Winchester 1300 @ LGS

[MyDads38]

Found a very nice Winchester 1300 at a LGS. Very good condition and comes with 28"/30" field barrel and 20" smooth bore slug barrel with rifle sights. Looks to have been shot very little and has nice wood stock/forend. $269 OTD (App. $250 + tax)

I don't shoot shotguns often, and this one meets my requirements-good quality & Made in USA. With both barrels, seems to be a good deal. Is this a reliable, well made shotgun; or should I just get a new Mossberg 500?

Comments appreciated....

 

[ShivasIrons]

Sounds like a good deal!

I tend to prefer older shotguns as they had more steel and less plastic.

FOr a new bargain shotgun the Mossberg 500 or Maverick 88 is tough to beat. Those things take a lickin and keep on tickin!

 

[Rpg]

The Winchester 1300 isn't a top grade shotgun but, comparing it to a Mossberg is like comparing a Rolls Royce with a Yugo !

Get the Winchester.

 

[palmetto99]

I picked up a 1300 defender and after swapping out the barrel to one that would take factory chokes, I used it for about a year when I wanted to dip my toe into the local 3-gun scene. I found it worked fine, BUT the bolt carrier can jump the slide action rails. I was using the gun at the upper limits of it capabilities. For the price, sounds like a good deal. It's a safe queen now, I went to a semi auto later.

 

[mauser9]

I have a 1300 Upland model with the 24 inch barrel I bought back in 99 I believe. Has not failed me yet. Only complaint I have is the rather stiff trigger pull compared to my Remington 1100. Yep walnut is nice on mine too. Heard once the extractor could be a problem but mine has not failed yet.

 

[Joed49]

I think parts are going to be the problem. I looked at the 1300 Defender once but can't remember why I chose the Mossberg over it.

However, 15 years later the Mossbert Marine is still working like the day I bought it.

 

[DWalt]

The 1300 is essentially identical to the 1200. I own a skeet-grade 1200 (there was also a trap-grade 1200 made) I used for skeet shooting for many years, and I never had the first problem with it. I also had a longer full-choke barrel for it that I used on the occasions I shot trap. Extremely easy to swap barrels. Can't beat its action for smoothness, and I'd have to say that it is my favorite shotgun (I have sold off most of my once-extensive herd of shotguns). Some may know that there was also a military Model 1200. It was used by the USAF, maybe some other services also. I have seen several of them. You will not go wrong buying one.

 

[Univibe]

I keep a 1200 in the closet for when the thugs go marching in.

 

[mauser9]

Glad to hear some positive remarks. Sounds like the 1200-1300 models not so bad after all. They can usually be had used quite cheap.

 

[DWalt]

When the Winchester Model 12 got to be too expensive to make and could no longer be competitive with the Remington 870 (the same thing happened with most other guns in Winchester's product lineup), Winchester decided to come up with a different pump gun design which could be sold at a lower price, which they called the 1200. I believe they did a very good job of it. It's not really comparable in workmanship to the Model 12 (I have a pair of those also), but nothing to be ashamed of either and I can say nothing critical about the 1200 - it works. Back in the 1960s, Winchester set up a network of franchised trap and skeet clubs in various cities, and such clubs also sold and rented Winchester shotguns (including the 1200) to those who wanted to shoot but had no guns to use. Unfortunately, the franchised gun club model did not catch on with the public and the effort failed. The person I bought my Skeet-grade 1200 from said he bought it from one of the Winchester gun clubs in New Jersey when it closed. My son has a Winchester 1400, which is essentially the semiauto version of the 1200, and it has also held up well for him.

 

[Univibe]

What was cool about the 1200 -1300 series was that they had a rotating bolt, very like the AR-15. If you pull the bolt and bolt carrier out, the resemblance is striking. This allowed for a very strong action, very smooth operation, and they could make the receiver out of aluminum. I think all shotguns should work this way.

 

[DWalt]

It's a good design, and the Model 1400 semiautomatic used much the same design. The bolt, bolt carrier, and barrel extensions are simply upscaled versions of those used on AR-system rifles. Everything about the mechanics of the Model 1400 is nearly identical to the 1200/1300, except for the gas operation of the action bars instead of a slide, and I would be surprised if most operating parts weren't interchangeable between them. The 1400's gas design is also ingenious. It uses a gas pressure bleed-off valve system so it will function with light and heavy loads equally well without any adjustments needed. The extractor on my son's Model 1400 once broke, and I was fairly easily able to make a suitable replacement extractor in about 15 minutes out of a 1/8" thick piece of stainless steel using just a Dremel Tool and a file. I have never needed to replace anything on my Model 1200.

 

[MyDads38]

Thanks for the replies, but it's a moot point now-the LGS sold it yesterday :-(

 

[Farmer17]

I believe the Winchesters were just as good as Remington 870s they just were never as popular for some reason. Maybe because when Winchester went from real cut checkering to impressed wood checkering they used some goofy, cheap looking patterns.

 

[woodsltc]

I used a Model 1300 for turkey hunting for many years...never had a problem. But, I was well aware that while it was a Winchester it was no where near the quality of the Winchesters made before 1964....it was simply an OK gun sold at an economical price. JMO

Below is a good thread from the "Shotgun World" forum about the 1200,1300 & 1400 series of Winchester shotguns....I would suggest that the entire thread be read to get a better understanding about these guns.
Shotgunworld.com • Winchester 1200 - 1400 Series Shotgun Issues

Don

 

[max]

I got a 1200 for Christmas in 63. I got it at the start of hunting season, but it was my Christmas present. I still have it and have hunted with it in the last several years.

 

[DWalt]

Most of the problems described in the link concern the Model 1400, not the 1200/1300, and result from the magazine follower also acting as the bolt hold-open device on the Model 1400. That is not an issue with the 1200/1300 as there is no need for a bolt hold-open device. I have fired many thousands of rounds (mostly skeet loads ) through the 1200 without issues, so it will be very difficult to demonstrate otherwise to me. My son has probably done the same with his 1400, also without incident.

 

[JayFramer]

Search for a Model 12. FAR better gun and if you live in a wingshooting region, small local LGS's can have them tucked away on the wall for excellent prices in good shape.

They are to pump action shotguns what the Colt Python is to revolvers. Extremely high grade hand fitted guns.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

The 1200 was a 2 3/4" gun. The 1300 was a 3" gun. I had both. The 1200 never failed and I shot it for many years. The 1300 that I had was the turkey gun configuration. All I shot through it was 3" turkey loadsd and 3" buckshot. It eventually failed in that the stamped plate that attached the action bars to the bolt bent. It was a slip fit where as on my old 1200 it was attached to the bottom of the bolt with a screw. I fixed it and sold both. They are really cheap made shotguns. I replaced both with a Remington 870 turkey model that had stood the test of time and shooting. Nowdays I wouldn't buy a 1200/1300 or Mossberg. Simply because they are cheaply made. If i were to buy a new pump today it would be a Browning BPS or an Ithaca model 37. Both guns are steel and walnut and will last several life times(like my mdl 12's).

 

[JayFramer]

The 1200 was a 2 3/4" gun. The 1300 was a 3" gun. I had both. The 1200 never failed and I shot it for many years. The 1300 that I had was the turkey gun configuration. All I shot through it was 3" turkey loadsd and 3" buckshot. It eventually failed in that the stamped plate that attached the action bars to the bolt bent. It was a slip fit where as on my old 1200 it was attached to the bottom of the bolt with a screw. I fixed it and sold both. They are really cheap made shotguns. I replaced both with a Remington 870 turkey model that had stood the test of time and shooting. Nowdays I wouldn't buy a 1200/1300 or Mossberg. Simply because they are cheaply made. If i were to buy a new pump today it would be a Browning BPS or an Ithaca model 37. Both guns are steel and walnut and will last several life times(like my mdl 12's).

The new Ithacas are nowhere near the quality of the old ones.