new toy! one softcore shotgun pr0n shot inside! >=}

[learnedmonkey]

My brand new spiffy Winchester 1300 Defender 12 ga, 18" barrel!
My wallet hurts, but I'm not sorry I got it.

I was down in Oregon this weekend for a shindig in honor of my college band director, who is retiring in May. I'd been looking at shotguns for a while, trying to decide between the Ithaca, the Mossy/Mav, and the Winchester. On my way back up to WA, I stopped at a couple sporting good stores to see what their prices were. They had a couple of Winchester 1300s, and one of the Mavericks, and I looked at all three.

I liked the slide action on the Maverick better than the Winchester, and the price was a lot nicer, but the Winchester won. I liked the weight, balance, and barrel length better, as well as the truglo sights that came with. Since it'll be a while before I can afford to pick up extra barrels, I wanted something that came out of the box with most of what I wanted already there.

For you Remmy 870 lovers out there, the reason I wasn't considering one is because my brother owns one, and I wasn't crazy about it. It's been a good, solid, reliable shotgun for him, but I didn't like the feel of it in my hands or in firing position, and the slide had a tendency to bind on me while I was shooting at the clay pigeons. Nothing against the 870, just wasn't the right choice for me.

 

[sm]

Congrats!

My feelings ain't hurt...a fella needs to feel good about what he picks , that means he will practice . As a rule the 1300 's fit me off the rack better. I have to tweak the fit on 870's a bit.

I can miss with any of 'em...If style points are given my average goes up.

Hey in 3 months your wallet will have totally forgotten...

Now get some light loads, hit the range and report back here

 

[Dave McCracken]

Congrats. I've no probs with your getting the Winnie, they're good shotguns.

Getting the one that feels best, seems like I've heard that before someplace.

The 1300s, like other Big Four shotguns, need regular exercise. BA/UU/R....

 

[Foreign Devil]

I just got that same model last week. I asked around about all the regular pumps - 870, mossberg, etc but that is the one that got consistently good reviews and no bad remarks whatever. I like it better than the old 870 express I once had.

 

[Duke of Lawnchair]

educated-monkey,

Great choice!

The 1300 is one of my favorite pumps on the market.

Jim

 

[learnedmonkey]

I haven't gotten a chance to shoot with it yet. Hopefully this weekend...

One thing I had missed while doing my research was that the defender models apparently can't accept barrels for the range/field models, and vicey-versey. That probably would have swayed my decision if I'd known, but the sales kid said that they were all interchangeable. He'd also said it was 8+1 with 2.75" shells, when it's actually 7+1...that makes me a bit put out with the sales kid. But it's still a good solid gun, and I can't imagine ever being in a situation where that one extra shot would make any sort of difference. The barrel thing is a bit more aggravating.

Anyway, no way I'm driving back down to OR just to tell the kid he misinformed me. Thanks for the help choosing, btw; I found out which ones to look at by poking around in this very shotgun forum!