[wrs840]

I found one in a local pawnshop (consignment), looks dead mint. 20" bbl, 7 shot mag, plastic trigger guard. Comes with a nice 3" leather sling w/detachable swivels, a soft case, and about 250 rounds of assorted shells, probably good mostly for practice ammo for the wife and kids.

Worth $350?

Thanks, I'm just trying to justify it to myself...

Les

[sleepyone]

sounds fair enough. I found one for sale in my local gun store. same price. never been fired. I think it is 18.5" barrel. Low grade walnut furniture. plastic trigger guard. no sling swivels or shells included.

I passed. I have an aversion to plastic anything on guns, but my 870 has one.

[jakeiscrazy]

I saw one online for $250 but I can't get the seller to answer me. Maybe it's to good to be true. I shot some skeet with a 1300 and it had a very smoth action. Since they don't make them anymore I would buy at $350. I imagine they will only go up with time.

[Purgatory]

Yes I believe 350 is a good deal for all you're getting. For One: It's a Winchester Defender. (Lots of info out there about why they're so great.) And Two: It's wood which is worth more than plastic. And, though I do like my all black synthetic stock shotgun, I really don't mind the looks of the wood stock at all.

All in all, I think it sounds like a pretty good deal.

Doesn't mean you can't work on him a little, though. :cool:

[heeler]

Too me that's a tad on the high side.
Although the 250 rounds of ammo do sweeten the deal.
I found a 1200 Defender that also was near mint recently and paid $265.00 for it.
In this economy that pawn dealer should come down.

[lobo9er]

deal

[DHart]

Is it a 1300 or a 1300 Defender? Is the mag tube even in length with the barrel? If so, then it's an 18" er.

If you want the gun for home defense use, I'd say go for it if it's got the 18" barrel. I feel the 20" barrel is less suitable for home defense.

The price is a bit up there, but considering the ammo... a good deal.

The Defenders are great guns.

[augustino]

I too want a 1300 Defender.
I saw one for sale but the seller wanted 360 for it. He said he put an aftermarket black "I'm going into battle with zombies" type stock & forearm do-dad stuff on it that was worth 100 bucks alone.
I really wasn't too wild about chasing zombies and want a stock Defender with factory wood. The AD said the original wood was included as part of the deal.
I contacted him and asked if he could please put the original wood back on, KEEP the aftermarket stuff and sell it elswhere, and knock the 360 down to something more along the lines of 250 - 275 - 300.
He flat out refused to budge an inch. He said I could replace the wood and sell the aftermarket stuff to make my money back.
Well needless to say I didn't buy it and yes he finally did sell it.
Part of me wishes I had bought it. Part of me is glad I didn't.

Anyhow the world isn't going to end if I don't have that 1300 but I sure wish it was mine. The 1300 Defender is a teriffic SG despite what some may say about a plastic trigger guard or whatever. It's the quickest action around and in my opinion can stand it's ground against any out there. By the way I own a Moss 500, a model 12 Winchester and recently sold an 870 Remmy.

[wrs840]

I offered $350 for it and lost it two days later to so someone that was apparently willing to pay more. Oh well... It's gone.

Is it a 1300 or a 1300 Defender? Is the mag tube even in length with the barrel? If so, then it's an 18" er.

The mag tube was the same length as the barrel. I didn't measure it. My internet research identified it as a "1300 Defender", seven-shot mag, 20" barrel (I'm pretty sure on this), wood and blue era.

Les

[DHart]

wrs... I believe that was an 18" model. With a 20" barrel, the barrel would have extended past the mag tube by a couple of inches. These are 18" 8-shot Defenders:

http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp59/zmonki/Shotguns%20and%20RIfles/DefenderTrio.jpg

Price wise.... the market seems to be at $300-$325 for 8-shot Defenders in tip top condition. But I've known of a few that were sold in pawnshops for as low as $250 or so.
My three were purchased for between 299-325 each and I know of a fourth that was NIB that a friend bought for $325 "BuyNow" on GB. All three of mine came from GB.
Examples in not-such-cherry condition might go for around $225-250.

[wrs840]

Good info, DHart. Maybe I assumed 20" barrel since the Mossberg 500 with a 7-shot mag has a 20" barrel. Obviously I assumed incorrectly. Thanks to you, my brain has a permanent new 1300-related wrinkle now :D.

Les

[DHart]

Les... glad I could help. One more thing, 18" Defenders were also made with shorter mag tubes. I think they held 5+1 = 6.

The 8-shot models command more money and sell quicker than the short mag models... and for good reason. I don't know of ANY other 18" pump out there that has a full-length, one-piece mag tube and gives a capacity of 7+1=8. That's definitely worth some extra appeal for a defense gun and some extra moulah.

My Defender shown above that has the Hogue stock on it was New-In-Box, unfired, perfect. As a pistol-grip only model.

http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp59/zmonki/Shotguns%20and%20RIfles/pix3936643421.jpg

I would never use the pistol grip that came with the gun, but I bought it knowing I could put a Hogue stock on it and have an awesome gun... I was happy to pay $325 for it considering it was NIB. I probably would have bought it for $350 if I had to... $25 is two movie tickets and a small popcorn and long gone tomorrow. :rolleyes:

If you find a Defender selling as a pistol grip only model (two of my three came to me that way!) don't hesitate... there are plenty of stocks and forearms available including original wood versions you can put on the gun. The pistol grip is useless IMHO. The third Defender I bought (it was a PGO version) I bought intending to put on the Speedfeed Birdshead grip, which I did.

http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp59/zmonki/Shotguns%20and%20RIfles/Win1300Birdshead.jpg

[sleepyone]

I have found a couple of them locally recently. both were like new and supposedly unfired. one was $350 the other $325. Both had rather low-grade wood furniture and plastic trigger guards. I think they were both 18.5". I passed on each one. Can you get the 1300 Defender with better wood and no plastic?

[DHart]

This is the wood that comes with the polished blue model:

http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp59/zmonki/Shotguns%20and%20RIfles/W1300_R.jpg

It's not the greatest looking wood, but if you don't like the finish, you can always refinish the furniture... fun project with great results. I bought a spare wood furniture set for this 1300 which I'm going to cut to 12.75" LOP with a Limbsaver butt pad, strip the finish, stain with Red Mahogany oil-stain, and refinish with teak oil... keeping the original furniture un-changed.

Don't shy away from a polymer trigger guard... they are pretty much standard on most guns these days and unless you beat the crap out of your gear, you are not likely to ever have a problem with a polymer trigger guard. Heck, even the new 870 Police models have polymer trigger guards now.

The 590A1 is the only current production pump I know of today that still has a steel trigger guard. Nice to have, but not necessary by any means.

I recently took two factory finish Mossberg wood stock sets which were really boring looking wood, stripped, stained, and sealed with teak oil and the they came out looking wonderful to my eyes. Some stain and a nice oil finish can make a boring-looking factory stock look and feel a heck of a lot nicer.

Before and After:
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp59/zmonki/Shotguns%20and%20RIfles/StockRefinish.jpg

[wrs840]

^^^^
That looks to be pretty much the same production I was inquiring about and missed-out on.

Maybe next time...

Les

[AKElroy]

I paid less than $200 for mine 10+ years ago. It is so slick and fast, it is still my top choice for HD. Since they are no longer made, $350 may be where the market is.