Winchester Model 1912 shotgun

History, technical sheet and photo

Image : Winchester modèle 1912 - M12

Winchester Model 1912 shotgun history

Before the First World War, the US Army wanted to renovate the then-equipped Winchester Model 1897 rifle, designed by John Browning. It is engineer Thomas Crosley Johnson who looks at the subject and develops a new model that is particularly powerful, bearing the name Winchester Model 1912 (commonly called Model 12), and which takes up some specificities of its predecessor.

This rifle is offered for sale both in civilian hunting and police (Riot Guns model) as well as armies. 20,000 copies of the Model 12 Trench Gun (short cannon) were ordered by the US Army during the Great War: the cannons were then compatible with the M1917 bayonet. During the Second World War, 80,000 Winchester rifles were purchased and distributed to the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force. Its use is widespread in the Pacific where short-distance fighting multiplies.

The Winchester Model 12 was also used in 1950 during the Korean War and during the early years of the Vietnam War where it was gradually replaced by the Ithaca model.

Winchester Model 1912 shotgun specification

Creator/User: United States of America
Denomination: Model 12
Number built: 2,000,000

Caliber: 12 gauge
Feed system: 6-round tubular magazine

Weight: 3,6 kg
Barrel length: 100,3 mm