandfathers. I spent many days with it on the St. Lawrence near Cornwall in my teens dropping teal, bluebills and whistlers. My father also used it with success on the Ottawa River. I often wonder how they would view the modern marvels.


 
I've always had a soft spot for Model 12's since I was boy. Owned and sold quite a few over the years and upgraded to mostly ribbed guns. Pre-war, early post war, two-pin milled ribs and a few 3 pin ribs as well as solid ribs. Trap, skeet, field and HD. Most in high grade condition on the first take up notch and no bolt droop. Took a number of years to work up to that.
 
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