Thoughts on the Winchester 101 lightweight

fishslinger

fishslinger

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A used Winchester 101 pigeon grade lightweight combo in 28/410 got my attention today. Don’t really know much about these guns, but by the pic it looked good. Comes with a win hard case and nice walnut stock. Where these well made shotguns, are the 28’s on a true scaled frame size? I went to have another look at it but it was already sold, in about an hour.
 
Iv'e owned 7-8 101's about 6 were pigeon grades , iv'e always looked for the really well figured dark walnut stocks ,and they tend to be on the older pigeon grades. owned 2- 20 ga's, the rest were all 12's, a couple were traps with the monte carlo stocks which i bought purely because of the beautiful wood, but if i was being honest, those 2 never quite fit me for whatever reason. I think the 101 was a very nice and well made shotgun, and that's my personal experience and opinion, i absolutely love them and am always looking for a nice one to come along. looking at a couple that are on the site right now, but one is a trap again so i'm a little leery, but it does look beautiful. I'm not a big fan of the newer ones being made by fn for whatever reason, they may be decent guns ,idunno, just don't have the same appeal to me as the good ones of the 60-80's
 
Damned! That would have made a great mate to my 12ga Pigeon Grade. :( To answer your questions they are great guns. Much better than was ever credited to them, especially for the price point. The 20/28 combo would be a 20ga frame with 28ga barrels made to fit the 20 receiver.
 
Not surprized. .410 o/u are not that common so they either command a premium or they get snatched up fast. If the Baikals, Stoegers and Churchills are considered entry level guns and the B guns the standard, I would consider my 101 a little better than what is in the middle... lets say a Ruger Red Label. The higher end 101's are nipping at the Citori's heal but for that price, I would rather buy a Citori. My Citori is a better over all gun than my 101 in terms of fit, finish and ballance but I wouldn't pass up a 101 if the price was right, especially if it is in .410.
 
Garaldtao said:
Not surprized. .410 o/u are not that common so they either command a premium or they get snatched up fast. If the Baikals, Stoegers and Churchills are considered entry level guns and the B guns the standard, I would consider my 101 a little better than what is in the middle... lets say a Ruger Red Label. The higher end 101's are nipping at the Citori's heal but for that price, I would rather buy a Citori. My Citori is a better over all gun than my 101 in terms of fit, finish and ballance but I wouldn't pass up a 101 if the price was right, especially if it is in .410.
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And I feel the opposite. None of the Citori’s I have owned imo were any better than the 101’s I have owned.
 
nice little 20ga field grade on the EE right now, i'm guessing early 70's . iv'e had both, my opinion is that the average 101's were better than the average citori. it seems that browning went the extra mile with the high end diana's etc where as Winchester's pigeon grades, and other special 101's were not quite as nice. But i still love looking for those odd pigeon grades that come around now and then that have that beautiful high end AA-AAA dark walnut wood.... that's my gun!!!
 
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