I've been a sucker for good Model 12 HD guns ever since I hunted with my first one, many moons ago near Moosonee at the southern tip of Hudson Bay. Some good stories came out of that trip. :cool:

I probably have too many HDs right now but it's so hard to part with one, especially a solid ribber.

Dave commented on the 3-inch/1-7/8 ounce lead shot load. They work OK in HDs and I've shot a lot of them in years past but IME their recoil is a bit too much in these ~ 8-3/4 pound HD guns. They were designed for H.V. 1-5/8 ounce loads and nowadays that's the max lead or non-tox shot load I'll use in a HD for long range work.

Here's another M-12 Heavy Duck, a 30-inch solid rib, straight grip/wood upgrade with somewhat higher and longer stock dimensions than standard. 1947 gun with .729" bore and 34 points of choke. Too nice to hunt with? Naaaah.

Has anyone else heard of (or experienced) a failure to eject when shooting a Heavy Duck gun on straight overhead shots? I understand it's rather common, with no one able to define why the problem occurs. Maybe Brad B. can tell me

I have seen more solid rib Heavy Duck guns than I see non rib guns. Has anyone else noticed this.

I haven't and I've been checking the on-line sites (GB and GI) almost daily for years now. Just subjectively I'd say the proportion is about 5 plain barrel to one solid ribbed.

It maybe that my eyes have been focused on spotting solid rib guns and I tend to pass over the others. I do prefer solid rib to vent ribs and non ribbed guns.

Brett

If you found a cache of solid rib un-messed with HD's

Please send me the link :rotf:

Rick,
There are no links for me to pass on. I just called a gun dealer friend of mine and he just sold the last one I saw over the holidays. I will pass along to you contact information when I see another.

Thanks. I was just funning with ya

We all surf the same sites, that is why it's nice to see something one of us finds that shows up up out of the blue

I stopped in a little out of the way LGS the other day. He normally has a couple m12 field guns. No HD yet. But I keep looking when I go by one of those shops- eventually one will show up when I have mad money in hand

I did look for longer than I should at a very great condition Stevens sidlock hammer gun, those always seem to be mostly used up - this one was a real survivor assuming no one would restore a Stevens

if it had been anything other than a 12 it would have been harder to put it down

Do you Winchester 12 guys have any idea how many Heavy Duck's were made with factory straight stocks? You don't see many for sale in that configuration.

Can't be many, there are no records that I know of, Winchester charged extra for straight grip, $5.00 in 1956 for example. So any straight grip HD was a special order.