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Hi All,
I recently acquired a Model 1911 12 gauge shotgun in excellent condition.I was out on the weekend shooting it with light target loads and it worked perfectly.
I don’t see much info on here with regards to this gun,does it have collector value?
Thanks
Aka “the widowmaker”
https://www.outdoorlife.com/guns/worst-shotgun-ever-winchester-model-1911/
Keith Thoms said
Hi All,I recently acquired a Model 1911 12 gauge shotgun in excellent condition. I was out on the weekend shooting it with light target loads and it worked perfectly.
I don’t see much info on here with regards to this gun, does it have collector value?
Thanks
There is very little collector interest in the Model 1911 S.L. shotguns. Winchester allegedly lost money on every single one of the 82,744 of them that were manufactured.
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Thanks for the replies.
I personally love the gun for the history and build quality.
It will reside along with my other Self Loading Rifles.
Keith Thoms said
Thanks for the replies.I personally love the gun for the history and build quality.
It will reside along with my other Self Loading Rifles.
I’ve had one since I was in my early teens which was many years ago and I love it !
My.opinion may be a little bias as it was my Grandfather’s gun and I grew up shooting pheasant , ducks and deer with it on my other Grandfather’s dairy farm . So they claim many people were injured or killed using it but why would you ever stick your face or any body part in front of the muzzle of any firearm ??? As long as you use it by grabbing the knurled portion of the barrel and work the action like that it is completely safe .
I have many great memories with that old Winchester and I think it’s a really cool old shotgun .
Online
steve004 said
Was the Model 40 much better?
No it wasn’t… which is why Winchester took it off the market so quickly! They apparently had not forgotten the expensive lesson they were forced to endure during the 14-year production run on the Model 1911.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert H. said
steve004 said
Was the Model 40 much better?
No it wasn’t… which is why Winchester took it off the market so quickly! They apparently had not forgotten the expensive lesson they were forced to endure during the 14-year production run on the Model 1911.
Bert
Thanks Bert! It is odd they would forget such an important lesson.
steve004 said
Bert H. said
steve004 said
Was the Model 40 much better?
No it wasn’t… which is why Winchester took it off the market so quickly! They apparently had not forgotten the expensive lesson they were forced to endure during the 14-year production run on the Model 1911.
Bert
Thanks Bert! It is odd they would forget such an important lesson.
Not really… there was a full 15-year gap between the end of the Model 1911 production (in 1925), and the introduction of the Model 40 in early 1940. Winchester had endured the Great Depression, bankruptcy and had changed ownership between those two models.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Chris Sterling said
Keith Thoms said
Thanks for the replies.
I personally love the gun for the history and build quality.
It will reside along with my other Self Loading Rifles.
I’ve had one since I was in my early teens which was many years ago and I love it !
My.opinion may be a little bias as it was my Grandfather’s gun and I grew up shooting pheasant , ducks and deer with it on my other Grandfather’s dairy farm . So they claim many people were injured or killed using it but why would you ever stick your face or any body part in front of the muzzle of any firearm ??? As long as you use it by grabbing the knurled portion of the barrel and work the action like that it is completely safe .
I have many great memories with that old Winchester and I think it’s a really cool old shotgun .
Completely Agree.I have taken mine hunting several times and its a pure joy to shoot.You should always know the workings of a particular firearm before using as stated.A Rare and well built Winchester that is greatly under appreciated in my opinion.The 1911 is a quintessential gun that truly tells a part of the Winchester story.
Hey yall, I was hoping to see if anyone knew of someone or somewhere where I could find a forearm for my grandfathers shotgun. I’ve recently acquired it from my family and the wood has completely fell apart.
Noah Nicholson said
Hey yall, I was hoping to see if anyone knew of someone or somewhere where I could find a forearm for my grandfathers shotgun. I’ve recently acquired it from my family and the wood has completely fell apart.
Unfortunately the part you seek is the part that was most prone to failure (cracking & breaking). The Model 1911 was discontinued in the year 1925, and parts have not been available for it since 1929. Due to the overall lack of collector interest and value for the Model 1911, nobody has ever made replacement parts for it. My suggestion is to find a talented wood worker who can glue the original stock back together.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
LONG ago, Fajen’s used to make new forends for the model 11 Remington and the model 11 Winchester. Fajen’s is long gone now. Wenig’s has many of the same wood workers so maybe, just maybe, they have a newly made replacement stock on hand from when it was Fajen’s? Just a possibility tho likely a slim one. Tim
If the original forearm can be glued together, it can be used as a 3-D template and replicated on a duplicating machine. I believe there are U.S. firms that will do this.
The alternative is to get a young stockmaker looking for work to duplicate it.
Neither is going to be cheap but it can be done.
Either way, reinforce the bottom of the piece with linen or other flexible material, soaked in epoxy. And sand it smooth after it’s cured. At some point, Browning started inletting transverse polymer inserts (sections of a partial cylinder) into their Auto-5 forearms for the same purpose.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Chris Sterling said
Keith Thoms said
Thanks for the replies.
I personally love the gun for the history and build quality.
It will reside along with my other Self Loading Rifles.
I’ve had one since I was in my early teens which was many years ago and I love it !
My.opinion may be a little bias as it was my Grandfather’s gun and I grew up shooting pheasant , ducks and deer with it on my other Grandfather’s dairy farm . So they claim many people were injured or killed using it but why would you ever stick your face or any body part in front of the muzzle of any firearm ??? As long as you use it by grabbing the knurled portion of the barrel and work the action like that it is completely safe .
I have many great memories with that old Winchester and I think it’s a really cool old shotgun .
I’ve never owned a M1911, but I did find your story inspiring. The family history with your M1911 as well as your own extensive experience as very young person on your grandfather’s farm shooting a variety of game (winged and four-legged) is very cool. It sounds like it never let you down. I certainly wouldn’t suggest (or even think) there’s anything wrong with your gun.
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