M-12s
 

I traded off 4 M-12s (2 in 12 , a 20 and a 16) plus a M-42, a 62 A and a 61 to acquire the 32" DHE I showed awhile back. Those winchesters are great but I like the 32" Parker better and feel good about the exchange. I kept my M-12 trap just to have one and my son has a 16ga M-12 so we're still covered.
-plc-

I agree; too pricey. I paid $225 two years ago in a pawn shop for a 16 Model 12 with a replacement magazine. Very little finish on the receiver, full choke and a barrell that reaches way out there! Has an old recoil pad. Great bore and the gun works like new. So it's okay.

I just purchased a like new model 12, 1962 12 gauge modified for $465. That guns looks like it just came off of the showroom floor. Smooth as glass without a mark on it, original butt plate. I haven't even shot it yet! However, I bought that gun from Nosler and they aren't a shotgun place and they sort of dumped it. Someone had traded it in on a rifle.

My favorite one is a Nickle Steel 12 that has nearly turned silver. A 1923 gun. Here it is: http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/P1010576.jpg

I paid under $300 for this shotgun.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/P1010577.jpg

Pretty nearly worn silver. This gun was two years old when my father was born. I like old "I've been there" guns. Sometimes you have to spend some $ on them. I had some work done on this, but it is wonderful today.

Yep sounds like you are covered.

I like Model 12s because they are all steel and if all of the springs and bits inside are okay they work well. I own several modern shotguns that have alloy receivers, a Browning Gold Fusion and Win Model 59 (not all that modern) and like them for field work, but when shooting clays, skeet, trap I find a heavier steel gun balances better and is not as whippy.

I think pumps may come back. When autos became reliable (even tho my Model 11 works very well) they pretty much replaced pumps. But pumps are neat.

A friend once described shooting a Model 12 is like driving a standard shift. So when I feel like driving a stick shift I use a Model 12.....:rotf:

I want to say something about the price of guns and if you are afraid to pay too much. All of us have passed up on guns that we wanted because we thought they were too expensive, and then changed our mind about about 2am, and went back the next day to buy it, and it was gone.

I've done this many times. I have even returned guns the next day because I thought that they were "wrong" and then, after I turned them back, I found out that they were right, but not in my safe anymore.

So, if you are buying guns and you see one that makes you sweat, then buy the darn thing. Even if you pay too much, you still have the gun and as the years pass you will forget what you paid and enjoy it.

I hate to list all of the really great deals that I have passed on....really, really, great deals. That "Do you really need another" look from my wife is a killer too. We are not rich and guns are expensive.

Today I have a collection that gives me literally thousands of hours of joy. So I'm happy I bought what I did. I just wish that I had not turned back in that Colt SAA 1902 second model, in 38 Special, nickle plated in perfect condition with ill fitting stocks! I thought it was wrong...cost was $800. It was a steal, it locked up like new, mint bore.....I let it go. Sorry, I need a drink.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Now, what do you do when there are about 3 you really want? :rolleyes:

Well, I'll tell you. Sometimes I buy more than one at a time, but if I can only afford one I usually select the one in the best condition. However if one is in rough condition but has nice engraving, etc, I will buy it and figure I'll fix it up in a next life.

If I have to buy all three, I have taken out a loan, but I seldom do that anymore. I don't do that anymore.

Here is another plan. Lay out all three guns, if you can. Decide which one you can live without. That leaves you with two. Then flip a coin.

That is a good idea. My wife bought me a Parker Trojan 20 for a wedding present and there was a 16 gauge Trojan available at the same time from the same seller who we sort of knew. I am certainly not complaining and feel very fortunate to have the one . . . but it would have been nice to somehow have bought the other one. The good news is I discovered a friend bought the 16 gauge and have right of first refusal. It is always the ones you don't get that you regret

And you know what? That pain of regret lingers. Years after you pass one up you will be at a gunshow and see one like it for three times as much and you will say to yourself, "Damn I had one like that in my hands ten years ago and passed it up!" I will hurt. The hurt that keeps on giving...or am I being crazy? :crying:

You are right about that