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October 28, 2023
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Hi guys! Was going to get a butt plate for my model 1912, but I think it may have been cut down. The last person glued a pad on and I was hoping someone had advice on how to get it off. So the lop is at 13 ¹/4 “. I’m just afraid if it was cut that the og backplate might not fit properly. What was the og lop or length of stock? Here’s some pictures. Also, it has a polychoke, but its stamped mod. So does that mean that the barrel was cut and the choke added later? Thanks in advance for the help. 
August 27, 2014
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Stock was definitely cut, I’d try to pull the pad off with a pliers or cut it off with a utility knife. Not sure about the poly choke, but it doesn’t look factory.
“If you can’t convince them, confuse them”
President Harry S. Truman
April 15, 2005
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Justin,
That gun is simply not worth the effort or expense to do anything to it except shoot it. Nothing you can do to it will improve its value or collector interest.
Yes, the barrel has been cut (shortened) and the Poly choke is an aftermarket alteration.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 19, 2006
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Bert H. said
Justin,That gun is simply not worth the effort or expense to do anything to it except shoot it. Nothing you can do to it will improve its value or collector interest.
Yes, the barrel has been cut (shortened) and the Poly choke is an aftermarket alteration.
Bert
This was my exact reaction as well.
November 7, 2015
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If that pad has deteriorated a reproduction red Winchester pad may help it shoot and look a little better. Heat may help with the removal, depending on the adhesive used. A Model 12 is a great shooting gun, not sure how well the adjustable choke is functioning but I’d certainly recommend giving it a try.
Mike
January 20, 2023
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TXGunNut said
If that pad has deteriorated a reproduction red Winchester pad may help it shoot and look a little better. Heat may help with the removal, depending on the adhesive used. A Model 12 is a great shooting gun, not sure how well the adjustable choke is functioning but I’d certainly recommend giving it a try.
Mike
Concur. Before the day of internal choke tubes came, in the post WWII years it was considered wise and proper to improve your automatic or pump shotgun with a Cutts or Polychoke, often also cutting the barrel back so, including the device, it was no more than 26 inches long, to improve balance. Today these devices are looked down on as ungainly but they worked well to control the shot pattern if properly installed. You do need to pattern them at their different settings, because what’s marked may not be what it’s shooting on the pattern board. Get a nice repro WRA red pad and get it back in the field. The butt was squared to install the pad and you would have to add spacers before radiusing the butt for a steel plate to accommodate the plate’s draft, or lose significant LOP. It still wouldn’t look factory, whereas a solid red pad would look great and be period correct. If it’s a 12 bore, it’ll be considerably more fun to shoot a lot than with a hard buttplate. I made the mistake of taking my ’55 vintage Browning Auto-5 on a Panhandle duck hunt. It wears its original horn buttplate and I loaded it with high velocity steel for a modern Miroku barrel. Ouch! I still have an imprint of old JMB on my shoulder.
- 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.
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