M12 Trench Gun Question

[GeorgeG]

A local shop has a WWII era WRA M12 trench gun for sale. The serial is 9629xx and it's parked, Cyl. marked and has an unmarked 4 x 19 hole heat shield. It appears to be a converted riot gun as it has the barrel ring just behind the bayonet adapter. There's a TE on the left butt stock, U.S. on the right receiver and flaming bombs on both receiver and barrel. The only odd thing is the forend, which appears to be beefier than the WWII type and has only 14 grooves. Condition is excellent, with little use after the rebuild. Assuming this is a legitimate conversion, does $1200 sound reasonable? I know unaltered trench guns are very pricey, but have no idea on re-works. Thanks for any opinions.

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[browningautorifle]

Can you get pics of this one? Hang on, there's a few here that can tell you for sure...

[GeorgeG]

Jim - all I had with me when I saw the gun was a flip phone which takes pretty poor pictures. I did take photos of the bayonet adapter and the forend, but probably won't be able to figure out how to get them from the phone to the computer. Let me see what I can do though. Thanks!

[browningautorifle]

If you can email them to yourself or me then they can get up here...see your PM for an email address... Can you swing by them and get pics today? Or soon? It would sure help most of us...some of the real experts don't need them though.

[GeorgeG]

Think I figured out how to post pics. Hope this helps.

[Tom Doniphon]

There was an order after WWII to convert riot guns to trench guns. This gun appears to be one of the converted guns. They used a sleeve on the barrel underneath the bayonet adaptor to make the adaptor fit correctly. Do you know if these gun has the sleeve or not?

[browningautorifle]

I figured out how

Yes you did George...good enough.

Do you know if these gun has the sleeve or not

You can see the sleeve behind the bayonet mount in the pic Tom...

[GeorgeG]

I had a close look at the muzzle end of the gun, but couldn't see any evidence of a sleeve there. Must be missing something! Does the forend look OK for a rebuild and do you think the price is in line? Thanks

[Tom Doniphon]

Jim, I can't see a sleeve there. I do see the band on the barrel for the takedown lever.

George, I've seen one other TE marked converted riot to trench gun that had the same type forend. Don't know whether it was put on the gun when it was converted or not.

[browningautorifle]

the takedown lever.

That's right, that's what it is...