Got my tax stamp back in relatively quick time, so I finished up this project that has been lingering around. I wanted a riot Winchester Model 12, but factory ones are expensive and hard to come by, so I found a good condition field grade version and cut it down. I originally wanted to just cut it to 18.5 and call it good, but I like the look of the barrel being cut even with the magazine tube, which would have made the barrel 17". I didn't want to pay the tax for that, but started kicking around how short one could actually make a Model 12, especially considering the take-down features and the way the action uses a spring under the slide.
Eventually, I sectioned the part of the magazine tube that wasn't essential, about 3 inches worth, welded it back together and smoothed the welds, then measured the barrel off the now shortened magazine tube. Once measured, I took the barrel to Mechanical Accuracy in Jones and had them cut it to the measured 14" and reinstall the bead.
The result is a very fast pointing Winchester Model 12 that holds 5 shells in the tube. The take-down no longer works as it should, as there is no longer room for the slide to move forward and clear the action bar from the receiver, so taking it apart requires the removal of the magazine band. Not a big deal to me, though.
With the release of the Mossberg Shockwave and the Remington Tac-thingy, this probably wasn't the most practical way to get a short shotgun, not to mention the ease of turning any standard Mossberg or Remington into a SBS, but the Model 12 is my absolute favorite pump shotgun, and I think it looks excellent as well, with the classic walnut and worn blue.
[Broken External Image]
Eventually, I sectioned the part of the magazine tube that wasn't essential, about 3 inches worth, welded it back together and smoothed the welds, then measured the barrel off the now shortened magazine tube. Once measured, I took the barrel to Mechanical Accuracy in Jones and had them cut it to the measured 14" and reinstall the bead.
The result is a very fast pointing Winchester Model 12 that holds 5 shells in the tube. The take-down no longer works as it should, as there is no longer room for the slide to move forward and clear the action bar from the receiver, so taking it apart requires the removal of the magazine band. Not a big deal to me, though.
With the release of the Mossberg Shockwave and the Remington Tac-thingy, this probably wasn't the most practical way to get a short shotgun, not to mention the ease of turning any standard Mossberg or Remington into a SBS, but the Model 12 is my absolute favorite pump shotgun, and I think it looks excellent as well, with the classic walnut and worn blue.
[Broken External Image]
