doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Model 12 Question

I just bought a 20 ga Model 12 dated 1922 with a "doughnut" vent rib and 24" barrel. Nicest wood I ever saw on a Model 12. The barrel says FULL but it measures 20 pts on the choke. Is it full or mod?
It seems unaltered.

The barrel should be 25" at a minimum. You measure a M12 barrel from the front of the ejection port. By 1922--the barrel should have been 26". Early M12 20ga. guns were 25" long. It's possible that there were still 25" barrels in 1922. .020 would be at the very bottom of the full choke range for a 20 bore Winchester. It's more like improved modified. If your barrel is truly 24"-then its been shortened a bit and that could explain the degree of choke left in the barrel.

Model 12's are weird. I have a 1913 20 gauge Model of 1912 with a 25" solid rib, full choke 25" barrel. I also have a mid-1950's plain barrel 20 gauge Model 12 with a 25" full choke barrel, with original-looking serial numbers. Winchester did not make a 25" 20 gauge in the mid-1950's. Barrel appears uncut, still mics at full choke. The 1913 gun is marked Nickel Steel with 2-1/2" chamber, and the 1950's is marked (I think) Win. Proof Steel with 2-3/4" chamber. Go figure.

From the front of the port this one is 25 1/8". I took the dealer's measurement at 24". It is marked 2 3/4" and nickel steel. It sure looks unaltered.
Thanks for the info.

The way to measure the barrel of a Model 12 is to measure the inside, from the muzzle to the closed bolt face. That gives the true barrel length.
Run a dowl stick down the barrel to the bolt face and mark it at the muzzle.

It thats the case, the barrel would have been made between 1926 and 1930. 1926 was the first year they made the 20ga. in 2 3/4" and marked the barrels as such(not all were marked). In 1931 they started making the barrels of Winchester Proof Steel.
There should be a year date stamped on the bottom rear of the barrel. It's very hard to see with out total take down.

That isn't the right barrel on a 1922 gun. And it probably isn't a big deal, either. Plenty of model 12s were shot until they were worn out, rebuilt, and shot again. Wood comes and goes, too.

A gunsmith friend has owned what has to be the roughest looking first year 20s since he was a kid, coming into it for small change in the late 1960s. He has pounded it further, and used it for ducks with heavy loads when lead was still legal. Broken stock fixed with tape and glue, broken buttplate, 0% blue or finish left.

We just noticed it has a later barrel on it last time we looked. It would have been fitted with that a long, long time ago. He never noticed.

The ducks and other birds never did, either.
Best,
Ted

I got to checking the # again and my bad eyes added a digit in the dark. This is a 5 digit # gun 315XX. I compared the length of the ejection port to a 1 million+ 16 ga and the ejection port is longer on the lower # 20 ga. The numbers match on all the parts of the 20 but I think Winchester must have some some reworking. The patent numbers are on the right side of the barrel just in front of the receiver. The wood looks very much like the wood on a 1919 trap gun I have- fancy. Much fancier than the 16 ga. There is also a grip cap on the 20 ga.
Thank you Gentlemen for all your help.