Winchester Model 1912
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Winchester Model 1912 shotgun | |
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Pump-action, Tilting bolt | |
Feed system | 6-round tubular magazine (see text for more details) |
The
Description
The Model 1912 (shortened to Model 12 in 1919) was the next step from the
Its tubular magazine was loaded through the bottom of the gun. Empty shotgun shells ejected to the right. Depending on the particular wooden plug installed in the magazine, two, three, or four shells could be loaded into the tubular magazine. The magazine tube held six 2¾-inch 12 gauge shells, whereas most modern sporting shotguns typically hold only four or five shells.
With forged and machined steel parts, the ultimate reason for discontinuation in 1964 was that it was too expensive to produce at a competitive price. The primary competition at this time came from the much less expensive
Special production examples were produced by Winchester, the U.S. Repeating Arms Company, and Miroku after 1964 through 2006 through specialized gun collector purchase programs, but the Perfect Repeater shotgun was never mass-produced after 1964. The U.S. Repeating Arms Company (a subsidiary of FN) announced a complete closing of the New Haven, Connecticut factory facility in January 2006, thus ending the Model 12's production after 95 years.
Military use
The
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Trench_Shotgun_win12_800.jpg/220px-Trench_Shotgun_win12_800.jpg)
More than 80,000 Model 12 shotguns were purchased during World War II by the United States Marine Corps, Army Air Forces, and Navy, mostly for use in the Pacific theater. Riot gun versions of the Model 12, lacking the heat shield and bayonet, were purchased by the Army for use in defending bases and in protecting Air Forces aircraft against saboteurs when parked. The Navy similarly purchased and used the riot gun version for protecting Navy ships and personnel while in foreign ports. The Marine Corps used the trench gun version of the Model 12 to great success in taking Japanese-occupied islands in the Pacific. The primary difference between the World War I and the World War II Model 12 trench gun versions was that the original design contained six rows of holes in the perforated heat shield, this was further reduced to only four rows beginning in 1942.
During the Korean War, the Marines used the Model 12 extensively. Likewise, the Marines and U.S. Army used the Model 12 during the Vietnam War. However, production of the Model 12 ended in 1964, which led to the Model 12 no longer being purchased by the military. However, there were numerous firearms already in the American arsenal, and the Model 12 would continue to see combat service until the end of the 1960s. During the middle 1960s, the Ithaca 37 shotgun was acquired for combat use, and it began replacing the Model 12 as the primary shotgun employed by the United States military. The Ithaca 37 eventually became the most commonly-used shotgun of the Vietnam War. Other shotguns which were used in that conflict included the Winchester Model 1897 trench gun, the Stevens Model 77 shotgun, and the Remington 870 Wingmaster, the latter of which was used more by the U.S. Navy than other branches.
Unlike most modern pump-action shotguns, the Winchester Model 12 had no
See List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces
Users
- 1st Paratroopers Brigade (Greece).
Malaysia:[2]
United States
See also
References
- ^ The Winchester Model 12 Cut-Away and Cycle of Operation accessed 2 May 2023.
- ^ Thompson, Leroy (December 3, 2008). "Malaysian Special Forces". Tactical Life. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- Fawcett, Bill. Hunters & Shooters: An Oral History of the U.S. Navy SEALS in Vietnam. NY: Avon Books, 1995. ISBN 0-380-72166-X, pp. 79–80, especially.
- "Give Us More Shotguns!" by Bruce N. Canfield, American Rifleman, May 2004
- "Sequence of Take-down and Assembly Operations Model 12 Slide Action Repeating Shotgun", A. A. Arnold, Olin, Winchester-Western Division, New Haven, CT, October 1957