I’m sure he missed sometimes, but I can’t remember it.
He always had good dog, either a skinny pointer or cat-footed setter with a bloodied tip on its tail - and let me tell you, they were some kind of deadly. We had ruffed grouse in my part of the world back then, in numbers far exceeding what we have now. 9 Greatest Winchester Rifles And Shotguns Ever Made.I never asked him about any of this because I just wanted to go hunting. He didn’t seem to have a regular job, a wife and family, or any of the other things that would keep most people from going hunting whenever they wanted. It’s funny how kids see things in the world: At the time, I never questioned how he was able to spend so much time in the woods with me and a Model 12 shotgun. He was inherited from my dad and, after a few years, I was allowed to venture into the grouse and turkey woods with him even if Dad couldn’t make it that day. I called him my “hunting uncle” because he was a friend of my father’s, but not blood kin. I guess he waited for me at times he never left me in the woods. I can see him ahead of me, a Winchester Model 12 casually resting on his shoulder as he disappeared behind some big oak or tangle of brush. This gave the Model 12 its reputation for a smooth action with excellent reliability, and it’s the primary reason why so many of these guns still work and see the fields today.Īs a boy, I have a distinct memory of following him and I was almost always running, running to catch up. The internal parts of the Model 12 action were all hand-fitted and machined to precise specifications. His long legs gave him a stride that was seemingly impossible to keep up with. He could walk in the mountains all day and he didn’t seem to tire. Tall and lanky, he was one of those guys who seemed all disjointed and clumsy, but he wasn’t. I will never be able to look at a Model 12 Winchester shotgun without thinking of him. Overall graceful lines that make it a real looker.Bolt locks directly into the receiver, making the action exceedingly strong.Internal parts are all hand fitted giving it an extremely smooth action.Internal hammer streamlines an action made from a single billet of forged steel.
What Makes the Winchester Model 12 An Exceptional Pump-Action: The Winchester Model 12 shotgun set the mold - and then broke it - for what a pump-action gun should be.