Went to the range today to function check a few rifles and one shotgun (a fitting way to spend Veteran's Day IMHO). Both rifles seemed to be ready for the deer tags the boy and I both have, so I then turned my attention to the little M12 I'd brought along. This gun has a born-on date sometime during Anno Domini 1927, so it's chamber size (and more importantly it's ejection port) may or may not be friendly to 2 3/4-inch 16 gauge shells. Serial number range is just under 500K (487xxx) so who knows, right? This particular little 16 bore has been used a bit hard (about 1/2-inch of toe is missing from the stock and the butt-plate) and the finishes in general all look fairly tired, it also desperately needs a good deep cleaning. I got this gun in trade for my little 1913 M12 20 from my mother-in-law this Fall (who it happens to fit rather passably) with the understanding that after I'd given her gun the attention it so-richly deserves, I'd exchange it back for my sweet little 20-bore. As far as it's history goes, this 16 had evidently belonged to her uncle (who has long since gone to meet his maker, as even she's on the back half of her 60s now). Sadly, it seems unlikely that anybody has paid it even a smidgen of attention for the last 50-years or so, and when racking the slide or examining it closely you know it's been neglected at least for that long (and maybe longer). Upon taking possession, I quickly utilized Winchesters fabulous take-down mechanism and separated the two (now somewhat gummy) halves and looked her over more closely. Nickel steel is pretty incredible stuff and this one's no exception, meaning that while it's internals are also clearly gummed up a bit, the 28-inch barrel is both rust, pit and ding free. The wood (front and back) is a bit dry but absolutely un-cracked and all the controls work as they should (if maybe a bit slowly). I'd taken some (now-precious) 2 1/2-inch RST No. 8s along to function check it (2 3/4 inch stuff may come along later) and stoked the chamber and magazine tube with 3 shells (it's obviously been plugged), cleared the range for action, and then let her rip. Even if it doesn't fit me exactly right, 16 M12s feel just so....good. Built on 20 gauge frames and weighing in at a little over 6 to 6 1/2 lbs these guns are wonderful upland tools. Even dirty, this gun would do the job all day long if necessary.

Last edited by Lloyd3; 11/11/21 08:55 PM.