Winchester 1300's - loving these guns!

[DHart]

I got a Hogue OM 12" LOP stock for my matte black Defender yesterday, so I decided to make some pics.







Man, I am really loving these Winchesters! What a great shotgun the 1300 is.

The flat-black version with the Hogue 12" LOP stock is overall about 36" with 18" barrel and having an 8-shot capacity is a fairly compact little powerhouse.

My Mossberg 500, which has been my favorite scattergun for years, is starting to be eclipsed by my appreciation of these 1300's. I have a new favorite now.

And one more 18" 1300 Defender is on it's way to me... this one is a blued version with wood stock set and shorter mag tube for 5+1 = 6-shot capacity. Being the leanest 1300 of my three, I'm going to put the Speedfeed birdshead grip on that 6-shot Defender and have it be my smallest, lightest shorty 12 ga.

Here's the birdshead before I removed it from on my 8-shot matte black 1300:

 

[dak0ta]

What do you use to take these pictures? And edits afterwards?

 

[DHart]

dakOta... Lumix ZS3 point 'n' shoot for these pics. Edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.

 

[Geneseo1911]

Nice pictures and Winchesters. My 1300 was my first gun and has given me more joy than any of my others. I've always wanted a defender but never got around to it.

Here's mine:

And the remains of the hat I was wearing when I shot my first 25 straight with it:

Sadly; the old 1300 had an "incident" this Wednesday. I had just broken the first target of the double at station 1, and when I slid the forearm forward, the bolt didn't follow it! The spot welds that hold the action bars on to the slide had popped off! It will be a simple fix, but disappointing all the same. Of course, this gun has several thousand rounds through it, and was probably not designed for the level of use it has seen. I'm also not shy about shucking the action with authority. At least I've never short-stroked it.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your beautiful photos! The new SXP's may share the same guts, but they are nowhere near as pretty.

ETA: I'm embarrassed to show my crappy pictures next to yours! I need to work on my photography skills.

 

[DHart]

Geneseo.... that's a great looking 1300 you have. I love the checkering on the furniture! Wish I had that on my wood Defender. Nice.

 

[dak0ta]

I think the Winchester Pumps have more attraction because they are nice looking pumps, but more importantly are discontinued, which makes them more special. I plan to get one too. I'm not sure whether I should get a 1200 or 1300 though. Input?

 

[DHart]

As I understand it, there is little difference between a 1200 and a 1300. All I've heard is that something about the forearms are different.

 

[rojocorsa]

I am big fan of the Winchester 1300 Speed Pump. Awesome weapon. I actually have a Ranger 120 and it's about 95% the same. But the 1300 is clearly the superior shotgun; especially in terms of take down and putting back together.

Why does the LOP on the black shotgun need to be so short, if you don't mind me asking?

As I understand it, there is little difference between a 1200 and a 1300. All I've heard is that something about the forearms are different.

All I have to compare are the Winchester Ranger 120 and the 1300 Speed Pump. It seems that there are little nuanced subtleties inside the receiver and the bolt. For example, the bolt carrier on the 120 screws in to the bolt body whereas the bolt carrier on the 1300 is held in by the force of the firing pin spring. There is also differences in the ejectors. In my experience the 1300 is WAY more easier to put back together. One simply has to put the BCG on the action bars and slide it back in. On the Ranger 120, the bolt won't fit in that way. I had to put the bolt from the underside of the receiver (while making sure that the stupid ejector stayed in place) and simultaneously trying to sync up the action bars with the bolt carrier. It is a totally unnecessary PITA. Other than that, the guns are pretty much the same. I can't say anything about a 1200, because I've never handled one before.

 

[DHart]

rojocorsa... the reason for the shorter buttstock is multi-fold. For one, when shouldering the shotgun, the longer LOP stock is easier to catch the butt on your clothing, especially with thicker clothing like a coat or armor or anything like that. With the short LOP, the gun comes up quicker, closer to the body, and less likely to catch on your clothing on the way up. Another reason is that the gun is more nimble and swings more easily... maneuvering in close quarters is quicker and easier. Lastly, it makes for a more compact over-all length shotgun which, in some circumstances, can be really nice. My Mossberg 500 in the pic about also has a short LOP Bantam stock. It has a 12.75" LOP. The factory synthetic stock on the 500 and 590 is 14.25". Lastly, in a defense stance where you are squared to the target rather than bladed to the target, a shorter LOP stock is easily to use in a squared position.

Basically, the shorter stock makes the gun handle quicker and more nimbly and is most helpful on a defense gun. For hunting and such, I don't think the short stock is of much value.

 

[rojocorsa]

Thank you for the explanation...

 

[DHart]

I should add... watch positioning your thumb over the top of a short LOP stock. Recoil will push your thumb into your nose in a not-so-enjoyable kind of way!

 

[dak0ta]

You made me want one now... I saw a 1200 at the shop on the used rack today. It wasn't very smooth. Usually when you press the action release the action slides down by itself, but this one didn't. It looked pretty new, and it had a 28" fixed full choke. Probably a closet queen. There was a BPS upland and the action on it was very smooth.

 

[DHart]

dakOta... keep lookin' there are sweet deals out there on some very nice guns.

 

[2ndAmFan]

I don't have a pic but I own a 1300 Defender 8 shot and it's a great gun. I wouldn't part with it for 3x or 4x the money I paid for it back in the mid-1990s.