Winchester M12 trench gun questions

[emmagee1917]

Riot and "sporting" bbls are tapered , trench bbls are not. Heatshield will not fit properly unless a sleeve is fitted to the bbl.
Chris

[rayg]

Bruce Canfield's book gives the serial numbers of WWII M12 Military shotguns as #939649-1035241.
Some gun sites give the wrong date info on the serial numbers but according to Canfield's numbers yours would be made probably in the early 1940-s and not post war, Ray

[Berwyn]

I found a heat shield for a Winchester 1200. They are different from a model 12. I had to ream the muzzle end of the shield so the barrel would slide thru. I put on a hard rubber butt plate and removed the wood filler and installed the proper butt swivel. I decided not to refinish it, leaving it with its 40% blue.

[browningautorifle]

Now you have a parts gun...but I imagine it works just fine.

[emmagee1917]

No , he took a heat shield that was a collectable item in it's own right , destroyed it , to produce something else that never was that now has no collector value.
Sad. His to do with as he will , but sad to me.
Chris

[browningautorifle]

All that done with just two posts...

[Berwyn]

All that done with just two posts...

Is it really that bad...
I started with a gun that had no collector value.
As far as the collector value of the heat shield, the guy I bought it from said these were produced in large numbers as replacement parts. My thought was, there are far more heat shields than trench guns needing heat shields, which would mean little demand. Also, the price I paid for it was not any more than what those cheaper reproductions go for. So how bad did I screw up. Are these things rarer than what I believe them to be? Sometimes you have to learn the hard way.

[emmagee1917]

I must admit , I overlooked the bit about it being a 1200 heatshield . I do not get into the later guns and thought you had taken an old original and reamed it out. A few days later , I said to myself , wait a minute , 12s and 97s are the same , and a riot or sporting bbl would be smaller , not larger . Soooo...I screwed up , my comments may not apply. If they don't apply , I apologize.
I do not know the value or availabillity of 1200 shields . If they are rare and valuable , yes , you blew it. If not , then , no , you didn't.
Looking back at this in 20 years or so , though , you may slap yourself for this .
Chris

[Berwyn]

The model 1200 heat shield has a lip at the end to stop the barrel from protruding through. I destroyed it by removing about a sixteenth of an inch of the inside of that lip to allow my damaged barrel to come through flush.
In twenty years I hope I will not be like that bitter bunch that sporterized all of those service rifles years ago and now are critical of others for doing far less. But, time will tell.

And I did all of this with just four posts...

[nhetzer]

Model 12's and 97's prior to 1942 had 6 row 29 hole heat shields. Guns after 1942 generally had 4 row 19 hole shields. Either would be correct. The 1200 heat shield would not.

Unfortunately, you are going to pay exponentially more for the heat shield than you did for the gun. Originals can run near (and over sometimes) the $1,000 mark. Go to eBay and type in "trench gun". There's a fella out of Georgia who makes repros that are pretty good. They ship in the white (no finish) so you can either blue it or parkerize it you like. He sells them (either configuration you like) for $175. Probably the best option for you.

As for the barrel, I'd hold off until you find a real one. Which I believe there is also one of on eBay right now. Good luck.

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