Any Help would be appreciated!

[Ghost]

I am new to this board. I wanted to say in advance I would appreciate any help given in the matter below. Thanks for your time and God Bless.

My Great-Grandfather, a WWII veteran and one of the greatest men I have ever met, passed away approx. 1 year ago. In his genius and maybe just old age, he left his possesions in a wildly chaotic state. And just within the last 2 weeks, I have located a somewhat hidden area of his home that had his dogtags and some newspapers from the 1940's very well-preserved inside. Also inside was a Winchester Model 12, 16GA shotgun, a jar of Seashells that had the word Normandy written on the side, and several other misc. items that have great sentimental value to me. I don't believe the shotgun was of the WWII era, but I don't know for sure. I was wondering if anyone on this board could point me in the direction of a resource where I could locate more info as to the Manufacture date and value of this type of shotgun. Thanks again in advance for any help given.

[WmRoy]

Wow........... that's great!

Off hand I don't know of a resource, but I'm sure it's out there.

As rushed as I am these day's, I'm going to leave it to one of the others to run that down.......

God Bless

[CoorsLightGuy]

Any chance that you could post some digital pics and or the serial number range? That might help us date it for you.

[rugerwheels]

The website below will give you a year of manufacture for your Winchester. A search on gunbroker.com and auctionarms.com should give you some info on current values.
http://oldguns.net/sn_php/winmods.htm

[Ghost]

Thanks guys, I found that my Winchester was manufactured in 1953 and had a value of roughly $600-$900. But I have one other issue. My gun has a ported barrel. I haven't found any online with the same customization. I am going to get a few pics and post them here in just a little bit to see if anyone hs any other suggestions.

[Ghost]

Here are the Pics.

[WmRoy]

Looks like a nice old gal!

Congrats!

[CoorsLightGuy]

I'm by no means an expert, but I don't think I've ever seen a shotgun with one of those on the end of it.

[Stan in SC]

Before the advent of screw in choke tubes the standard accessory to change chokes on a shotgun was a "Polychoke".That is what is on the shotgun you have.To change the constriction(choke) in the end of the barrel you turned this.Many of the Polychokes had a compensator integral with them.That is the model you have.It acts like a muzzle brake.

Stan

[CoorsLightGuy]

See? I told you I was no expert.

[WmRoy]

Before the advent of screw in choke tubes the standard accessory to change chokes on a shotgun was a "Polychoke".That is what is on the shotgun you have.To change the constriction(choke) in the end of the barrel you turned this.Many of the Polychokes had a compensator integral with them.That is the model you have.It acts like a muzzle brake.

Stan

One of my college pals had an old shotgun with a choke like yours. I never cared for them myself.......... ruined the lines of the gun in my eye.

[Ghost]

Well, I don't want to sound like an idiot, but Stan would you be able to point me in the direction of instructions on how to operate this Choke? I am happy to do th research myself, but I can't find anyone else who knows anything about it. I appreciate any pointers you can give.

[xpertgreg]

http://www.poly-choke.com/

gw

[oldtrojan66]

The website below will give you a year of manufacture for your Winchester. A search on gunbroker.com and auctionarms.com should give you some info on current values.
http://oldguns.net/sn_php/winmods.htm
Thanks for the reference rugerwheels! I was just looking for the same info and rather than post a question I was sure had already been asked, I looked in the forum list and found this thread. Again, thanks!:grinning-thumbsup:

[32 Magnum]

As Stan posted - also it is equipped with a "Cutts Compensator" - this set-up was non-factory, but a very common aftermarket add on to shotguns during that time frame - I don't believe I've seen a 16ga with that set-up, mostly 12 ga. pieces - very nice.