Wasn't that an old Winnie '97 thumbuster? Pshaw! Now I gotta watch Bullitt again!Originally Posted by secondstoryguy
Wasn't that an old Winnie '97 thumbuster? Pshaw! Now I gotta watch Bullitt again!
I love that movie so much.
According to IMFDB.org Bullitt had an 1897, and Secondhand Lions had a model 12.Wasn't that an old Winnie '97 thumbuster? Pshaw! Now I gotta watch Bullitt again!
Guilty as charged, your honor.
It's funny, I was in a HiTS pistol class today, and brought that exact shotgun to show to several other attendees. I call it my Ronco Pocket Shotgun. (Some of you might remember the old TV commercial for the Ronco Pocket Fisherman).
I'll take some pics and post them, if you wish.
I had the stock cut down to a 12.5" LOP, the barrel trimmed to 18.5", and a X/S tritium Big Dot front sight mounted. I tracked down an old Eagle shotgun shell carrier that mounts on the stock with Velcro straps, and is easy to remove.
Mine holds six 2-3/4" shells. According to the serial number it was made in 1928. It disassembles and fits in a small Jansport sling bag. I like to put one of my granddaughter's plastic sippy cups in the elastic side pocket. When you wander into a hotel carrying a sleepy granddaughter, it just looks like a run of the mill diaper bag. The sling bag also carries a spare flashlight and batteries, plastic doorstop to secure a hotel room, Sabre Red, multitool and three speedloaders. Plus a Maxpedition pouch with six more buckshot and six more slug rounds.
Assembled, it looks like Grandpa's old shotgun. Which it is.
If one were to peruse, say, Gun Broker for 12 gauge Model 12s, how would one tell that the example one is looking at is a take down model, other than it says so in the listing?
Recovering Gun Store Commando. My Blog: The Clue Meter
“It doesn’t matter what the problem is, the solution is always for us to give the government more money and power, while we eat less meat.”
Glenn Reynolds
All Model 12's are take-down. The non-takedown version is called the Model 25.
Speaking of which, DJ's Sport Shop in Bothell had a Model 12 with a ~20" barrel and rifle sights for about $400 on Friday...
Okie John
Last edited by okie john; 04-10-2016 at 09:21 PM.
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
Didn't think any of the Model 12s we had in the arms room in Korea were take down, but they didn't let me play with them at all except for that one inventory where I gave the armorer a heart attack when I removed the barrel on the grease gun...
Recovering Gun Store Commando. My Blog: The Clue Meter
“It doesn’t matter what the problem is, the solution is always for us to give the government more money and power, while we eat less meat.”
Glenn Reynolds
I have a short barrel Model 12, because / The Wild Bunch
Last edited by HCM; 04-10-2016 at 10:03 PM.
And:
Okie may in fact be correct, though I seem to recall hearing of solid frame model 12's.
If you understand how they take down, you should be able to spot the parts used in a takedown gun, or their absence in a solid frame gun. The video wasn't as clear as it could have been, but there are other references online. One I just saw in a search had pictures. Its for a model 97, but the takedown is identical.
http://www.milesfortis.com/church/akc12.htm
Besides the cross pin in the end of the mag tube, theres extra metal in the front of the receiver that is part of the barrel/mag assembly. You can see the joint in pics, and recognize it if seeing one that doesn't have it.
If you find one that's sloppy loose, don't panic, they had an adjustment to take up wear. I bought one that was so loosey goosey it looked unsafe to shoot to most. I looked at it and realized there was a lot of adjustment left, and bought it fairly cheap. I think it took 2 or 3 notches of adjustment to snug up, and should be good for another 70 years or so of use, maybe more if kept snug instead of letting it get loose and shooting it. Its a 5 minute job with a swiss army knife or plain screwdriver to tighten one up.
The sliding plate with small teeth on the end is the adjuster. The screw is loosened, the lock plate is pulled back, the barrel collar turned slightly to the next tooth, plate pushed back in, and check it. I haven't seen any so far that were anywhere near the end of their adjustment.
Reference Bullitt I know the one used during the chase scene is a 1897 but I think the one in the hotel is a model 12. I haven't seen the movie in a year or two but I remember liking how the hit man puts it together.
Talking about takedown shotguns got me thinking about a gun Kevin Mcclung of Mad Dog knives built in the 90s. It was a takedown 870 "briefcase shotgun". He did this by cutting a hole in the wooden stock and modifying the screw that holds on the stock. Using this screw you could take the stock off the receiver and pull the barrel off in a minute or so. IIRC it would just barely fit in a briefcase.
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