Spares for old Winchesters.

[Spanner Man]

Good morning to all.


I'm new on here, so be gentle! I'm also a bit of a rarity here in the UK, for I am a big fan of US made Pump Action Shotguns.

It all started nearly 30 years ago, when I was looking for a decent repeater, for a mixture of clay & live shooting. It had to be multi choke, & with a 3 inch chamber. The only gun within my budget was a Winchester Ranger 120. It cost me £270 sterling, which was probably somewhere around $450 at the time. I still have it, & it has fired 1000's of cartridges of all types, & has yet to let me down.
It has since been joined by a 1942 Model 12, a circa 1950 Model 25, a 1952 Ithaca model 37, & a 1912 Widowmaker 1911.

I shoot them all regularly, only on clays nowadays, with the exception of the 1911 which I have only used on one occasion. Even with subsonic cartridges, the recoil was somewhat excessive to say the least! I still have the bruise on my shoulder I plan to keep it simply because it's an interesting gun.

I did manage to buy some spares for my Ranger whilst on holiday in the US some 20 years ago. However, it's doubtful if there are any spares still over here for it, & it is extremely unlikely that there are any spares over here for my vintage guns.
I would like to ask you Chaps if you can recommend a dealer for spares for my guns. I have found a few dealers in the US who will ship spares to the UK. However, I would like a recommendation, as obviously it would be awkward to send the spares back, should there be any problems.

Also, could any of you recommend a good book on the subject of overhauling. I am quite happy to strip my guns, for general cleaning & lubricating, but I have shied away from dismantling the trigger mechanisms on my vintage guns. Just in case I have a 'Ping F...it' moment, & lose an irreplacable part.
The only book I can find over here is the Gun Digest one, which comes up on ebay regularly. It seems to cover the models that I have, can anyone tell me if it's any good?

Thank you for reading.

 

[Hunterdad]

Welcome to the highroad!

I would love to help you out, but......what is/are spare(s)?

Once we clear that up, I'm sure we can help you.

 

[Spanner Man]

Good morning.


Thank you for your prompt reply.

A spare, or spares, are replacement parts.

It's an 'Englishism' obviously


Cheers

 

[dogmush]

I've had good experiences with Numrich.

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/

It looks like they can ship to the UK, but there might be added charges.

 

[MCgunner]

Numrich Ams should have what you want. I got a left hand safety from them for my M1400 autoloader. I had no idea one even existed. That gun has been out of production for a while, now. Numrich buys up parts inventories where they can find them. If they don't have it, it's going to be hard to find.

 

[reckless carolinian]

I do so recall that Brownell's ships worldwide. Again on the added charges. However, if they carry and ship a vital part you need, any amount of shipping charge is small beer if it gets the gun back up and running.

 

[simmonsguns]

Also i might add that the Gun Parts Catalog has parts diagrams for most of what you have but if there is something else you need such as a picture or diagram, of some of us here have it and would send it e-mail to you. as with international parts shipments, my company does it (meaning me) as long as it's not a restricted part, for your guns it would no problem to ship to you.I have not see a widowmaker in a long time.take care.Paul Salchow.

 

[Spanner Man]

Good morning all.


What a nice friendly forum this is. Many thanks for your kind replies. I shall start making a list of what I require. Things that I need are extractors, springs, & screws etc. Not a lot when it comes to weight. So, I doubt that the shipping costs would be expensive.
Also, even if the parts were available in the UK, they would be considerably more costly than they are in the US. Therefore outweighing any shipping charges.
Shooting is expensive in the UK. As I said in my original post, my Ranger cost me £270 sterling. I have just found an old exchange rate conversion chart on the net. I was a little out in my earlier estimate. However, according to the chart, my Ranger was the equivalent of $365.
When on holiday in Florida in 1991, I ordered some parts from a company called Riegs Gun Shop in Orlando. I remember seeing the latest equivalent to my Ranger on sale there for a little over $200.
The parts cost a little over $35. I was expecting a lot more. I must have looked a little shocked when the young lady on the counter said $35. She quickly apologised, & explained that $15 of it was for the shipping

Simmonsguns. I shall make a list of what parts I require, & see if you can track them down for me.
My Widowmaker came from a friend who is a Firearms dealer. He had never seen one, despite being in the trade for many years. He was selling some guns that had belonged to a Chap who had died, & the 1911 was amongst them.
This was some 15 years ago, in pre internet days. I did some research on the net a few years ago. I did laugh when when I saw it referred to as The Widowmaker, or Browning's revenge
No one over here who I've showed it to has ever heard of it, let alone actually seen one.
Mine is in pretty good condition, with most of it's blueing still quite good, & no splits in either the stock or the forend. Not bad for a 100 year old gun.
Mind you, having shot it, I doubt that many people would have wanted to. It has most likely spent the last 100 years standing in various gun cabinets.


Cheers.

 

[gpb]

I found your comments about the Winchester 1911 interesting. About 40 years ago I bought a beat up one for about $20. It was in sad shape, but I was intrigued by the design. I was able to get a new stock and forearm for about
$30, a few new parts for about $15 and a re-blue job for $25. All of this and some tinkering got me a functioning Winchester 1911 Self Loader that looked new.

It actually was a nice gun, for whatever reason the fit and balance of the gun suited me well. It just seemed to shoulder and point naturally for me. I used to shoot it occasionally for skeet. I knew the gun was not one of Winchesters better efforts and would not stand up to a lot of use. Due to its odd design it was just fun to use for the occasional round of skeet.

I loaded shells with the lightest and lowest pressure loads I could find out of respect to its age. Even though this was 40 years ago, it stilled seemed like an old gun even then. Unfortunately the gun was stolen years ago. I miss the gun and sometimes think about getting another one. But then I think about it again and decide there are better guns to own, maybe not as much fun, but better.

 

[Fred Fuller]

http://www.jackfirstgun.com/ is another great source for parts for old or out of production firearms. They're somewhat old fashioned however and usually do business by telephone, which might be an obstacle for you.

 

[Spanner Man]

Good morning all.


Indeed the 1911 is an interesting gun Gpb. I actually shot fairly well with it, when I tried it. It has a nice balanced feel to it., & it swung very nicely.

Mine seems pretty easy to load. So, I would imagine that the springs are pretty tired, having been under tension the best part of 100 years. That, & the fact that the recoil damping washers have probably turned to Kryptonite are probably the reasons why the recoil was noticeably higher than on my pumps.

I would think that given an overhaul, & some new parts, in the same way that you did with yours 40 years ago, would turn it into a pretty nice gun.
I might just do it if I can locate the necessary parts.
As you said, there are other more interesting old guns to be had, but having made only 83000 1911's there can't be too many left in useable order.

Vintage American repeaters are very rare over here. You should see the funny looks I get, when shooting Olympic skeet with my model 12.

Jack First gun looks to be a fine establisment Lee. I had better check when trans Atlantic phone calls are at there cheapest


Cheers.

 

[Gun Geezer]

Numrich. You can get diagrams, copies of the origianl books, parts, spares, replacements, or whatever you guys call them.

Pip Pip! and Toodles!