Model 12 Pigeon??

This is my first post on this forum so hang with me!

I purchased a used 12ga in about 1964 for quail hunting and have always just called it a skeet grade, but after some research mainly thru the gun traders guide copyright 1994 it looks a lot more like a Pigeon grade skeet made on special order. (NOT A SUPER PIGION)

Below are specifications on the above!

#18xxxxx Mfg date 1961
26" Barrel, vent rib marked WS-1
Engine turned Breach Bolt and carrier
Very high grade black walnut stock and extension slide handle
Fancy checkerd on stock
Slide handle not checkerd but one grove front to back on both sides about finger size
Front sight red ball and silver ball on 5th vent back
Butt is white line rubber just like the picture.
Obviously, the slide handle does not sound right. Could it be a special order
or a replacement? I always thought there had to be an engraved pigion but the book desription says they were made on special order with finer finish,hand smoothed, engine turned bolt and carrier and high grade walnut. Fancy cherking to individual specs. Custom engraving or carving at extra cost. Discontinued in 1965

Just wondering if this is what I have!

Looking forward to you experts to give me some help.

Don

Thanks guys,

It also has a small stamped circle with an odd looking PW overlaping itself on the left top side of the barrel adjacent to the same thing on the breach.

Don

JohnBT said:

I'm at work - no books - but during lunch I was looking at a Pigeon grade Model 12.

"Winchester - Model 12, Pigeon Grade, 12 ga., 30”, full, solid rib, deluxe checkered, Win. Pd, 99% blue, original, jeweled bolt and follower, capped pistol grip, gun is nearly new, outstanding, rare, rare, gun, very seldom encountered"

$2995 with a full choke.

www.csmcspecials.com/product_p/19806.htm

Click on the little extra pics button.

Click to expand...

That's it to a T John, except for the forarm. I also think mine has a little better grade of Black walnut but has been used more.

Thanks for the Pics, Don

DUH

JohnBT said:

I would like to know more about the slide handle and the grooves. Is it like this one, marked field on the site, minus the checkering?

www.sarcoinc.com/images/w12042.jpg

Or is it the typical corncob shape, except with 2 finger grooves instead of the 14 to 18 vertical grooves typically seen on field models?

Or am I lost and sitting here waiting on the football game to start?

Click to expand...

The forarm is much longer than those pictured. 11" total lenth. Grove starting 2" from the Front, 6" long, and extends when cocked and loaded to about the bolt that connects to the front of the breach. When pulled back to eject it extends to
3/4" from the trigger guard assembly. In other words it covers the mag tube totally when extended to tha front. Unlike the picture above where it doesn't cover the near that much. However, it is the same shape except for the grove. Just a longer cut down area for ejecting.

No pigeon anywhere!

Don

Lets see if I manage an attachment! Click on pictures to enlarge.

Bill B. said:

JMO but it may be very well a custom Winchester M12 but I don't think it's a Pigeon Grade. From what I am seeing in your posted pictures it also looks like I am seeing re-polish on the metal & new blue. Was it like that when you purchased or have you had it redid over the years? Either way you have a very nice M12 that I and many others here would be proud to own!

Click to expand...

I have never done anything since buying it in the early 60s. That area near the top of the receiver that looks a little lighter was a mistake I made a few days ago by using flitz polish to clean a small spot. My Mistake! I've taken that gun thru a lot of brush and foul weather and really haven't taken the care I should have. Actually I think the gun had been used a bunch in competion skeet before I got it. I did take it to a gunsmith soon after I bought it to fix a loose barrel. The old guy looked up at me and asked, do you know what you've got there and I said yes, meaning it was a model 12 shootgun. He didn't say another word.

Thanks guys for all the help,
Don

JohnBT said:

That is one heck of a piece of wood on that gun, even for a fancy Winchester. Somebody paid a lot of money for that wood even back in the early '60s when you bought it. What a beautiful shotgun.

Can I post a link to this thread and the pics on shotgunworld and trapshooters? There are a number of Winchester experts hanging out there.

John

Click to expand...

OK with me!

Don

Notice the extra wide trigger attachment that was on the gun when I bought it. It really is a nice addition to a M12. Feels great. Must be a skeet shooting thing. Wouldn't mind adding one to my Ithaca 37 Featherlight if you can buy one to fit it.

Don

JohnBT said:

Don, your pics wouldn't upload to shotgunworld as attachments, so I took the liberty of putting them in my photobucket album so they'd show up in the thread.

Here's the link to the thread I just started. Feel free to join in. John

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=245377

Click to expand...

Thanks John!
It really doesn't matter that much to me. I really like the gun and it sure sounded like the ones that were listed in the buyers guide in my first post. Great Forum!

Thanks to all of you for your help,

Don