Hi all,

I am new to the forum. I am fairly new to guns so I don't have a ton of knowledge about them yet.

That said, I've been fortunate enough to have inherited two pretty special guns.

I have a model 12, 12 gauge pump that was mfg in 1929. The gun was passed down to me from my uncle when he passed. Since I wasn't really into shooting/ hunting while I was younger, it sat in it's case for almost 20 years. A couple years ago (at the age of 45) I started getting into guns, hunting and trap shooting. So, I pulled it out, got it cleaned and checked out by a gunsmith to make sure it was OK to fire. The gun worked great. So I started using it for a little trap shooting and a little bird hunting. It's not a collector gun by any means. My uncle used it quite a bit, but took really good care of it. It has lots of character, but it was all original as far as I know. As the saying goes, the don't make them like that anymore.

Unfortunately, I dropped the gun while taking it out of it's case the other day and did some heavy damage to the butt stock and plate. Now I am on a quest to find someone to repair the damage or find a used stock/plate from the same era. If necessary, I'll replace it with a new stock, but it doesn't seem like it would be the same gun with a 2016 stock if you know what I mean.

I also have a Browning A5 "Sweet 16" that was given to me when my father in law passed away a couple of years ago. This gun is super nice and is worth quite a bit of money. I've lightly used this gun for trap shooting and hunting with my teen age son. But after dropping my Model 12, I've decided it's too nice and valuable to continue to use, especially in the hands of some as inexperienced as myself. So it's going in the safe and I'll buy new guns that I have no attachment to for our hunting and trap shooting.

Anyway, that's my story. If anyone has any suggestions on my model 12 issue please post. Looking forward to spending some time on this forum.

Welcome to the Winchester Owners Forum !!

Enjoy our community...

Welcome to the forum.

You are off to a good start with those 2 nice guns.

Welcome aboard the forum! Sounds like a good plan, but hard to not take them out every now and again to shoot but then again I no longer hunt with those near & dear to my heart, so I understand where you are coming from.