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Early Winchester M12 Trench Gun Pics


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Here's an M12 trench gun that I've had for many years. It's in original unissued condition. The serial number is 9385xx, which is earlier than the observed serial number range in Canfield's book, US Combat Shotguns. The barrel date is very hard to see because of its location, but it appears to be 42. This fits as Guy Drewry (GHD) was the chief ordnance inspector for the Springfield Ordnance District from 17 June 1942 to 15 July 1945.

 

The gun has a blue finish as nice as any in Winchester's interwar period. It's a deep blue, not black.

 

I bought the gun from Surf City Guns in Huntington Beach, CA in about 1993. The seller stated that it came out of the Anniston Army Depot, but I have no way to document that. Wish I'd bought one of the M1897s offered too!

 

The pics are not of great quality, but here they are:

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Edited by TSMGguy
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A couple of things. Can't tell from the photos if the finish is original. There should be Winchester proof marks on top of the barrel and receiver as well as an ordnance bomb on top of the barrel. Are those there? And if they are, they should show burnishing around them if the finish is original.

 

It also looks like there is a takedown lever hole on the magazine tube. Model 12 trench guns don't have that takedown hole.

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Nice gun!! If it went thru the AAD it would be parked right? I see many trench M12s with the takedown holes in the mag tube. Were the M12 trench models specific made or a takedown model converted or both depending what Winchester had in stock.??

Tom D...why would the markings on the barrel be burnished if the finish is original? Wouldnt that mean it was buffed before refinishing ?

Edited by Petroleum 1
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M12 trench guns used the same take down magazine tube as the civilian guns, with alignment arrows. Instead of the take down mechanism, they had a simple plug, as seen here, but the hole remained.

 

You'd have to see the gun in person. There are things that can't be faked, like a Winchester commercial blued finish on a new gun.

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Anniston is also home to historic arms warehoused for the Center for Military History. We’re talking primo stuff here, some that was never issued or sent to foreign governments.

 

There was at least one individual who traded items needed for the 50th anniversary of WWII museum system displays with the Center for Military History for the release of weapons under a Title X transfer. This occurred in the early 1990s, possibly some as early as 1989. I was friends with this individual, who is now deceased unfortunately.

 

I had one of the M12 Trench guns (serial number 1010147) traded to this individual. It was absolutely beautiful, as is yours. I was provided a scan of the release paperwork when I purchased the gun and it listed the serial numbers several M12 Trench guns in the lot. I’ll post it if I can find it. I foolishly sold this trench gun to fund the purchase of an artillery piece. Ugh, would love to have it back.

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Thanks, P.W.Browning, would much appreciate a scan of your paper work. I had such an scan from Anniston, but it didn't list my serial. It was valuable in establishing that these guns had been sold off.

 

In the early 1990s, $3,500 was an awful lot to pay for a gun, especially for me, even for an unissued M12. I didn't even believe it was so, but I'd dealt with Surf City in the past and they were reputable. The plan was to return it if it wasn't as described. It was. Now, the price seems a bit of a bargain. It's been in the back row of my safe ever since.

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Nice gun!! If it went thru the AAD it would be parked right? I see many trench M12s with the takedown holes in the mag tube. Were the M12 trench models specific made or a takedown model converted or both depending what Winchester had in stock.??

Tom D...why would the markings on the barrel be burnished if the finish is original? Wouldnt that mean it was buffed before refinishing ?

The Model 12 trench gun mag tubes only have two holes in them for the plug screws. They do not have a hole for the takedown pin. Many military Model 12 riot and long barrel shotguns were converted after the War to trench gun configuration. These converted guns will have a parkerized finish, the mag tube usually has the extra holes for the takedown pin, and a sleeve installed at the muzzle end of the barrel to allow the bayonet adaptor to properly fit.

 

The Winchester proof marks as well as the ordnance bomb on top of the barrel were applied after finish. So the finish and metal around the marks gets displaced. That is what is meant by burnishing. I tried to attach a photo that shows this burnishing.post-261151-0-90197900-1601924941_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi TSMGguy,

 

Finally found the scan, and unfortunately your M12 wasn’t listed in this batch. There were others so it’s entirely possible your M12 was part of this release. .

 

thought you’d still like to see the paperwork.

 

The M12 Trench I formerly owned was the highlighted one, 1,010,147.

 

https://imgur.com/a/PeSW5qd?s=sms

 

Fascinating indeed! Thanks for posting this.

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