Looking for a Model 12?
By Nick Sisley
There was a day when Winchester’s model 12 pump guns were the darling of the skeet circuit. The Winchester model 42 enjoyed immense popularity as well, and I’ve heard that a number of those early-day competitors shot model 42s with 3-inch chambers —firing 3-inch ¾ ounce (or nearly) shells in 28 gauge events—then 2 ½-inch .410s in the .410 events.
	Remember that these were the days before the Remington 870; the Ithaca model 37 didn’t arrive until 1937, four-barrel sets were still a twinkle in some unborn’s eye, and both Browning’s Belgium Superposed and Remington’s model 32 were still in figurative diapers, i.e. very few were around during skeet’s early years.

The All-Bore Event
	Thus the Winchester model 12 was king, and the 12 gauge event (then called the All Bore) was by far the most important championship to win, whether talking a local club event, a state championship or the then-called Nationals. Maybe Zone Championships didn’t even exist in the 1930s.
	The Browning A-5 saw some usage in 12 gauge events, but serious competitors could come very close to shooting the same gun if they selected a model 12 in 12 gauge, in 20 gauge and in 28 gauge (yes, the 28 was born just for our sport  in 1934) and the model 42 in .410. Naturally each model 12 was a bit lighter, moving down from the 12 gauge to the .410, but in all other aspects these guns were essentially the same.
	I’m not suggesting that serious skeeters discard their Krieghoff, Kolar, Perazzi, Beretta, Browning and other tubed over-and-unders. What I am suggesting is that a bit of nostalgia isn’t such a bad idea—the nostalgia of owning and occasionally shooting one of the guns that was so popular when our clay target game got started.

The Search for Old Models
	Of course, model 12 and model 42 Winchesters are no longer made, so we have to look for a used one if such nostalgia is burning very deeply in our psyche. The 28 gauge model 12s are normally the most expensive—probably because there are not only fewer of them—but a significant number of skeet buffs across the country have them safely hidden in gun cabinets. The number of model 42s also pales in comparison to the number of model 12s in 12, 16 and 20 gauge. For anyone looking for nostalgia the 16 gauge model 12 might be the least expensive route to psyche massaging.
	One can no doubt go to one of several Internet gun-selling sites to look for a model 12, but I’ve found one of the best sources is Bob Hunter. Bob has spent his life buying and selling guns from his Selma, Ala., base. For decades he was associated with William Larkin Moore as the two of them were compatriots in finding high-quality guns and reselling them—as well as in buying Model 12s, Model 42s, Browning Superposed and other well-made shotguns and having them totally revamped. Bill Moore died several months back.
	Recently I tried a 20 gauge model 12 from Bob Hunter. I shot it well and hated to send it back. In a way I wish I had not, i.e. this skeet nostalgia thing. Only Bob and the person he bought this 20 gauge pump gun from know what it looked like when that gun arrived in Selma, but I’m guessing it took many, many months before Hunter posted the gun for sale on his website.

The Restoration
	Using only the best artisans, Hunter had the stock replaced. Using American black walnut (which is what Winchester used in those days of yore) the stocker created a stock that was pretty much a dead ringer in shape for the 20 gauge model 12s that came out of the New Haven, Conn., factory, say in 1920 to 1930. The checkering on this model 12 re-do that I had was better than any checkering that ever came out of the Winchester factory—by far, and there was more of it. The piece of American walnut was elegant in its figure, but what impressed me most were the finish and pore filling. I had to use a 4x loupe to find just a few pores unfilled. Buy a $10,000 gun today, and if it wears an oil finish (like this model 12 did) you’ll find pores galore that are not filled. Again, Bob Hunter finds some of the best artisans.
	The metal work? Using yet another artisan, Hunter had the receiver and magazine tube re-blued. He had the barrels re-rust blued, which is a much “cooler” process temperature wise, and ensures the model 12s rib will not come loose—which could and often does happen if such a barrel/rib is hot blued. The rib on the gun I had, by the way, was solid, i.e. no vent rib, with a white bead at the muzzle.
	Engraving comes next. For that particular model 12, Hunter used the renowned Angelo Bee. This artist has engraved all manner of shotguns, rifles and handguns over the years, and his name is not only well known here in the USA but worldwide as well. But Hunter didn’t have Angelo do engraving out of the ordinary on the 20 gauge I had. Instead Bee engraved both sides of the receiver with a style of engraving that Winchester probably used on its high-grade guns around 1920, flushing ducks in a game scene on one side of the receiver, a pointing setter game scene on the other. The game scenes were encircled by understated engraving, and there was more subtle engraving at the front of the receiver, the back of the barrel/magazine and elsewhere. The finished package was elegant, just the opposite of being garish, and so close to what a high- grade model 12 would have looked like coming out of New Haven in 1920.
	As you might guess, Bob Hunter does similar stuff with model 42s and the Browning Superposed—makes old ones elegant despite most of them being 50, 60, 70 and 80 years young. Naturally Hunter can have any manufacturer’s shotgun upgraded, but why does he concentrate on these three—model 12s, 42s and the Superposed? Not only are these guns no longer made—these guns scream high quality. All three bit the dust because parts were milled instead of stamped, because turning any one of these shotguns out became cost prohibitive due to the great amount of labor it took to create them.

Bob Hunter Contact
	Any time you check out Bob Hunter’s website—www.hunterguns.com—you will find a sampling of all three. However, don’t expect to finds scores of any one of these three models. If Hunter has invested the time in finding such guns, then the expense, effort and time to have them revamped into a showcase-type shotgun will be reflected in the price. As the price goes up the number of folks able to afford such nostalgia massaging goes down. Don’t forget that good, salvageable model 12s aren’t available by the bushel load.
	One more thought; be it a model 12, model 42, Superposed or any other firearm you are interested in, Hunter can have such guns re-done to your specifications—especially with regard to stock dimensions, desired chokes and engraving patterns. I receive many guns every year for testing. With most of them I have no problem calling the manufacturer and asking for a UPS Call Tag to pick the gun(s) up for return. But with an old gun with so much skeet history, I’ll be thinking of that 20 gauge model 12 for years to come.

Nick Sisley welcomes your emails, comments and questions at nicksisley@hotmail.com. For 43 years Nick’s only income has come from writing —and for 20 years almost always about shotguns and related shotgun subjects. His thousands of articles have appeared in scores of magazines, he has written eight books, and is an NSSA, NSCA and NRA shotgun instructor.