With apologies to my Vietnam era USMC pen-pal, John Hewitt of Anchorage AK-- great book--

Friday, 11/11 Veterans Day- decided to do a sunrise morning hunt at area arm with a nice pond surrounded by rolling picked corn ields- a goose magnet in NE Kent County, MI- and a farm I have been hunting for 25 years hand running=

Don't need but a few dekes in the field, perhaps a few floaters, and the geese move out right after dawn's first blush in the East- a West wind or hunting the best side of the pond is great, lots of brush and scrub for concealment- First flock of 5 honkers came in quietly at 0740 hrs- and decided to land on the pond, so I didn't get a shot, just added 5 decoys you can't buy from Mack's PW in AK to my few floaters- About 10 minutes and a spilled mug of hot coffee, as their ker-honk startled me-- I was scanning the sky for mallards- I came up as they hit the pond's edge and I swung the muzzle of my "pet" M12 through the long neck and head- the Limey's "Bum, Belly, Beak-then BANG" scenario, and the big honker crumpled and came down, crashing through the brush- as there were more birds working, and I was 95% sure that bird was as dead as Julies Caesar, I sat back down on my camo stool and waited- hoping to take a 3 bird daily honker limit--

Five more birds were incoming, but they "short-stopped" on the pond, and I prefer to have my birds drop on the harvested cornfield, and not in the pond- I lost my Black Lab "Khartoum" last winter to cancer-age 6, but's that's another story-- so and pond dropped birds means I get the camo canoe out from the brush hide on the pond's West side shoreline and do my own retrieving. As the pond is fenced all away around, as sometimes dairy cattle move around the pond, "Khartoum" was not always as rock-solid on water retrieves there, as he is/was on the Flat River where we live (Smyrna area, below Belding) where there are no fences or livestock on the farms I hunt that access the river-

3 years ago, he went after a mallard in another farm drain pond, but the 4 strand of wire fencing was electrified- top and middle strand had the insulators- and I carry a ground line hot circuit detector (you can get them a TSC-good investment if you hunt fenced farms, IMO)- anyway, he bumped the bottom strand into the next strand above it, which was hot- dropped the dead duck and ran off howling like Hillary Clinton after the election returns came in and she knew she had lost-- and as Mark Twain once so sagaciously observed about cats in a kitchen with a hot stove, he shied away any strung fence wires after that.

I decided to find the dead bird, and with the sun up and the cloud cover fading rapidly and a 15 mph (est'd) NE wind, I thought, well, as Nash Buckingham advised, always carry your shotgun with you when looking or a downed bird- dove or duck--

Somehow I went down the very muddy two-track, walking carefully along the grassy edges, thinking that the big honker landed further away than I had first thought, apres the shot-- then I turned and looked back to the North to the old barbed wire ence line and the locust tree where I had been sitting when I shot the bird- and I saw the black and gray of the wings, and abit of the white chin strap- Now I should have walked straight back towards the big dead bird I had shot, but as there were two older 16 foot steel tubing gates (rusty) laying in the grass and weeds ahead of my straight-line approach to the tree and the dead goose-, I foolishly decided to walk the edge, right alongside of the greasy muddy and wet puddly tw-track. Big mistake- I lost my footing, and dumped into the water and greasy mud- thank God the farm turdsmen use another two-track less greasy when they haul the "turd hearse" out to spred the cowshit- if I had falled into wet cowshit, I don't think I'd care to admit it- Anyway, the Model 12 went into the puddle, and when I picked it up, the brown greasy globby mud made it look like the Duck Dynasty rednecks had just dipped it into a vat of tanish chocolate syrup, to camo it I guess. Of course, the muzzle was plugged with mud, and I could get the two shells out of the magazine tube with the help of a Buck knife, but not the one in the chamber, as the action was jammed shut-

Long hike back to the Quad, left the decoys and the bag there, but took the M12 and the dead bird back to the main farmyard and milking house, where I park my Jeep, and I knew there were two water tanks (full of crap and what all- but better still- a hot water pressure hose in the milking parlor, where the big stainless steel raw milk tank is, and with floor drainage- So I hosed of my muddy camo pants, the Cabela's camo parka that dates back to 1986, when I became a DU Sponsor member, and we all received a camo parka along with our membership sponsor pins as well- And I blasted steaming hot water down the muzzle of the M12- and into the ejection port, with the bolt closed into battery, and that freed up the jammed action so I could get the live round out-put in back in the Jeep but not in the case, no sense in getting a Boyt case all crapped up--

Headed for home- shower, clean clothes, the muddy pants and camo Parka hung outside on the back deck area- boots awaiting a later "de-mudding"--

I have dropped that M12 3 times in the Flat river when I slipped, wearing waders- before Khartoum and I became a "hunting team" and have always detail stripped it down, let it dry out and used Hoppe's and WD-40, re-assembled and went on shooting it- but this was heavy clay soil mud, compounded by having one of the rainiest October's on MI record in last 35 years- So a wipe off, with paint thinner, and a complete detail strip, including removing the bolt-- and of course, the magazine tube was included- ull of water when I removed the end cap and slid out the magazine spring, 3 shot wooden plug with red steel end cap- and the magazine follower/cap-- As I use a Kick-Eze slip on pad with the M12 in early season, I slid that off and removed the buttplate, and sure enough, a few drops of water came out when I did the old "pour that piss out of a boot with instructions on the hell" scenario- so I also got out the long extension screw driver, and removed the buttstock completely, drying out the bolt and washer and spraying with WD040- I set the now stripped buttstock butt hole upwards in a padded vise, and put a 200 watt worklight over it, directed into the butthole bored into the buttstock for locking bolt access.

All the machine screws, front magazine cap locking pin, trigger housing group locking machine screw, were dried, cleaned with a toothbrush with Hoppe's, and then sprayed with Rem Oil- Last night after supper, I re-assembled the action and barrel/magazine ube group- 100% A-OK- and I will let the buttstock air dry until Sun night, and then will re-assemble it to the receiver-with WD-40 on both the bolt and washer, but also into the receiver boss extension, which I cleaned out with a Q-tip dipped in Hoppe's-

I'll take it our again Monday 14th- last duck hunt for two weeks, as our firearm deer season opens 15/Nov. and I don't mix deer hunting with a .30-06 with waterfowling with a 12 gauge.

I would like to hear from any of you guys that duck/goose hunt and have taken a dunking with whatever shotgun you were using that day, and how you proceeded to strip and clean it. I grew up with Model 12's- to me, at age 75, there is no other repeating shotgun quite like it-but others will say the same thing about: Remmington 870's and 1100's, Brownings, Berettas, etc. Buy nasty weather and mud, snow and sleet, leave your LC Smith LongRange or AH Fox HE grades in the gun safe, and take a M12 or a Mossenburgher 835 Ulti-Mag- simple pump guns you can strip and clean and get back into action with fairly easily.

And by the way, this was a good day-in spite of my loss of footing- Saw the pink morning sky, the colors even Van Gogh or Vermeer or Monet could never capture on canvas. Nash B. mentioned a "Stygian" sky, have always wondered what that meant. Not sure, but I'll bet a box of Winchester Blindside No. 2 steel that it is pretty darn spectacular- RWTF

Nice post Francis. While I have owned at least one M12 between 1981 and October 2016 (I expect it will be a short absence from my gun safe) I have never had an M12 completely submerged. I have done it several times with my late 1970's 870 Wingmaster.

Pulled it out of the water, took out the shells, allowed the water to drain from action and magazine tubes, went back to hunting. Get back to camp at the end of the day, spray some hoppes #9 into the action and other spots, work the action a few times to spread it around and wiped the whole gun down. Works better today than when I received it 37 years ago.

I save my obsessing for my SxS's and my 98% M12 16 gauge.

Whilst I admire the Model 12, I've never shot one well enough to keep it.

Cleanup after a rainy day or a dunking or whatever is where a plastic stock Benelli really shines.

Gun is in pieces in seconds with no tools, except for a buttstock pull and that's about a minute of effort with the correct metric socket and an extension. Oil and airhose out the action spring and tube, the magazine tube and spring, reassemble the receiver to the stock, and presto. Plus, the job can wait until after dinner and a cocktail.

I enjoy doubleguns, but nice days only please!

Good story Fox.

Francis,
My go to duck gun in the 70’s early 80’s was an Ithaca M37 12 gauge that I bought new. We hunted the Savannah River spoilage area which is located in SC across the river from Georgia. It was square miles of shallow water settlement ponds where dredging spoils were held when the Hordes of Engineers dredged the shipping channel. Usually dry in the summer, the area was filled with wild plant and grass seeds. The area was flooded several inches in the winter and was a duck haven. One of the regulars we hunted with was a Huey pilot at the nearby Army Airfield. While shallow, the bottom was “pluff” mud and difficult to wade in so we stood on pallets and traveled by canoe to the blinds. One morning I was with Rip and the canoe capsized in the pitch dark. We righted it, loaded it. My gun was missing. I tried to find it but it was pointless. After the hunt, I called Dale, the Huey pilot. I told him the predicament and I predicted it would be visible from altitude as a straight line in the mud. He knew the general area where we hunted. Dale test flew a Huey over the area and spotted it. As he hovered low with a crewman on a skid with a wire hook to fish it out, the prop wash from the Huey was too much for visibility. He flew back to Hunter AAF and came back with a light observation helicopter with less prop wash and made the retrieve. When he got back to the base, he hosed it down and coated it with oil. I stripped the gun, removed the stock, barrel, slide, bolt, followers, mag stop, trigger mechanism, magazine innards, washed it in hot soapy water and sprayed it down with WD 40, wiped it clean and oiled it. Unfortunately, the brackish water removed the bluing from the receiver, but I shot the gun for years afterwards and eventually gave it to a buddy. If one factors in the costs of two helicopters, crew and fuel, the value of the gun exceeded what a Sousa grade M37 would be valued at the time. Gil

Yes- no mistaking the backwash chop the rotors from a UH-1 Huey- bending the elephant grass on a Med-Evac mission- never mistake that sound anywhere- Hell of a deal, your chopper pilot pal sounds like the "real deal"--and I like the M37 well enough, except I am a pass shooter mainly, and prefer the slight extra muzzle fore-ward weight of the Model 12- I have 2 3" Mag Model 12's as well, and did two things to alter them to my body build, length of arm, etc- for more efficient pass shooting- (1) removed by boring out about 2/3rd.'s of the lead ballast weight in the buttstock cavity- aprox. parallel to the buttstock access hole for the locking machine screw- (2) Most of my Model 12's- pre-1950-ish- have about 14" to 14& 3/16" LOP, depending on buttstock pad or recoil pad- But the factory std. for the 3" Mag M12 was I believe 13 &5/8"- WRA designers guessed it would be a late season shotgun for longer range shots, and the owner might be wearing more clothing than typically worn on Oct. opening day-I can shoot a shotgun with a slightly longer LOP than I prefer in LOP (14&5/16"), but anything 14" or less I do not do so well with-- unless you have a Kick-Eze slip on pad available.

I also endorse the Winchester Blindside steel No. 2 loads, in both 2& 3/4" and also 3"- (I would rather French kiss Monica Lewinski than shoot a 3&1/2" Mag- and 90% of my shots at geese and mallards are at under 25 yards and closing- Dead Bang- if I do my part- the M12's have never let me down. In past years I have won several Browning and Binelli 12 autoloaders at both DU and PF events- and promptly sold them ANIB-- to other attendees who didn't have a winning raffle ticket. Too old to change, and if it works well for you, as Model 12's seem to for me, well- my point of view it- "Let the young Turks have at it with the plastic stocks and alloyed lightweight receivers- I feel about them the same way I did after both USMC Boot Camp in 1960 and the M-1 Garands, and later in about 1965- the switch to the M-14's-when I first saw a AR-15 carbine- in the main armory at Pendleton-- "K-Mart Karbine"-- Not for me!!

Francis, here's my '57 M12 16 modified on a cold winter morning dove shoot with one of my best girls, Abby. Four of us covered the field for a memorable early morning shoot. Gil

Nice- later M12's had the forward set leaf spring deleted, supposed to stop the forward travel of the forearm when dis-assembly-ing the gun into the 2 component groups. The forearm shape was also a bit larger in dia. on the field guns. about 1957-58 is when WRA dropped the option of the solid rib. i have small hands, so I like the smaller diameter pre-1940 "corncob" style forearms- But any Model 12, no matter the gauge or year of mfg. is still the "Perfect Repeater".. Nice Brittany Spaniel. How does she do on doves- all those soft feathers and the warmish weather of the early part of the season-- Do you use decoys, or are you mainly pass shooting?? RWTF

In a woodcock cover somewhere on the north side of the Piscataquis river, my son slid down an embankment with his 16 ga M-12. The muzzle plunged deep into some of Maine's best diatomaceous earth. I didn't see it, but he was smart enough to unload and bring it to me.

Well, it would have been nice if he'd had the muzzle pointed straight down when he unloaded it.......

Anyway, we had a very sluggish-cycling M-12 receiver full of dirt, and having a bore plugged solid to some indeterminable depth. We fashioned a rod of a flexible stick and broke up the bore impaction. Then we pounded the receiver against a large tree till nothing further came down the bore. A good inspection, a cycling check, loaded it and continued on.

That was about six years ago. I hate to admit this, but still haven't dropped the trigger group/bolt for a serious cleaning. Last year the kid used it with 3/4 oz weenies to humiliate me and my 391 sport at a NSCA shoot.

I own enough Model 12s to outfit a squad, in 20,16, and 12 Gauges, however when I want to shoot with the perfect repeater I reach for a Remington Model 31 or 17

Sometimes I use a line decoy or Mojo. Some field owners ban Mojos. Loose dove feathers sometimes bother my dogs, but they bring the birds back to me (most of the time) Gil

Same Model 12 that I baptized on 11/11 in the mud and muck- 25 years ago, I hunted with a retired MI State Vet (large animal) who had it's twin- 30" Full solid rib field gun made in 1937- std 2& 3/4" not a 3" Mag. Bob had been bird hunting the day before our morning in a good blind on Long Lake- flight birds were in, and geese were also in residence. or some reason, he wore his Filson bird hunting coat, as from the previous day's bird hunt, with his "pet" LeFever Nitro Special 16 gauge. Back then, Remington field 12 and 16 loads were both green plastic- and he had left a few 16 upland No. 8 shot loads in the right hand pocket-

Shooting light came, we loaded up, my Black Lab "Dixie" whined in eager anticipation of birds to retrieve- and Holy Moley- 3 big Canadas were winging right straight into the front of our blind, right into the wind, lifting up like a Corsair F4-U off a USN carrier in the Pacific in 1944- "Take 'em" I shouted and I swung through the bird on my side of the two-man blind we used, Boom, the bird crumpled in the morning air and fog, and I hear a "Pop" and the other two birds on Bob's side flew on, unscathed--

Bob said: "My Model 12 is jammed, can you fix it?" Dixie had the dead goose in hand, back to the blind and the ramp we had built for her, so I unloaded my M12, and looked at Bob's gun. Sure enough, the action was jammed shut tighter than Dick's hatband.I was able to remove the two green Remington hulls from the magazine, after I removed the machine screw at the rear of the trigger housing, and dropped it out with the shell carrier, which was binding on the brass head of one of the shells in the magazine tube- Yes, I carry a basic cleaning and field armorer's tool kit in my shell bag, along with a spray can of WD-40 and spare shells and calls-- good habit, IMO.

When I looked at the two green Remington plastic hulls, I realized that Bob had loaded his M12 with 16 gauge hulls- and when he shot at his bird, the undersized 16 hull fired, but not being fully contained 360% in the chamber, it went "poof" instead of BANG.

I gave Bob my M12 to use while I overhauled his- after I had him dump out all the shells in his Filson-both pockets, and stash them in his shell bag- I loaded my M12 myself, red WRA 12 gauge plastic No. 4 express (pre-steel shot era)--

In order to extract the swollen 16 gauge hull from the chamber and the chamber ring, which held the swollen brass casing, I had to do the old Herb Parsons Model 12 betting trick-- I removed the barrel/magazine group from thereceiver, and this left the plastic tube of the swollen 16 gauge hull exposed- However, the brass had swollen from the detonation and was tight into the ID of the chamber ring- more later RWTF-- OK, dinner is over, football on TV- so I'll give this a wrap. took me almost and hour with my tool kit and a sharp knife to cut and peel away the plastic hull and free up the brass -Bob watched me work, shot at one mallard with my M12 and missed- once I had his gun back in order, we swapped back and finished out the morning with 3 mallards and 5 scaup- Gene Hill once wrote about having a hunting coat-vest for each shotgun gauge he owned and used--maybe not a bad idea--

I never shot a Model 12 very well although I loved that gun. Its where the safety is placed in front to the trigger guard. I had to choke up on the wrist so my finger could reach and push the safety with enough force but this led to the stock bumping up into my underarm when I went to shoulder it.

But those two pumps were so buttery smooth that sometimes I couldn't remember if I chucked another round in the chamber after a shot so I had to check.

I eventually sold both of them.

Francis, my dad was an M12 16 gauge user when all his buddies shot 12's. When he was teaching my brothers and I to shoot, there were a few things drilled into us from the get go:

Point the gun only at things you are prepared to shoot.
Every gun is always loaded.
Only a fool depends on the safety for safety.
Take every single shell out of your pockets and/or bag at the end of the day....never carry two gauges of shells.

Almost 50 years later I still adhere to those commandments from my father.

My Uncle Fred gave me the best of many gun safety and manners afield, of all the many male family members. When I was about 11, we went out to a local farm in October- my favorite month- with both my Stevens Walnut Hill .22LR single shot, and my Dad's Model 12 20 gauge- Fred shot a Model 97 12 gauge, but he left it at home.

He set two large pumpkins on a old apple crate in the sand pit we used for a backstop for our ,22's and the tin cans (never glass bottles) we used for plinking--and target practice--then we went back about 20 yards to where we had set both guns, cased and unloaded- "OK- bucko- he said: when you are ready, take out your .22, and with the muzzle pointed towards the pumpkins, load it-and whenever you are ready, shoot at the center of one of the pumpkins. I did, then opened the gun and ejected the fired case- "Good, now put the gun back in the case and come with me-- We went to the pumpkin I had shot, and observed the small hole the bullet had made on the front- then he spun it around, and I saw the way larger hole made when the bullet exited- then he cut off the top with his Mahler & Grosh jack-knife, just like we would do a few weeks later for Jack-O-Lanterns at Halloween- and said- "looks like the inside of a human head, doesn't it?" So, now you know what can happen even with a .22 if you ever make a mistake in gun handling and safety--

Then we went back to the gun cases, and he had me take out Dad's 20 gauge, and with the muzzle pointed at the pumkins, he had me rack it open, drop a shell into the chamber, and close the action. Again, he had me point the muzzle at the second pumpkin, and told me to fire when I was ready. Up to then, I had only shot .22's- never a shotgun- The louder boom and recoil was a lot more than I was used to with the .22 Stevens.

The pumpkin had exploded into a mass of yellow pulp, the green stem had flown about 20 feet from the impact point. He had me unload the fired empty shell and case the M12-- then again we walked over to the pumpkins- or what was left of them-- Then he said: "Now, bucko- look long and hard, and what you see could be my head, or that of our bird dog Clancy, or your Dad's or Grandpa's, for that matter. Always remember this:- just like words you can't take back once they are spoken in anger, you can't take a shot back that you fired in haste or error. If in doubt, it is always better not to speak and not to shoot." I have lived by those words of wisdom all my life since.

Uncle Fred was my Mother's older brother, like her, college educated and a successful patent lawyer- He was more erudite than either my Dad or my Grandfather, both machinists- but all my growing life I never saw any of them ever point any gun towards another human, dog, or anything else they did not wish to shoot stone cold dead.

Uncle Fred was the living embodiment of the old adage: "Beware the man who shoots one gun, as he usually will be very good with it." He had a 12 gauge Pigeon Grade M1897 with the "Black Diamond"inlay in the straight hand stock- 28" Mod.choke- The only family gun that didn't come to me as an inheritance. Uncle Fred was a life-long bachelor, I never did find out where it ended up-but I would sure like to have it today.

Always enjoy your M12 stories. I am also addicted to M12's, and have about eight, 4 12's, 2 20's and 2 16ga. Always looking for the elusive 28, but up here in the UP they have all been used hard. I do find one now and then that is in nice condition and have bought a few.

Foxy,
nice post mate, & thanks for your service Sir
Cheers
Franc

Thanks- I have 11 M12's- 9 in 12 gauge, including 2 in the 3"Magnum model (aka- Heavy Duck) my late Dad's 20 gauge (1931 field grade 28" mod. choke, and a 28 gauge I took in payment for a debt from a buddy- that is a 1939 field grade with 28" solid ribbed barrel and choke is marked WS-2- but it is NOT a Skeet gun, has plain field buttstock and corncob ringed style round forearm.

Mavis and I were in "Da Yoop" in late September, we love all the great waterfalls, and we have always wanted to take the Pictured Rocks boat trip-which we did- also visited the Whitefish Bay area and saw the Edmund Fitzgerald museum, and also a few lighthouses- Copper Harbor is our favorite. I love pasties, and the history that shows that Calumet lost by one vote to Lansing to have been our State's Capital- wow.

Some fine grouse and woodcock hunting up across the Bridge- at age 75, not my game today. The few Model 12's in 28 gauge I have seen at Cabela's Gun Library have all been in Skeet mode, and wore a Cutts Comp-- or a "Steam Whistle" as I have heard them called.

yes, we have some great locations here in the UP. This year the grouse hunting has been very good, at least in the area's that I hunt. Of my 12ga. M12's one is a 3" Mag. Duck that I found up here a few years ago. Very good condition for 40's gun that for some reason did not get much hard use. I also have a 12 ga. M25 that I like. I don't know why they were not more popular. Just cause they can't be taken down does not seem like that much of a problem.

Agree- my son-in-law Jeff has his dad's M25--28" full- they were only made for a span of about 4 years I believe, and when they came out on the market, the days of train travel for hunting trips had passed, and the supposed advantage of a take-down repeater, whether a Model 1897 or a Model 1912--

Remington got smart after WW2, and the 870 which replaced the old M31 pumpgun was a good step in capturing the pumpgun market, IMO. And the great Ithaca M37 had a solid following as well.

I believe the stocks and the trigger group were about the same for the M12 and the M25-- But the market and traditions of gun buying and ownership are hard to nail down. "Looks like a M12, but it ain't" I can imagine some older Kansas or Nebraska wheat ranchers and farmers sayin' in their Big Smith bibs and feed and seed store caps down at the elevator- when a hunting pal waltzed in and uncased the new M25 he had just bought for the comin' pheasant season--