3-year Winchester mini-Defender project finally complete

[1KPerDay]

Oy... what a relief. I've been piecing this project together for years, and finally got the 8-shot mag tube installed to match the 20-gauge Defender barrel which I got for a good price and which started this all off. The paint or park on the mag tube was slightly larger in diameter than the blued original tube so getting it back into the receiver was a royal pain. I broke my rubber mallet and, despite attempting to protect the cap from impact, caved it in a little and buckled the very end of the mag tube during reinstallation. My fault for sure, but that sucker didn't want to move. Perhaps a hydraulic press would have been better but whatever.

Finding the correct, threaded, one piece, 20-gauge mag tube throats was actually the hardest part at the time, and even so I had to modify the throat slightly (there was a superfluous molding or locating tab on the bottom and the forward edges were proud of the receiver. I imagine it may have been for a 1400 or some other model, or it may just be that they all need some fitting. Anyway it's in.

To solve the bulged/mangled end of the mag tube I simply cut off .20" and dressed the threads, after which the barrel ring passed through easily and the cap threaded right on. Thanks to THR for that idea! I was stuck.

LOP is 13" with the "Youth" model furniture and the reach to the forend is much less than on the full sized Defender or standard 1200/1300 models. OAL is about 3'. It weighs 6 lbs 3 oz. empty. It feeds properly so I'm confident it will shoot okay. Anyway, just wanted to share. Probably could have saved a hundred bucks and 3 years of time by just buying a complete Defender to start with, but where's the fun in that?

 

[1KPerDay]

Shoots great! The drop at comb is too low for me so I have to hold the butt higher on my shoulder, and the pointy bottom end of the recoil pad stabs me, but no biggie. With its cylinder bore, birdshot is already at about 3' across the pattern at 18 yards so it's definitely a close-in gun. I'll have to try to find some buck.

 

[Crawdad1]

Great project. Other than the Model 12 I don't have much experience with Winchester shotguns.

But a buddy has a 1200 that he loves after 'retiring' his Model 12 from waterfowl hunting.

 

[expat_alaska]

Shoots great! The drop at comb is too low for me so I have to hold the butt higher on my shoulder, and the pointy bottom end of the recoil pad stabs me, but no biggie.

I think you hit the nail on the head but don't know it. If you have to consciously position the buttstock high on the shoulder, the drop at the heel is too long. You have done many mods to this gun so do one more. Remove the buttstock and judiciously heat the tang and bend it up just a bit. You want a 2-1/2" drop at the heel in order to see the entire top of the barrel. You will then have to refit the wood to the frame. That should cure the cheek weld problem.

I have done it with old Rem 870's before, and it is well worth it.

I have no idea about your recoil pad problem, but with this modification the recoil pad should really present no problem if you can shoulder the gun normally without thinking you need to have the buttstock ride high on the shoulder.

My idea of shouldering a shotgun easily is to do the chicken wing position where there is a good pocket for the buttstock in the armpit.

YMMV.

Jim

 

[1KPerDay]

These youth model are are primarily for my kids to shoot so I'll see how they fit them before modifying anything. I have man sized shotguns that fit me perfectly. Thanks for the ideas though. Not sure what you mean by the tang. Winchester have a kind of wedge shaped interface between the stock and receiver as you can see. Nothing protrudes from the receiver at the rear other than the stock bolt.

 

[expat_alaska]

The "stock bolt" is basically the same thing as I was talking about. It is how the buttstock attaches to the frame. Maybe tang was the wrong word. I am old school.

If you can manage to get a drop at the heel of 2-1/2" you will have no shoulder positioning worries, you will see forever down the top of the barrel, and will always have a good cheek weld to the stock.

From an old skeet shooter.

Jim

 

[bannockburn]

1KPerDay

Good to hear that everything worked out okay and you finally got all of the parts properly fitted. Great way to get your kids into shotgunning by having guns that fit their smaller size and stature. I typically worked on my guns at night in the basement so the kids wouldn't hear all the "colorful words and phrases" I might utter while working on my guns!

Love my Winchester Model 1300 20 gauge in both hunting configuration and home defense mode.