Old Winchester model 12

[kc30121]

So i have my great grandfather’s early 20’s Winchester model 12 in 16 gauge and when i shoot 2 3/4” low brass shells it wont eject them. It barleys hangs up in the chamber. So, after research i see this gun was made for 2 1/2” shells. Its a beautiful gun and functions flawlessly. I would love to be able to shoot it more.
My question is should i have the chamber lengthen or should I just use it as a safe queen because I can’t find 2 1/2 inch shells.

 

[cullen1780]

RST shells are great and not terribly expensive.

RSTShells

Shotgun Shotshell Manufacturer

www.rstshells.com

 

[savannahboy]

Looks like they are out of stock on everything but .410. No components

 

[87KJH]

If you are only shooting a few boxes then the least expensive way to get 2 1/2" 16 ga shells is to cut down the 2 3/4" hulls and roll crimp them.

One other solution is to handload the solid brass 2 1/2" hulls made by MagTech.
The hulls and components are available from Ballistic Products or Precision Reloading.
While I have not loaded 16 ga solid brass, I have loaded the 2 1/2" solid brass in 410 bore.

Shop Rifle & Shotgun Reloading Supplies | Dies | Bullets | Hulls | Wads | Powder - Precision Reloading

Shop online for shotshell and metallic reloading supplies, shooting supplies, metallic presses, rifle reloading components, shotshell reloading components, shooting accessories, rifle reloading brass and Bullets.

www.precisionreloading.com

 

[moosensquirrel]

unless you are holding the gun for investment/speculation. Have the chamber lengthened with a long forcing cone.

Kirk Merrington in Alpine Texas is your man for this. He is a trained barrel maker Ex-Churchills, London.

 

[Whatchagot87]

All of the above is good info. Point to add, your gun would have been chambered for 2 9/16" shells as was the 16ga standard at that time. You may be able to find old shells that were made 2 9/16". Along with RST, Gamebore also makes 2 1/2" shells, though they are also hard to find at this time. If you can find the old black hull Remington 16ga shells, they often have been reported to be just short enough to work for proper ejection in the older guns, no modification needed. Finally, most Model 12's aren't particularly rare. They were popular and sold a lot of them because they were/are great guns. If I planned to use it a lot and didn't reload my own, I would also consider having the chambers lengthened as mentioned above.

 

[kc30121]

Ok so maybe 2 9/16” was what it was. All i know is that the 2 3/4” just barley catch when trying to eject them. Every once in a while they will eject so it’s barely hitting. Anyways, thank you for all the input. I think may look into the chamber being modified cause the old shells are really hard to find.

 

[gh1950]

Ok so maybe 2 9/16” was what it was. All i know is that the 2 3/4” just barley catch when trying to eject them. Every once in a while they will eject so it’s barely hitting. Anyways, thank you for all the input. I think may look into the chamber being modified cause the old shells are really hard to find.

If that's the case the shells are firing and being extracted with no problems.

If you are handy you can try a solution used by folks who want to shoot 3" shells in Rem 870 2 3/4 receivers,

Again, emphasizing that you have to do this slow and carefully.

Get the Gunsmith's Best Friend, a Dremel Tool. some Emery paper. a grinding bit, diamond is better.

Slowly relieve the inside of the front of the ejection port, it's one of those tedious things where to take off a little, try it, remove some more if necessary. Use the emery cloth to polish the edge. If you have some buffing compound, use that. You want that inside surface as smooth as possible. you want to wrap the emery cloth around a dowel/plastic pipe.

Done correctly it's not even visible on the exterior.

Modern plastic shells are stiffer than period correct paper shells.