Model 59 Winchester Shotgun photo from catalog

Ole Joe Clark

Ole Joe Clark

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Someone asked if the 1962 catalog had a photo of the Model 59 shotgun. I answered but failed to post the photo.

Here it is.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

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Those are some might expensive shotguns in todays dollars. The auto is 2,132 and the model 21 was between 8,500-30,000
 
I had one of those in the sixties. Shot a lot of ducks with it. My dad picked up a couple parts guns that kept mine running for a long time. I remember one of the "parts guns" had a split receiver where the bolt came back, like the cocking handle just kept going back and the receiver cracked right there. I went through a case of shells a season, lots of shooting, and was the best handling shot gun I ever had. Just flat wore it out and then got an A-5 and still have it.
 
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I have one that I got in trade in 1972 and used it to shoot skeet until 1982
when I went overseas. I had one 30" bbl. with a full choke and a
26" bbl. with the Versalite choke system that I used as a skeet gun.
I had retired it and only shot it for vintage shoots but Katrina ruined it.
All the internals rusted/corroded after prolonged immersion in saltwater.
I still have it as a wall-hanger.
 
The 59 was an interesting departure in shotgun technology. To get lighter weight, Winchester did something I don't believe any manufacturer has done before or after, which was to use a glass fiber-wrapped barrel, i.e., a thin metal tube wrapped with fiberglass and binder polymer. I think it gave problems, as if it was damaged by dropping or impact the barrel strength was compromised. The action was also unusual, again something I don't believe was used on any other shotgun, namely it had a Williams-design floating chamber, somewhat similar in principle to that of the Remington 550 semiauto .22 rifle. It wasn't a marketing success. I have seen only a few of them, and those had very high price tags. Again, probably only ardent Winchester shotgun collectors prize them highly.
 
They had a history of a crack developing & then migrating back from the charging handle cut-out in the right frame wall.

The common 'fix' was to drill a small dia hole right thru the frame wall at the very end of the crack.
That was to allow the wall to flex as it seemed to want to (what developed the crack in the first place). But the hole allowed enough clearance and give in that area so the crack didn't go any further.

Seemed to work I was told.

Remington had the same problem on one of their auto loader shotguns about the same time,,Model 58(?). The shop fix was the same,,a small hole drilled at the end of the ever lengthening crack.


The Win-Lite bbl on the 59 had some complaints of the fibreglas wrap starting to come undone.
I've never seen enough of them to see either the crack or the bbl problem to tell you the truth.
Some people really like them. Nice and light , that's for sure.

The 59 was available with screw in choke tubes also as an option,,again something way ahead of it's time.
 
2152hq said:
The common 'fix' was to drill a small dia hole right thru the frame wall at the very end of the crack.
That was to allow the wall to flex as it seemed to want to (what developed the crack in the first place). But the hole allowed enough clearance and give in that area so the crack didn't go any further.

Seemed to work I was told.
Click to expand...

Not an unusual method to stop metal crack propagation in other mechanical items. A sharp corner creates a stress riser, i.e., it concentrates tensile forces in a small area which can cause a stress crack to start and propagate. A small hole at the end of the crack spreads the forces. It's usually a good idea to design rounded corners instead of sharp corners also if the corner is in a high stress area.
 
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I just happen to have a Winchester 12Ga model 59 with the Winlite barrel.
My Dad redeemed points he earned for selling Allis Chalmers equipment for this shotgun and some other non firearms items for my Mom. That was in the early 1960s. I hasn't been used much, a few duck or rabbit hunting trips years ago. I doubt it has been fired more than 100 times. It was a good conversation piece with it's "fiberglass barrel"
I just checked it there is no crack as mentioned in post #7 on this one.
I have no box manual or other paperwork for it.
Steve W
 
Good that you have a 59 in high condition. I have seen a few of them having price tags over $1000, I don't know what the going rate is today. Not very many of them were made, I have read only about 50K, so one would be attractive to a Winchester collector, as are most Winchesters made prior to the prostitution of most of the Winchester product line in 1964.
 
Winchester made two different model 59s, the model 59 fiberglass barreled shot gun and the model 59 .22 bolt action single shot rifle. the model 59 .22 was only produced in 1929/1930 and there were only about 9,000 made.
The only other two models with the same number were the model 55 lever action rifle and the model 55 single shot automatic .22 rifle.
 
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