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Old 10-10-2018, 02:27 PM
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Question Do I have a Franken-Shotgun here?

I'm hoping someone on here can help me find some info on a shotgun I stumbled upon in a junk pile at a garage sale.

The barrel says Sears Roebuck & Co. Model 300, but the receiver has no names or markings other than what looks to be a serial number. All the Sears Roebuck Model 300s I've looked up appear to be different than this thing. Any ideas, y'all?

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Old 10-10-2018, 03:41 PM
Buford57 Buford57 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StephenWhoDat View Post
I'm hoping someone on here can help me find some info on a shotgun I stumbled upon in a junk pile at a garage sale.

The barrel says Sears Roebuck & Co. Model 300, but the receiver has no names or markings other than what looks to be a serial number. All the Sears Roebuck Model 300s I've looked up appear to be different than this thing. Any ideas, y'all?

Please excuse the terrible quality of the pictures.
The barrel markings would indicate a Winchester 1400 made for Sears. Both the Model number and the part/item number relate to a 1400 according to the Numrich Arms cross-reference. The only problem with that is that the 1400 was a semi-auto and your gun is clearly a pump. I have never researched whether the Winchester 1200 pump and the 1400 autos used the same or easily modified barrels, but in your case someone has made some obvious modifications to what was originally sold as an economy to mid-range sporting shotgun. Franken-gun is probably accurate.
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Old 10-10-2018, 04:26 PM
2152hq 2152hq is offline
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The shotgun itself appears to be the Winchester Model 1200 or 1300 pump gun.

Winchester did make these for Sears... but as the Sears Brand..200.,,
I'd guess it was the Model 1200 and not the 1300 Winchester that this gun is made on. But that's only my guess by the chamber length and the 200/1200 similarity.
The two models are nearly identicle, the biggest difference being that the earlier Model 1200 was chambered for 2 3/4" shells only as the OP gun shows.
The later production Model 1300 (made 1981 and later when USRAC took control) was made to handle 2 3/4 AND 3" shells.

The bbls will interchange betw them, but the obvious issues of feeding 3" rds thru the Mod1200 action and the Mod 1200 bbl's shorter chamber when locked onto the Mod 1300 action come into play.

I see your confusion when looking at any shotguns listed as a Sears Model 300. They pop up as a SemiAutomatic shotgun.
In fact they are the Winchester Model 1400 semiautomatic and were made for and marked as such for Sears.

That 'Model Number' on the roll marking on the bbl,,the 6 or 7 digit Sears Model number is a key to ID'g Sears House Brand guns and who made them for Sears.

The Sears Model Number on this bbl (273.521160) I cannot find on any Xref resource I have or I can access.

The lists show Model #'s right around it,,but that particular one does not come up.

Sears 300 273.521051 Winchester 1400
Sears 300 273.521161 Winchester 1400
Sears 300 273.521251 Winchester 1400

The Model #'s close to the OP gun does however show up in a block of Sears 300 shotguns that were built by Winchester on their Model 1400 semiautomatic.



Winchester 1400 bbls do not interchange with Winchester 1200/1300 bbls. A gas op semi and a pump.
I have been told by some some that by doing some conversion work, adding a gas port, the 1200/1300 bbl can be made to work on a 1400. But that is something I have never gotten in to.
Winchester says the two do not interchange as they are so a 1400 will not fit on a 1200/1300,,but again I've never tried it.
Perhaps something like that has been done here?. I would think some carefull examination would tell you of any home gunsmithing done to it.


A mis-marked bbl..certainly a possibility. Wrong roll die and in an instant that bbl and who knows how many more get marked.
More than likely an entire 8hr shift worth of bbls or until some assembler noticed a day or so later.
Then they shrugged their collective shoulders and figured no one noticed up to that point so why bother to interupt piece work production.

Instead of being marked on bbls for the semiauto shotguns, they end up on the pumps. They look quite alike,,factory work you know,,,get 'em out the door.

Enjoy the shotgun. They are really quite good guns.
Ted Williams like them...

Last edited by 2152hq; 10-10-2018 at 04:39 PM. Reason: spellin
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Old 10-12-2018, 05:40 PM
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Thanks, guys. Much appreciated.
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