Winchester 1912 Black Diamond Trap

[Samuel Bishop]

Again I can delete if not acceptable since another pump shotgun post but i truly do love sxs’s way more especially Parker’s! Lol. But just picked this rare bird up today out of a collection of 66 Winchester model 12’s and figured I’d share and see people’s thoughts on it. Technically it’s a model 1912 and it’s a black diamond trap model with 32in barrels! Hope I did alright in securing this fine piece of craftsmanship and history. Have all the models/gauges I could pretty much want if the model 12 now except the allusive 28g..

[Mike Franzen]

I love M12’s too. I had an old 1912 Black Diamond that had a black star on the bottom of the forend. It had a very low 4 digit serial number that put it about 1913 I believe. It’s one of my regret guns for ever having sold it. What’s the serial number on your gun

[Samuel Bishop]

I’m definitely more of a sxs man but I love a good model 12. Was trying to just get all the gauges then saw this odd one and was like that’d be pretty cool to add to collection even though I don’t shoot trap. It’s an early 119000 gun have to go look to remember exactly but ran numbers and it was made in 1916

[Researcher]

Apparently, the earliest Tournament Grades had the "Black Diamond" in the grip as well as the Trap and Pigeon Grades.

2-14 Model 1912 Folder 01.jpg

2-14 Model 1912 Folder 03.jpg

Winchester revised this February 1914 folder adding that the "Black Diamond" would be omitted from the Tournament Grade.

2-14 Model 1912 Folder 02 Tournament Grade Ebony Diamond omitted.jpg

In the 1915 folder the Trap Grade is listed in all three gauges --

1915 Trap Grade.jpg

while the Tournament Grade remained 12-gaauge only --

1915 Tournament Grade.jpg

and is pictured without the "Black Diamond."

[Bill Murphy]

I own a Tournament Grade with black diamonds, correct as Dave pointed out. I also own a Trap Grade without checkering, but can't afford a letter to verify its originality. It has a black diamond and not a remnant of checkering outline.

[Keith Sirmans]

Very nice! I know of 2 that are here in Valdosta. The old man's dad was a travelling salesman for winchester. As a kid they would give him a piece of pine to whittle in the stock room. Took all day but it kept him busy as a kid and he didn't mess p the good wood. One was owned by a lady exhibition shooter but I can't remember her name.

[Mike Franzen]

Has anyone else ever seen the black star inlaid on the bottom of the fore end?

[Drew Hause]

Keith: Plinky switched to a Model 12 at some point. She and Ad continued to shoot exhibitions until her death in Jan, 1945



“Famous Shooter Breaks 961 Out of 1000 in Day Before a Large Crowd”
San Antonio, Tex., July 27, 1908.
A large crowd saw Mrs. Adolph Topperwein shoot at 1000 targets in an endurance test Schwermeyer’s Park on July 19. The feat of shooting at such a number of targets in a few hours is no child’s play, and the fact that it has only been accomplished a few times in the history of trap shooting, by men who were seasoned shooters, demonstrates the magnitude of such a performance, and only those who study the shooting game closely realize what a tremendous task it is to shoot 1000 shots with a shotgun loaded with the regular trap load. Not only is Mrs. Topperwein’s score remarkable from an endurance point, but the accuracy she displayed in shooting this number shots is really wonderful, as she consumed but four hours and 35 minutes in firing the total score.
Mrs. Topperwein used but one gun, a Winchester (1897) trap gun weighing seven and one-half pounds, and a load of three and one-eighths drams of Dead Shot Smokeless powder in a Winchester Leader case.
The targets were thrown in the regulation manner, fully 50 yards, and at unknown angles. The shooting was done in strings of 25, shooting 100, with a few moments’ rest. She broke 96 out of her first 100 in exactly 20 minutes, and scored 98 in her last 100 in 16 minutes. She made several long runs, the best between the fifth and sixth hundred, when she scored 111 without a miss. The weather was very hot, and toward the end of the score very windy. Mrs. Topperwein suffered no inconvenience or ill-effects, with the exception of having her left hand blistered from a hot gun barrel.

1941 with a Model 12

[Researcher]

Plinky with a Model 1912 --

Plinky Topperwein 02.jpg

[Samuel Bishop]

Love hearing about all the history of these! Learning way more than I knew and I just barely knew about the standard 12’s. Love hearing theirs a few down south of me Keith I’m sure they are well loved. Very interesting gun for sure. Not my typical model 12 or shotgun in general I go for but was so odd and cool that had to add it in. Thank you for the flyers Dave! Was nice reading about the difference in the models. I a 16g or 20g one of these would be SUPER neat to own or at least see in person! I’m sure even rarer than these. I’m guessing tournament and trap were pretty much the same besides certain barrel length options and such depending on the year. Mike I have very little knowledge or experience with these higher grade 12’s to know about the star…