Bought a project fix-er-upper today

[SA1911a1]

A lightweight Winchester .12 ga. semi auto, A model 59, in good mechanical condition but rode hard and put up wet. It was made between '60 and '65 and was not a very popular model. People complained about weight distribution. It has a Winlight barrel, which is a thin tube, wrapped in fiberglass and painted jet black. I have never seen any firearm with more shit on the inside. Nobody must have field stripped it since Kennedy was president. I got it apart and cleaned up, and with a little luck actually reassembled it and test fired it off the back porch. It functioned really nicely.

I like the old guns with no plastic, machined parts, and Walnut stocks.

I found it pretty interesting how little information there was on the net about this model. Neither was it in my shotgun repair book, so it was touch and go.

Tomorrow, I am going to work on the stock. If it comes off ok I will post up some pics.


I haven't had an auto loader in 25 years or so when I sold my Browning Auto-five, so it is going to be fun to play with.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Yea, I have a high standard auto loader waiting for attention. Nothing wrong with it except fifty years of dust. I have had the Beretta A300 for 25 years, only eats high brass, but then that's all I ever put in it anyway. Never a problem with it. None of them beat the Winchester 1897.

[SA1911a1]

The old gun made some big strides forward today. More to come on the stock. The deeper gauges sanded out without leaving apparent divots, now I just have to work to get the color and shine right.

It was so dirty when I picked it up, that I barely noticed that there was engraving on the receiver..... I did some web reading last night, and apparently this series and the model 50 have somewhat of a small cult following.

[ffuries]

The old gun made some big strides forward today. More to come on the stock. The deeper gauges sanded out without leaving apparent divots, now I just have to work to get the color and shine right.

It was so dirty when I picked it up, that I barely noticed that there was engraving on the receiver..... I did some web reading last night, and apparently this series and the model 50 have somewhat of a small cult following.

You have a "Cult Following", is that something you wanna brag about on a public forum Steve?

All kidding aside, looks pretty damn good. Did you shoot it yet?

[steelbuttplate]

I bought a Model 12 Winchester made in '47 a few years back, musta had 4,000 rounds thru it, never cleaned, full of black crud, broken firing pin. With a good cleaning and a firing pin it made a fine old pumper, I still have it.

[SA1911a1]

The old gun made some big strides forward today. More to come on the stock. The deeper gauges sanded out without leaving apparent divots, now I just have to work to get the color and shine right.

It was so dirty when I picked it up, that I barely noticed that there was engraving on the receiver..... I did some web reading last night, and apparently this series and the model 50 have somewhat of a small cult following.

You have a "Cult Following", is that something you wanna brag about on a public forum Steve?

All kidding aside, looks pretty damn good. Did you shoot it yet?

I is the only cult I belong to that can be talked about in public.

[steelbuttplate]

Oui, je suis et vous la femme observatrice.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Pretty sure all Winchesters have a cult following, nice shotgun.

[SA1911a1]

The old gun made some big strides forward today. More to come on the stock. The deeper gauges sanded out without leaving apparent divots, now I just have to work to get the color and shine right.

It was so dirty when I picked it up, that I barely noticed that there was engraving on the receiver..... I did some web reading last night, and apparently this series and the model 50 have somewhat of a small cult following.

You have a "Cult Following", is that something you wanna brag about on a public forum Steve?

All kidding aside, looks pretty damn good. Did you shoot it yet?

We are having a Kool-Aide party this weekend, Mike, if you want to come over. You won't need a ride home. ;)

After I degunked and reassembled the gun, I did, with some trepidation, shoot it. I works like a champ.

It is was a very unfamiliar operating system, and the reassembly was fun. I have the full set of the J.B. Wood books that I can usually go to for assistance, but this gun, or the model 50 which is very similar, are not included in the books. I did watch a video of an old guy working on a model 50, which was a great help, but I do better with written instruction.

[jaytex1969]

I had a Model 50 for a few years. It was fun to shoot, kicked more like a 20 than a 12.

I traded it for some motorcycle maintenance....

I remember it being great for shooting clays.


Jay

[SA1911a1]

The fiberglass wrapping on the barrel had several small dings on the (epoxy?) finish. I tried some high gloss enamel paint I had laying around on it for an aesthetic fix, and it worked really well. Two coats and the repairs are almost invisible.

The revolutionary (at the time) barrel design got me searching for information on whether high-velocity shells (2 3/4") were appropriate for this piece. About the only information I could find was anecdotal, but the general consensus was the hotter the shell the better the gun performed. Go figure....The original advertisements claimed that the fiberglass wrapped steel tube was stronger and less flexible than an all steel barrel. (and we know that nobody ever exaggerated in an ad.)

I got a chance to air the old shotgun out yesterday. You might think that a six pound, 12 ga. shotgun, with an inertial operating system, would kick like a mule, but it is not the case. I got through a couple of boxes of upland game loads with no sore shoulder. This gun is butt-heavy, but it would make a great dove gun. I haven't shot doves in a very long time, but I might just stake me out a cornfield this fall. I am blessed to have several cases of upland game shells donated by a friend who purchased them, expecting a great disaster was coming with Y2K.

Only 86,000 guns were produced in the model 59 from '60-64, I wonder how many are still out there.