Winchester 1200 Police Stainless- Info?

[evan price]

I picked up a Winchester 1200 Police 12-gauge shotgun recently, and I like it a lot.
I have never seen one like it before. The shop I got it from had a couple and they were supposedly LEO trades.
18" barrel, the barrel and all steel parts are stainless. The receiver and mag tube are aluminum, colored to match the stainless.

The barrel is marked:
WINCHESTER (r) MODEL 1200 POLICE 12 GA. 2 3/4" & 3"
MADE IN NEW HAVEN CONN. U.S.A. WINCHESTER PROOF STEEL

And the serial number is L130XXXX

Anyone got any ideas on where it came from and how old it is? Like I said, never seen one with the stainless and maple before, I think it's nice to look at.

 

[dfariswheel]

Winchester produced the Model 1200 from 1964 to 1981.

Winchester had problems with the stainless steel guns, and found that the bores rusted faster and worse than if they were plated.
So they stopped production of the Model 1200 Stainless Police and the Model 1300 Stainless Marine Defender, and replaced them with the plated version Model 1300.

 

[clayt84]

1200 stainless police and stainless marine

they made the stainless police and the stainless marine at the same time in the model 1200. they were the answer to the model 12 with stamped receivers and other ones in stainless that rusted badly. the stainless police has a satin type coating over the stainless thats why it isn't shiny but the marine is. alot of people sell them for to little they are worth alot more than most know cause they look in their little book and confuse the stainless marine 1200 with the 1300, also some confuse the police model with 1300's. if you want to know what it's worth and more about it i have this site thats really long. go about half way down the page and read under winchester go till you find about the 1200 and under it is the specs and price. www.pmu1cahy.com/pump-action.../us_pa_shotguns_s-z.htm. this is the site i looked at on google it has info about alot of guns. i have the stainless marine 1200 got it for $325 the guy thought it was a 1300 so did i i got home and checked it out and it turned out to be a 1200 iv'e seen them go for 600 to 900 on gunbroker and gunsamerica. any way maybe this will help.

 

[outerlimit]

Smith & Wesson made a stainless police shotgun too around the same time period, but I guess it was a sub-contracted piece of junk from all the reports I've seen.

I'd really like a stainless shotgun, I never understood why nobody makes one.