Winchester model 12 training gun, skeet gun or parts of parts?
I have a oddball model 12 military that I thought was and still might be a pieced together unit. It has front and rear sights. The rear sights are two pins about 3/8ths inch apart and the front is a ramp with a bb on it. The receiver is a very crudely machined model 12 marked U.S. with the flaming bomb on the right side. The safety 'off' button is odd shaped and about twice the size as the 'on' side. It has the take down barrel but where the corn cob attaches to the barrel reminds me of a model 25 set up. It has a sling mount on the buttstock.
A now deceased vet once told me that he thought it was an aerial training gun. He remembered driving a truck with men riding in the back of shooting at clays that were launched off a train car that they were driving along side of. They would have to shoot while bouncing along to try to simulate the real thing.
Any help in determining if this is an original or not would be much appreciated.
If this is the real deal I want to loan it to the local Airforce museum.
Winchester dates it as a 1947.
Greetings to all you military gun aficionados.
I have a couple of Enfields (No.4MKI, No.5 Jungle Carbine) and a Mauser Model 1935. I have many other guns that are either modern or older non-military ones. I've been shooting for over 50 years and reloading for more than 35 years.
Hope to learn something on this forum and maybe even contribute a thing or two.