Need info on three guns, worth

Mod 12 - OK
J.C. Higgins - About a $60 rifle
Stevens 311A - $250 because of the damage. Many aftermarket parts require fitting.

YMMV. Usual disclaimers apply.

The Model 12 could be OK, but it sounds like an old gun and may be worn out. Yes, even Model 12s do that.

The Stevens 311 A is a hunting gun. The price is $50 too high even if in perfect condition, and the trigger guard will run $10.70 + s & h (Gun Parts Corp.). Pass if it has a plastic stock or if both barrels won't fire, a common problem with the 311 series.

The J.C. Higgins is one version of the old Savage/Stevens/Springfield auto loader that was without any doubt the worst .22 autoloader ever designed. To top things off those Bakelite stocks are actually rare because they broke and cracked by the thousands. Pass, unless you are a masochist or like to throw money away.

Jim

Avoid the J.C. Higgins like the Plague!

I had a wood stocked model that managed to fire a half chamberd LR load... The only .22 rimfire I've ever had a complete case head seperation with....Thanks be to a kind God for that "Grill" machined into the left of the receiver = that's where the majority of the hot gases, powder particles and shards of molton brass went instead of back into my face (only one nick in my safety glasses) The gas was hot enough to melt 1/2 the lead from the next round in the carrier below the breech.
Still have the rifle, minus the extractor which was blown off and went missing... won't sell this thing, but neither will I ever shoot it.
Whoever said this was the worst autoloader .22 ever designed was understated.

Pass on all of them....

WildtheyarenotworthitAlaska

The good news is that a Model 12 with SN in the 3000 range is first year of production, 1912. Yes, they came out in 20 gauge first.

The bad news is that they made about two million of them so "decent shape for the age" and an aftermarket choke pretty well wipe out the collector interest.

Your description of a "polychoke INSIDE" is interesting but not good. The only choke device I know with the choke inside the comp cage is the Pachmayr Power-PAC, vintage 1950s and '60s. It leaves a gap between the barrel proper and the end of the choke tube with no forcing cone effect like a Cutts. They were found not suitable for shot cup wad ammo, I saw a photo of one with shredded cup material packed in the comp cage where the wads were cut up by the edge of the choke tube.


There are collectors of Tenite stocked cheap guns. They are uncommon because the plastic was so brittle and survival rate is low. Doesn't mean they are worth a lot, just novelties. That is about all that Sears/Stevens is good for.

That is way more than I would give for a 311 with broken trigger guard. Or without.

Jim Watson,

This is a few years after your last post on this subject. With your email address I can send you a photo of the Pachmayr Power Pac on my 1949 Model 12. This gun has two barrels. The main one has the same serial number as the gun action, is about 27 inches long, and is marked "Full." The other barrel has the Power Pac. It is marked "WS-1" I believe. The serial number on the other barrel is the same except for one of the middle digits is off by one number. I do not have any of the screw in Power Pac choke tubes. Do you know where I can get some? Is it safe to shoot through this barrel without a choke tube screwed in?

I am not a M12 expert although I owned one once upon a time.

1. Measure your straight barrel properly, a rod down the barrel so as to measure from breech face to muzzle. "About 27 inches" was not a standard length; if it isn't really 28 inches, it was very likely cut off. You might try the dime test to see if it has any choke. The legend is that an unworn dime, .705" diameter should not enter a full choke which was then constricted .040" less than 12 ga bore of .730".

2. Corson lists some Power Pac choke tubes, you have to specify the thread diameter to get a fit.
http://www.corsonsbarrels.com/powerpacchokes.htm

There were some sold on eBay last month for less money, you should check in there periodically.

The barrel with the Power Pac was originally a skeet barrel, WS-1 = Winchester Skeet No 1.

What is its length? That Power Pac is awful close to the front end of the magazine tube. Must be 18" to be legal and I don't know if the feds would count the Power Pac body unless it were "permanently attached."

The Monte Carlo stock makes it look like a previous owner was shooting Trap with it.