Favorite Firearms: A Recovered Winchester Model 12

by
posted on April 2, 2024
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
Winchester Model 12

My dad gave me a Winchester Model 12 Featherweight for Christmas in 1966. He had instructed gunnery in Harlingen, Texas, during World War II, and my grandfather had given him a Model 12 Skeet gun upon his assignment there. So, he felt I needed my own Model 12. It served me well shooting trap and hunting, and I began reloading 12-ga. ammunition for it.

In 1972, the family purchased a farm, and my gun was kept around all the time because there were all sorts of varmints, crows and starlings flying out of the barn. Dad said to think of them as Japanese Zeros. I graduated from college in 1974 and got a job offer in California in 1977. When that happened, things got exciting. The shotgun was kept in the shop that was attached to the downstairs two-car garage. I had to be in California in February 1978. As I was putting things together one day, I couldn’t find the Model 12. I asked family members if they had seen it, and no one knew where it was.

I flew back to Pennsylvania for Christmas of ’78, and one day, after visiting some friends, I stopped by the sheriff’s office and reported it stolen. I had no serial numbers, but I told the deputy of three unique marks on the gun. After I left the sheriff’s office, I went to the gun shop, since the owner, Mike, was a friend of mine. When I asked him if he had any Model 12s, he said there were three up on the wall. I walked back and saw a Featherweight just like mine and asked him to see it.

It was my gun!

His records showed who had brought it in, the state police were called and an arrest was made. The arrestee had picked up milk in the basement and, on the way out, had also taken the gun and put it in his vehicle.

—Thomas E. Hile

Latest

Making Keltec Pr57 1
Making Keltec Pr57 1

Making The KelTec PR57 In Wyoming

To make its PR57 handgun, KelTec invested in an entirely new manufacturing facility located in Rock Springs, Wyo. "American Rifleman Television" headed out for an inside look at the company's efficient production process.

Taurus 66 Combat: A New "Fighting Revolver"

First introduced in the 1970s, the Taurus 66 Combat is a medium-frame revolver that has seen several evolutions in its lifetime, and the latest update creates what the company considers "the final word in fighting revolvers."

Review: Taurus GX2

From cars to cellphones, as a product gets more sophisticated, it usually also gets more expensive. And, as modern handguns get more modular and optic-ready, their prices tend to go up.

Rifleman Q&A: A Garand Puzzlement

"We are a father-and-son NRA member tandem in search of an answer regarding the branding of an M1 Garand rifle. We own an M1 rifle that has markings indicating it was a “lend lease to England,” and it also has a .308 barrel/sleeve."

$160K Raised For HAVA At SIG Sauer Event

SIG Sauer hosted its 9th Annual Honored American Veterans Afield (HAVA) Charity Golf event early last month and raised more than $160,000 to support disabled veterans.

Scout The Trail To A General Purpose Rifle

The search for a universal longarm—one suitable for both hunting and defensive scenarios—is a trek that involves a bit of doubling back.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.