Any Winchester Connoisseurs?

[Secesh]

Curious to know if there are any friends of old Winchester rifles and shotguns here.

 

[missy_45]

What Winchester models do you like?

 

[Secesh]

When I was a kid, my Dad gave me his first shotgun he got when he was a kid. A model 11 Remington automatic. I never really liked the Remington auto. Mostly didn’t like it aesthetically and the automatic design. My cousin let me borrow his model 12 Winchester for a turkey hunt one day and I killed a gobbler flying at 74 steps. Folded him up like a lawn chair. That following week I went and bought a model 12 with a 28” modified barrel and I’ve hunted exclusively with it ever since.

As far as rifles I love the model 1886, 1894 and the 1895.

I’m a solid Winchester fan.

 

[Adies Gunny]

I and my family members have several Winchester firearms. My first shotgun was a Model 37 12 gauge. I had and gifted to an uncle a Model 97. My brother in law has an 1887 lever action 12 gauge.

My first rifle was a Winchester model 190 .22lr. I had a Winchester Model 70 30-06 I bought at the Base Exchange in 1978. I never could get that rifle to shoot less than a 5-6 inch 100 yard group. I sold it at a loss and the new owner spent a lot of money trying to fix it. He was transfered so I don't know how it turned out. I have bought and traded several 67s, 69s and one 75 that I wish I still had. I have an older 94 30-30.

Once upon a time Winchester was a premium gunmaker.

 

[Secesh]

At the end of their corporate existence they did try extremely hard to ruin their reputation and that’s one of the reasons why the older rifles and shotguns are so popular and hold their value so well. I saved long and hard to be able to buy my model ‘94 rifle and I wouldn’t take double or even triple what I paid for it now. I had wanted one since I was a kid, standard rifle with octagon barrel in .30win. I would have liked a 38-55 or 32-40 but cartridge availability of the .30win made more sense to me. It’s a mighty fine shooter to be 110 years old and continues to put meat on the table.

 

[missy_45]

When I was a kid, my Dad gave me his first shotgun he got when he was a kid. A model 11 Remington automatic. I never really liked the Remington auto. Mostly didn’t like it aesthetically and the automatic design. My cousin let me borrow his model 12 Winchester for a turkey hunt one day and I killed a gobbler flying at 74 steps. Folded him up like a lawn chair. That following week I went and bought a model 12 with a 28” modified barrel and I’ve hunted exclusively with it ever since.

As far as rifles I love the model 1886, 1894 and the 1895.

I’m a solid Winchester fan.

Nice! What loads/chokes did you use that day?

 

[Secesh]

28” modified with a Remington high power #2 in the tube. A lot of luck went into the outcome of that shot though. I figure the bird had his wing up and just before coming down I placed 4 of those #2’s in the side of his breast.

I was setup calling from the edge of a pine thicket next to a pasture. Thought I had only one bird coming in but wound up being two, one on my left coming out of the thicket (the one I didn’t see) while I was concentrating on the 2nd gobbler walking the edge of the pasture coming towards me. The first bird outed me and was actually closer to me but being he had the young pines on me I didn’t have a clear shot and I took the second bird. He had a 9” beard.

That was a fun day!