Ithaca 37 28ga...

I could hear the fight going on in the SD background corn....Merlot finally came out on top, but it may have been a cage fight....

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The other side....

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Goose and a 3" model 12.

Model 12's are flat out cool....and they don't need a bunch of chickens and scratchings to be so....

Then again....without the Dogs, hunting shotguns are little more than steel and wood thrown together...A London best worth little more than a Sears special....

Two 1950's Model 12's that strutted their stuff on sporting courses over the past few days. Both are Simmons VR guns. Lower gun is a new to me 20-gauge/28" with Mod choke; tried her out today at Rock Mountain and it seems I couldn't miss. Upper Winny is a 12-gauge/32" with Full choke, one of three pump guns in our squad of five shooters at the Charity shoot at Lehigh SC on Friday. Our 444 ex 500 was high score of 21 squads and this Model 12 placed 4th of 105 shooters. Love to see the raised eyebrows and looks of shooters with expensive competition o/u and gas guns. :whistle:

I have never felt handicapped when shooting my Model 12s. A couple of decades ago, I ran 100 in our 20 gauge event at the Maryland State NSSA shoot with an 870 that I still own. I lost the championship because I switched to my K-32 for the shootoff. I have a large covey of collector Model 12s but normally go to the well worn examples when shooting competition. In 1984, I decided to put away the pump guns for NSSA competition and switched to the tubed 3200. My last shoot with my 12 gauge milled rib Model 12 was a 99X100. It was more than a couple of shoots before I shot a 99 with my 3200. I was "Mister 99" with my Model 12 20 gauge at that time, so I sold it to my friend Mel Swerdloff who shot 100X100 low gun while test firing that 20 before writing the check. I wish I had that great gun back.

Well done Frank. Once again we all know it's not the arrow, although that arrow is a classic.:bowdown:

Thanks Daryl. Most of us have heard that dictum many times and while largely true its corollary is that no well practiced Indian can shoot well with a crooked arrow or while using a bow that's intimidating or s/he has little confidence in. :nono:

Regarding vintage repeating shotguns, to my thinking there's nothing more reliable, naturally pointing and sexy looking than a Model 12 with a Simmons vent rib. 70+ years and counting for Simmons doing ribs.

The Old Model 12s
 

The little 20 is a honey. I like the Auto-5s too and the engraved Model 11s.
Remington could really doll a gun up with fantastic engraving when they wanted to.
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The best gun I ever shot was a black diamond model 1912. Straight stock and 30” bbl fit me like it was a part of my body. Sadly I sold that gun and list it was one of my biggest regrets. I like the M42’s with the corn cob forends. I collected 410 and 22 single shots for awhile but have sold most of them. Parker’s get the nod exclusively today although a M12 like Franks 20 gauge would be impossible to resist.