Your favorite American pump shotgun

[medic15al]

Mine is the Winchester model 12 in 16ga on a true 16 ga receiver

Is a Perfect companion to a Browning Sweet 16

 

[kwselke]

Try shooting skeet with a Remington 760 sometime and you'll find out how good a shot you really are.

 

[30-30remchester]

Wow, the results, so far, of the poll really suprised me. I thought for sure the "Perfect Repeater" Win. Mod.12 would be way out in the lead.

It is for me, anyway.

I hear you bud. I always like reading peoples opinions. I don't always agree but I try to keep an open mind. I read where one member had at one time owned several. I live nowhere near where shotgun hunting takes place and I have owned @50 over the years and as I tally them up in my mind, I probably have 10 to 12 now and I am not a shotgun guy.

I am a Winchester man. No gun company ever came close to the quality of early Winchesters ever. None were even close. The model 12 is the finest hand built production pump shotgun ever produced. There are no close competitors. Before a model 12 left the factory it was subject to over 3,000 hand inspections according to the model 12 experts. I forget how many machining operations were involved in the guns production but it was extensive. Virtually all parts were hand machined. Their ventilated rib design was actually milled into the barrel rather than a soldered on design. That being said that does not mean there are not other fine shotguns out there. The early Remington 870 MAY be more reliable in the mud and the muck as tolerances are looser, a necessity for combat guns. I have never owned a Mossberg 500 but I have repaired a few over the years. I have owned several Remington model 31's and they are neat guns and a great design. They had a great reputation for durability. I keep my eye out for model 31's.

Winchester model 12's are hand built masterpieces.

Remington 870's are relied on in every corner of the world and for a production gun it is highly reliable. The early models. The newer guns can have issues.

The Mossberg 500 series has been the first gun for many future gun nuts. It is also reasonably priced to allow Joe homeowner to afford one just because and not break his budget.

The Winchester model 42 makes grown men whimper. What an elegant sweet shooting 410. This model has cult followings.

The Ithica 37 is another interesting pump gun. Made mostly from milled steel its fit and finish is far below some but not its reliability. I never warmed up to it, though I have owned a half dozen or so. I think it is because of that hideous roll engraving.

As I said I am not a shotgun guy. Keep up posting I enjoy the good reading.

 

[cmansguns]

hi forum;

seems to me that some folks pushed the button for their choice but then didn't post anything..........

Ithaca M 37 for me....first deer on my own....solo hunt in southwestern NY....age 15.... Ithaca 12 ga but with long FC barrel running slugs. Loved that shotgun. Bagged that first solo deer so close to the Pennsy line that I had to drag that deer out (after field gutting) Uphill cause if I went downhill I would have been in PA and their season wasn't open yet.

Read an article long ago about one of the Champion Show Circuit shooters running a pump gun (can't recall if Winny , Rem or Ithaca) but his statement was (while shooting doubles..low house..high house) "If you can hear the pump action then it isn't me shooting...it's a rookie" He was so fast that people thought he had an O/U and it was true...one could not hear him even work the action!

 

[Just another 22 shooter]

I owned a 31 many years ago. Very smooth, easy shootin' shotgun. Was offered almost twice what I paid for it and it had a new owner. Have owned many different pumps over the years; my first was a 20 gauge Mossberg 500. Presently there sits in my safe 12 and 16 gauge WingMasters.

 

[Buford57]

I have owned a couple of 870s over the years and relied on one daily on the job. My wife still shoots am 870 Light 20. Had a Mossberg 835 that a friend eventually talked me out of to replace an 870. Had a 97 16 gauge I should have kept. Learned wingshooting with a High Standard operating under the alias J.C. Higgins.

Bottom line: of all my pumps, the 1942 Ithaca 37 16ga and 1952 12ga will be the last I let go, because I hit better with them than the others.

 

[fyimo]

I have a Remington 870 12 gauge SP that I like a lot and it's the only pump shotgun I have. I also have my Dad's Remington 1100 Skeet model 12 gauge in semi auto and I love that one too. The Remington 760 is a pump rifle and the Remington 870 is their pump shotgun.

 

[gregintenn]

The Ithaca 37 is the obvious choice for a southpaw like me.

 

[101Voodoo]

Other - Browning BPS. Beautifully made shotgun. (I know its not american made)

Have a Win 97, Mossberg 500, and pre-war Model 42. I have shot lots of Rem 870s, Ithaca 37s, Nobels, and store brands, but those Japanese BPS' are a steal for the money.

 

[CZU]

37's for me, got a half dozen in various configurations.

 

[2152hq]

re; Model 12 Winchester vent rib, "Their ventilated rib design was actually milled into the barrel rather than a soldered on design."

Partially correct,,On the first V/R design (1920) they used, the posts to mount the actual rib on were machined as part of the bbl itself.
The rib was a separate piece with very close fitting machined dovetail lugs at each post. The only attachment point was one extra long lug/post above the magazine ring where 2 cross pins secured it. That allowed the bbl to expand with the heat of shooting and not effect the rib.
Quite a mfg and machining operation to get right.
The later V/R's they used (1950s and on) were Simmons Gun Specialty designs. They used soldered on posts that were then machined to proper height, dovetailed and the separate rib slides on from the muzzle and pinned at the first post.
There are 3 or 4 different styles of these latter types that the collectors refer to.
Simmons would also put one on your M12 or 42 for you if you sent them your gun. Still will I think. These will be marked with the Simmons name in tiny letters on the side of the rib.
The washed out lettering & reblue and the missing W/P proof mark that was on top of the bbl that should be on the left side of a true V/R gun is a give away to the usual aftermarket V/R job.
But don't discount the ones that are done with some expertise in polishing and re-blue and Winchester Proof Mark stamps that are around.

The pre-WW2 Remington shotguns,,the M10 and M31 pumps, the M32 O/U and the M11 semi-auto V/R guns did have true one piece V/R bbls.
The bbl and complete V/R are machined from one piece of steel.

 

[Bozz10mm]

Bought my first pump shotgun just over a year ago. It is my favorite because it's the only shotgun I have ever owned. Well, I don't count the old Revelation single shot 20 gauge that I bought in 1966 and haven't shot since 1981.

Mossberg 590A1

 

[robvious]

I grew up in a house divided...
my dad shot his fathers Winchester model 12... grandpa bought it after returning from WW1... my brother used an Ithaca model 37... But I have been a Remington 870 owner since I was 14... feather weight 20 ga still have it... I have since acquired 2 more in 12 ga... one of those is now my son's... I mostly shoot O/U... but love my 870's

 

[Squarebutt]

Ithaca 37. I still hunt birds with my first pump, an Ithaca 37 WWII model with the flaming bomb proof mark, given to me much later. Recently picked up a 1969-built 20 gauge Model 37 that's a perfect grouse/quail gun at less than 6 lbs. The Rem 870 12 gauge two-barrel set is good-to-go for waterfowl and deer with its 3" chamber.

 

[Magneto]

I like to shoot trap with my Winchester Model 12 Trap, hunt pheasants with my Remington Model 31 (slickest action ever made) and then there's my Mossberg 590A1 for things that go bump in the night. Oh and I still have my first shotgun, a JC Higgins pump.

 

[moongoon]

I have never been a big shotgun guy but I have a few riot guns. The most interesting is a M12 sporting model that has been modified by Uncle Sam. The receiver has been stamped U.S. with the flaming bomb. The barrel has been cut back and an improvised extended magazine tube has been installed. The word FULL is crossed out with two lines and stamped CYL underneath. It holds six shots and if you hold the trigger back you can fire them all in about 3 seconds. No import marks but it has seen plenty of duty. I got it from an old soldier who brought it home from overseas, maybe Vietnam. I sure wish that it could talk.

 

[bushmaster1313]

Remington 31 not getting a lot of votes

I wonder if it is relatively unknown

 

[SPEEDGUNNER]

As polled, this is a tough one to pick an absolute favorite. Are we choosing a manufacturer, a design, construction, fit and finish, ability to deliver lead downrange or up in the air, is it a bird gun, a trap gun, a skeet gun, a home defense gun or a combat gun? Are we talking 3 shot, 5 shot, 7 shot or more? Does one with no disconnector garner more favorable votes than the newer models? Wood or synthetic furniture? How does barrel length factor into the choices? Wow, the possibilities are endless, aren't they? And in the end, there are no bad choices, as long as the one in your hands comfortably does the job you require it to do.

That's my vote.

 

[RobertJ.]

My vote was for the 870, but there's not a gun on the list that I dislike.

Currently, I have an 870, a Model 12, and a Remington Model 11, all in HD mode.

 

[diegobxr]

Where are the photos??!!!

C'mon gentlemen show those pump shotguns, don't be shy!!

I own this old Mossberg 500 and I love it to bits, but I voted Ithaca 37.
That solid steel construction, no rattle, lightweight, smooth action, no frills look and history and field-earned reputation do it for me.

Hope I can own one soon.