A 1954 ad for the Winchester Model 12 Magnum Duck Gun. Prior to 1953, this gun was called “Heavy Duck Gun” and the very early models had 32 inch barrel. Although the $104 price tag may seem like a bargain today, in 1954 it was quite a sum of money.
Duck guns, or waterfowling guns, have been around since man took to shooting waterfowl with firearms. In the earlier days of duck hunting, there were even canon-like pieces that were called “punt guns” that were used by market hunters in this country and are still used for sport in England. However, this is about shotguns that are, or I should say were, normally used by average duck hunter who was out for sport.
When it comes to classic duck guns, they are normally seen as either doubles for those who prefer the two barreled guns or repeaters for those who either want more firepower or simply like repeaters for other reasons. Perhaps the most famous duck gun in American duck hunting literature is the much written about A.H. Fox that belonged to Nash Buckingham and went by the name of “Bo Whoop.” There were actually two “Bo Whoops.” The first one was lost after a duck hunt and a second one was made to replace the first. No one can deny the fact that a heavy double such as the Fox HE, the Super Fox, can make for a superb waterfowling gun. But, if a count was taken going back fifty years, it would show that the repeating shotgun is by far more popular as a waterfowling gun in America than a double. Some will argue that the repeater has advantages, such as easier loading in confined spaces of a duck blind, and of course, there is that third shot. Others will simply point at the fact that the repeater is less costly, and in the rough and tumble environment of waterfowling, no one wants to have an expensive gun damaged. Repeaters, as everyone knows, cost much less than even the less expensive double guns. I won’t go into the reasons or details as to why the repeater or the double is superior to the other. This is not about which action type is superior or preferable to the other. This is simply about a few “classic” repeaters as duck guns in the past and their possible use today.
A 1954 ad for the Winchester Model 12 Magnum Duck Gun. Prior to 1953, this gun was called “Heavy Duck Gun” and the very early models had 32 inch barrel. Although the $104 price tag may seem like a bargain today, in 1954 it was quite a sum of money.
In the past, the selection of waterfowling guns was not anywhere near that it is today. Yet, no one really felt handicapped or felt a need for more guns to choose from for their waterfowling. I suppose one could say that things were much simpler and although choices were not as wide and varied as they are today, no one really complained. I know I felt perfectly satisfied with the selection that was available to me.
Today, the range of specialized waterfowling guns is absolutely amazing compared to what was available even 20 years ago. The duck guns of today are superb pieces that for the most part employ synthetic stocks that are not only impervious to inclement weather conditions, but some that even soften recoil! The metal surfaces are covered with your choice of camouflage pattern or basic flat black that is also weather proof. In short, the guns are made so they are ideal for the conditions found in the water and mud typically encountered during a duck hunt. Additionally, the barrels have interchangeable choke devices that are ideally suited for different types of duck loads and can be switched from one to another. Ammunition, despite the complaints of some about the lack of range for some early steel shot loads, have improved to such a degree that one sometimes wonders just how far the technology will go in developing better duck busters. Over all, everything, from guns to clothing, calls, decoys, and even waders, are better made, better suited for waterfowling than the stuff that was available in the past.
Having said all that about the superiority of modern guns and equipment, there is still a certain amount of attraction and sense of satisfaction that one can derive from using guns and equipment of bygone era, like the older shotguns, or at least older style shotguns. Note the popularity of wooden carved or old style cork decoys that are used by some duck hunters. These same hunters will also insist on using shotguns that are more “traditional” both in appearance and in their configuration.
A Browning A-5 with a limit of Pintails.
I happened to be one of those who prefer to use older type of shotguns. I will be the first to admit that the modern waterfowling piece is superior both technologically and in application to the older guns that I use. Still, I like to shoot the older guns.
I have done as much waterfowling with a double gun as I have with a repeater. In fact, I have shot more ducks with an over under than any other type of gun. But that was out of necessity. For about a 20-year period, I did much of my waterfowling in foreign lands and had to reload all of my ammunition. I didn’t relish the idea of chasing empties that were ejected by a repeater so I used a double gun. However, earlier, before I started my globe trotting, I lived in California’s Sacramento Valley, in the heart of some of the best waterfowling found anywhere. At that time I used a repeater exclusively, a Browning Automatic A-5. It was a plain Light Twelve model, not a magnum, and it had a 28-inch barrel that was choked modified. I shot normal high velocity loads, not magnums, and never felt a need to use anything else. I shot an awful lot of ducks during that period. I also had two 3-inch magnum guns at the time, a Browning A-5 magnum and a Browning B-2000 3 inch magnum. I shot both guns sometimes at geese, but never at ducks. But even with geese, I shot most of them with the Light Twelve, only using bigger shot.
Among classic repeaters, there are some that are truly outstanding duck guns. The first gun that comes to mind is the Winchester Model 12 Magnum Duck version. This was a gun that Winchester billed as a specially built gun for waterfowling. It came with 3 inch chambering and initially offered only with 32-inch full choke barrel. Later the barrel length was shortened to 30 inches, but still only in full choke. Now there may have been some variations, there always are, but as a rule, it was a 30 or a 32-inch in full choke, nothing else. The normal Model 12 in 12 gauge weighed 71⁄2 pounds with a plain 28-inch barrel. With a 30 inch barrel the weight might be nudged up to 73⁄4 pounds. The Magnum Duck version was listed at 8 3⁄4 pounds and it balanced differently from the standard model and absorbed the heavier recoil of the magnum loads without a problem.
If you took off the recoil pad of the Magnum Duck gun, you would have found a piece of lead that weighed a pound, stuck in the cavity in the butt stock. This not only increased the weight and absorbed recoil better, but switched the balance point more to the rear, changing the feel of the gun from the standard version.
The Winchester Model 12 Magnum Duck gun was popular with some die-hard waterfowlers. But in reality, vast majority of duck hunters who used Model 12s simply shot the standard guns, mostly choked full! A wonderful pump gun, whether in its Magnum Duck or standard version, the Model 12 was probably found in more duck blinds than any other pump gun from the 1930s through the 1950s. The great Hollywood actor Clark Gable used a standard Model 12 for all his duck shooting, and he was an avid duck hunter who shot every season until his death in the early 1960s. Robert Taylor, another very popular movie star of that era also used a Model 12 standard grade for all his duck hunting. So, whether they were rich Hollywood movie stars or just plain old working stiffs like the majority of duck hunters, the Winchester Model 12 was a very popular duck gun.
A Browning A-5 was the ultimate autoloader for duck hunting in its day. It can still be used successfully with soft shot like Bismuth or by using harder steel Japanese made barrel. Another option is to have steel shot safe screw-in chokes installed.
During the same period when the Model 12 reigned supreme as the most popular pump gun, the Browning Automatic, the A-5, was the king of the hill when it came to autoloaders. The Browning along with its American made clone, the Remington Model 11 was extremely popular with duck hunters. The Remington was seen more often in the field than the Browning simply because the Remington was less expensive and more easily available than the imported, Belgian made Browning. The Remington, in fact, was very popular when it first appeared, with market hunters who used the autoloader with an extended magazine to increase firepower. So, when it came to popular repeaters in the duck blind, it was the Winchester Model 12 for pump guns and the Browning/Remington for autoloaders. That was the case from roughly around 1930s going into the 1960s.
Starting in the mid 1960s, things began to change. For one thing, the Winchester Model 12 was discontinued in 1964 and the other reason was the rise in popularity of the Remington Model 870. The 870’s popularity was so great through that period that it almost completely took over the pump gun arena by the 1970s. The 870 was the pump gun you got, if you wanted a pump gun, regardless of application. I’ve used the 870 for waterfowling going back to the 1950s when I was just a kid, and through the years have used it on and off. The 870s widespread use around the world never ceases to amaze me.
In the autoloading field, although the Browning A-5 continued to be popular in the duck blind (as mentioned earlier, I shot it extensively in the 1970s), the Remington Model 1100 really made some inroads. Not everyone liked or could get used to the so-called “double shuffle” effect of a long recoil autoloader in operation. The gas operated 1100 did not have that “double shuffle” and many who previously avoided autoloaders took to the Remington almost immediately. The Remingtons, both the 870 and the 1100 were available in 3-inch magnum versions. However, as with the Browning A-5s and the Winchester Model 12, the most common versions encountered in the duck marshes were the standard models, mostly choked full. Of course there were other autoloaders found in duck blinds. I had even encountered some hunters with the early imported Benellis. But by and large, the most common repeaters found in waterfowling arena in the 1970s were Remingtons and Brownings.
So, although there were certainly other pump guns and autoloaders used and commonly found in the hands of waterfowlers, the most often seen shotguns were the Winchester Model 12 pump gun and the Browning A-5/Remington Model 11 autoloaders among duck hunters. This was from about the 1930s through the 1940s and into the 1950s. However, with the disappearance of the Winchester Model 12 in 1964 and the appearance of the new Remington Model 1100, the scenery changed in the duck marshes. More and more duck hunters carried the Remington Model 870 pump gun, and if it was an autoloader, it was usually the Remington Model 1100. As I said, there were other guns of course, but the Model 12, the Browning A-5 and Remington Model 11, the Remington Models 870 and 1100 were the most commonly encountered shotguns in the hands of duck hunters until about 20 to 25 years ago. This began to change with the steel shot mandate that went into effect nationwide and with the appearance of newer, steel shot safe barreled guns.
Another classic Browning, this one is the Double Automatic “Twelvette” model. Although not everyone’s choice for waterfowling, like the A-5 it too can be used today with either soft shot or by having steel shot safe screw-in chokes installed.
Can any of these old timers still be used for waterfowling? Of course they can be, providing that they are in good mechanical order. First of all, you could shoot any of them without any problems with Bismuth or other softer than steel shot. However, since those none steel loads tend to be pricey, you could simply use a different barrel. In case of the Remington Model 870 or Model 1100, any barrel will do as long as it has a choke constriction of less than full. In case of the old Belgian Browning A-5, if you get a Japanese made barrel which is made of much harder steel than the old Belgian barrel, it would be steel shot safe. Unfortunately for the Winchester Model 12 and the old Remington Model 11, there are no substitute barrels that you can use with steel shot. However, if you are willing to have steel shot safe choke tubes installed, you could then shoot modern steel shot without any problems. Of course many owners of the old Winchester Model 12s or Remington Model 11s would shudder at the thought of ruining their old gun by having choke tubes installed. This is true especially with owners of Model 12s, since they are sought after much more in the collector’s field than the old Remington Model 11. But that is strictly a personal choice. In any case, if you really want to use your old “classic” repeater for duck hunting, you can. You just have to make some adjustments and spend some money, either using more expensive ammunition or getting another barrel or installing steel shot safe choke tubes.
I know of some old timers who shoot their Model 12s with open chokes using steel shot loads with seemingly no ill effects. I have a friend who shoots his old Belgian A-5 with steel shot regularly, but he had the choking opened to improved cylinder. He has been shooting steel shot in his old gun going on 20 seasons now and it seems to have withstood all the steel shot loads with no problem. But I certainly wouldn’t recommend it and personally shoot my A-5 with steel shot using a newer Japanese barrel made of harder steel. Those who shoot their old classics without any special modifications like changing to more modern barrels with harder steel or converting their old barrels to use special steel shot choke tubes, are risking ruining their old guns. The fact that some people that I mentioned haven’t had mishaps is no recommendation!
So, if you want to shoot your old classic in a duck blind like you did in the past, you still can. You just have to make some adjustments with another barrel, choke tubes, or use the more expensive Bismuth or Tungsten shot.