Opinions from Winchester Defender owners

[MikeJ]

I posted a question before regarding buying a home defense shotgun and the pros and cons of the Remington 870, Mossberg 500 and Winchester Defender. I know that the 870 seems to be the overall favorite but the Winchester feels better to me than either the Remington or Mossberg. I would like to hear from owners of the Defender how they feel about them in terms of reliability, quality and any particular problems that you may have had. Thanks again for your assistance and advice, Mike

 

[Dave McCracken]

Cameron Lamont reports putting more than 10K shells through his in a year or so.

I'm an 870 fan, and the 1200 Winchester did come up short under the conditions common to institutional weapons, but if all I had to defend myself with was a Defender, I'd be well armed.

 

[Oleg Volk]

20ga version is pretty relible except imprefect extraction with Winchester SuperSpeed promotional ammo. 100% with everything else. Not fond of the un-slotted shell lifter, shortstroke would be a pain to clear. Fiberoptic front sight, decent trigger, simple maintenance and smooth pumping are all good.

 

[SGT109FA]

Mike J , I've owned a Win. 1200/1300 Defender for years and they are great. I only found one downfall: Their blueing sucks.