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It is well known among the snobbier of shotgun enthusiasts that no repeating shotgun can handle as well as an over/under or a side-by-side. But there is one repeater that points like the Finger of Doom itself-"the Model 12 pump.
Introduced in 1914, the Model 12 lasted until 1976, when production costs drove it out of the Winchester lineup. It came in every shape and form-"from field models to riot guns to heavy waterfowl models-"and in all gauges, but it was as a competition gun that the Model 12 was perhaps most dominant.
For decade after decade, if you did not shoot trap and skeet with a Model 12, you were an odd fellow. The Model 12 seemed to lock on a target and stay there, and you could not wear it out. Serious shooters would put several hundred thousand rounds through their guns, have some minor rebuilding done, and repeat the process. I've handled one Model 12 trap gun that had had a million shells shucked through it, and it was in much better health than its owner.
And it shot fast. Well-broken-in Model 12s had a slickety-slack smoothness that let you shoot them as quickly as an auto. Winchester's great exhibition shooter Herb Parsons used to hold five clay targets in his left hand, throw them into the air, and break them all before they hit the ground, pumping his Model 12 faster than the eye could follow.
The Model 12 has faded now, overshadowed by more modern guns, but in its time it was the repeater-"indeed, the shotgun-"against which all others were measured.
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