Winchester 1200 band assembly

[xtarheel]

Looking through a the military service manuals for the Winchester 1200 they show a "band assembly" that includes a heat shield and a bayonet lug (I just happen to have a 1917 bayonet which our shotguns use).

I was wondering a couple of things:

Are 1200's still in our military inventory? When were they used and when were they replaced?

Also, is there any source for these "band assemblies" that I can put on mine?

 

[Hoppy590]

i imagine the us military still has them in a warehouse some where.

"An unknown number of these shotguns were procured by the Army in 1968-1969, with a ventilated handguard, sling attachment swivels, and the bayonet attachment as additions to the civilian Winchester 1200. Small numbers of Winchester shotguns of the 1100 and 1400 series were also procured. The shotguns carry a serial number, found on the bottom of the front end of the receiver."

http://www.olive-drab.com/od_other_firearms_shotgun_w1200.php

since they were around in 68 i imagine they had seen limited use in vietnam but were probiby around for a while. there was probibly a limited number made as kind of a "political" move (imo) since the military had used winchester model 97's,and 12's. and during this era i believe the m37 reigned supreme

correct me if im wrong

 

[Fred Fuller]

I seriously doubt there are any 1200s still in military inventory anywhere, and the WW1 style trench gun heatshield/bayonet mounts are probably pretty scarce too, though there's likely to be a crate of those mounts lying forgotten in a dusty warehouse somewhere. Anything to do with GI shotguns is HIGHLY collectible (read expensive) these days, just take a look at Bruce Canfield's forum at http://www.jouster.com/cgi-bin/milshotgun/shotgun.pl . Things do turn up from time to time on eBay but they get bid up pretty hard, I've seen a couple of Vietnam-era Remington Mk I type bayonet mounts/magazine extension clamps sell for more on eBay than it would cost you to buy a GI-marked 870.

Unless you had a military marked ex-GI 1200 that was missing this assembly, it would likely not be worth what it would cost you to get one- and even then it might not be worth it. And these things are heavy and essentially useless except for looking kewl, shotguns really are not robust enough for hanging bayonets on except for looks. IMO anyone who isn't impressed with a 12 gauge muzzle is not going to be bothered by cold steel either.

hth,

lpl/nc