S&W 1000 Shotgun: Is it reliable and was it a good deal?

[2@low8]

The Gun: S&W Model 1000, gas operated, 12 gauge, auto loading shotgun, 3” chamber, “Multichoke” with a 28” ventilated rib barrel. Except for a very thin and very shallow 2” scratch on the left side of the receiver and a tiny nick at the toe of the stock it was pristine. I paid him $175.

Questions: This is the first I’ve seen of it’s kind, sooo… Is this a sturdy and reliable shotgun? Did I luck out with a good deal?

The Story -- If you’re interested: I was at the LGS looking for .22lr ammo today when one of the store’s customers came in and tried to sell his S&W 1000 shotgun. The manager said that he had no need for it now, but if the customer really needed the money the manager was willing to give him $100. The customer declined and walked out to the parking lot.

I asked the manager if it was alright to make him an offer and he said it was okay by him. I caught the customer as he was about to pull out of the lot and asked him if I could check it out and make him an offer. While I was dawdling he said that he couldn’t take less than $175 for it and the next thing I knew the shotgun was riding home with me… without the company of the .22lr ammo I came in to buy.

It’s a nice looking shotgun, but it does have an unusual enlarged diameter barrel where the choke tubes go into it. The vent rib makes the enlargement less noticeable though. It feels noticeably heavier than my similar Rem. 11-87 -- I’ll weigh it on a doctor‘s scale tomorrow.

I tried it out as soon as I got home and the 10 rounds I put through it went without a hitch. I’ll ring it out at the Markham Park skeet range in Broward County on my trip to Florida in about a month.

 

[HB]

People will tell you its a poorly designed/manufactured shotgun but the ones I've seen (3?) worked fine. Like any gas auto, keep it clean and it'll function fine. Maybe not your best shotgun but a keeper for the dove field and some occasional clays.

HB

 

[2@low8]

HB - Thanks for the response. I was finally able to get some results using the search feature -- I hope to get better with practice.

For the most part there were a lot of favorable comments about them. The downside seems to be the factory rubber washer that turns into goo when exposed to gun cleaning solvents and there seems to be some difficulty reassembling them after disassembly for cleaning.

From some of the posts it appears that my 3” magnum version is somewhat rare and not all of them had the Multichoke feature.

If it continues to perform with the wide variety of ammo I put through it yesterday afternoon (light target to heavy magnum loads), I am going to be very pleased with it.

 

[rbernie]

You got a good deal, and they were excellent guns (unlike the S&W pump guns). I wonder if the chokes are thin-wall additions; I can't recall any of my WinChoked S&W 1000's having any visible distortion of the barrel.

 

[2@low8]

rbernie - " I wonder if the chokes are thin-wall additions; I can't recall any of my WinChoked S&W 1000's having any visible distortion of the barrel."

I am not very proficient with a digital camera yet, but I’ll try and take a post-able photo of the “bulge” for you to see.

 

[Milkmaster]

Mt abad shotgun. Parts can be difficulte to find. Good luck and give it a whirl!

 

[n5odj]

I have one & that rubber washer did indeed "turn to goo". I replaced it with a garden hose rubber washer & it works fine now. It's been a while, but I think I had to trim it to size, but it works.

Robert Lewis
Erwin, TN

 

[dsb1829]

I had one. Decided to sell it before it broke as parts are pretty hard to come by. It did not cycle bird shot 100% either.

 

[jaysouth]

You got a good deal on a good gun. Parts are getting scarce but parts from other guns can be bubbaed to fit. Not many parts ever break. You will have to work hard to shoot it out.

 

[rbernie]

I have one & that rubber washer did indeed "turn to goo". I replaced it with a garden hose rubber washer & it works fine now. It's been a while, but I think I had to trim it to size, but it works.

Heater hose from the local auto parts store works quite well from which to cut a replacement washer.

The most common failing is the washer. I've never seen one with a hard part broken, although I'm sure that it happens.

 

[jim243]

but it does have an unusual enlarged diameter barrel where the choke tubes go into it.

Did he ring the barrel by using steel shot????? Take it to a gun smith to have it checked.

Jim

 

[2@low8]

jim243 - No way. If the end portion of the barrel wasn't enlarged the choke tubes wouldn't fit in. I took a picture of it, but i'm having trouble reducing the file to fit the format of this site.