Good Deal at the LGS?

I went with a 1300 clone combo with changeable choke.

Piece of junk.

I examined stainless police shotgun. It had plastic around follower area. They say it cycles Aguila Mini Buck w/o modifications which is impressive. I learned from owning old H&R revolver that plastic parts in old guns suck. I would pass.

it’s not worth that price. 1200s are pretty cheaply made.

When you can get an 870 for that same price and a Mossberg 500 for a little less, there is no reason to consider the Winchester 1200.

The best riot shotgun Winchester ever made was Model 25. Man I missed good deal when there was $495 sale on them Ithaca Hog Slayers originally made for some chain. I think Federal 1300fps Truball is ok with rifled barrels. That would make an awesome combo.

Honestly think the price is high,299 is not a deal at all IMO.
175 tops is where I would consider another. Maybe 200 since it is new.

Agree they were economy (in construction) guns, so it will not be going up in value anytime soon.

That said, mine has been extremely reliable in cycling for it's intended role as a HD shotgun.

Without interchangeable chokes, it's no to steel.
And a rib sure helps for a round of summer temperature trap, so my advice is to keep shopping.

JT

Look for a used Rem 870 and call it a day

I just last month bought this rem 870 mag in like new condition for 350.00 otd(sans scope) for my new turkey shotgun. the original owner had trouble with the 12ga mag recoil and went to a 20 ga. his loss, my gain. pass on the win 1200 and wait for another shotgun.

870.

Would agree with the other, that would be too much for it.

.455_Hunter said:

The LGS has what could be described as a "new, old stock" Model 1200 Winchester still complete with hang tags. It's a 3" Magnum with a 30" fixed full-choke, rib-less barrel and a thick recoil pad (still soft!). Asking $299.

What do you guys think? Good for mild trap? Steel shot OK or not? Piece of junk?

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I have 3 120/1200/1300s and I wouldn't buy that one at that price with that barrel. They work fine and are fast despite what naysayers who haven't owned one often think. The mag throat piece that the magazine threads into and then seats into the aluminum receiver is plastic, and the trigger group housing is plastic, which is what sets the reactionaries off.

If it's exactly the barrel you want then go for it, but you'll pay $100-$150 for a different barrel.

I own a few and around here they bring about 100 used, I've never had a problem with mine.

"I have 3 120/1200/1300s and I wouldn't buy that one at that price with that barrel. They work fine and are fast despite what naysayers who haven't owned one often think. The mag throat piece that the magazine threads into and then seats into the aluminum receiver is plastic, and the trigger group housing is plastic, which is what sets the reactionaries off. "
I am a proud reactionary, but that has nothing to do with my opinion of the 120/1200. I am a retired gunsmith. Worked on a bunch of these back in the 70s/80s/90s when parts were still available. Totally unacceptable to me for a pump gun.
A buddy worked at the local Winchester shooting range. They rented guns for like 25 or 50 cents a round. When a 1200 or a 1400 would mess up, they would wrap it in brown paper and stick it in a 55 gallon drum with a clip on lid. some barrel up, some barrel down. When the drum got full they would ship it to Winchester. Those drums went out frighteningly quickly. They had one model 12 if I remember right, and several 101s.. He said they never had to ship one of those out.

Count the LGSes in your area when considering how much slack to give them on the deal.

In my area we went from 3 to 1 in the last 5 years or so not counting Walmart.

Virginian said:

A buddy worked at the local Winchester shooting range. They rented guns for like 25 or 50 cents a round. When a 1200 or a 1400 would mess up, they would wrap it in brown paper and stick it in a 55 gallon drum with a clip on lid. some barrel up, some barrel down. When the drum got full they would ship it to Winchester.

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Interesting... do you happen to know what kind of problems they were having? Was it something that someone knowledgeable like yourself could have fixed quickly? Turning a screw, etc? Or was it catastrophic failures or parts breakages and the like?

Lots of people have problems with those plastic feed throats previously mentioned.

$299 seems a bit steep. You should be able to find a used 870 for that price without even trying, maybe even a Wingmaster.