Winchester Model 50

H

Hardcase

New member
It just seemed a reasonable deal, but my experience with shotguns is limited to a pair of 1897s.

I just won a local auction for a Winchester Model 50 12 gauge with what looks like a Poly Choke. From the photos, it looks like it's in decent condition - the bluing is a little thin around the edges of the receiver. The wood looks good. From Proofhouse, I see that it's a 1961 gun. I paid $130.

So...did I do OK? I plan to use it instead of the '97s for once a week skeet or sporting clays. I figure that it's got to be better than a hundred year old pump gun with a full choke. Right?
 
You got a good buy in my estimation. The Model 50. Introduced in 1954 and discontinued seven short years later, it was a well made, nicely handling shotgun. Is yours the standard model (steel receiver) or the "Featherweight" model (alloy receiver)? Does it have a ventilated rib barrel or a plain barrel?
 
Standard model, plain barrel. I picked it up a couple of hours ago. There are some scratches on the receiver and a few scratches on the stock - the sort of things that you'd expect to see on a 50 year old gun that's been used, but it's honest wear, definitely not abuse. No rust, no dents, just a good old huntin' gun.

Here's a bad picture:

win_50.jpg


The poly choke isn't original - the barrel is marked as a Full choke, but just looking at the appearance of the lettering on the choke, I'd say that it's probably about as old as the gun itself.
 
Poly-Chokes (and Cutts Compensators) were pretty popular "after-market" add-ons before the advent of screw-in chokes ("Winchokes" were first introduced around 1969). Your Model 50 appears to have some decent figure in the walnut and looks pretty darn nice, I'd say. Certainly a steal for what you paid; imo, it's worth at least twice that and likely more.
The add-on recoil pad (at least, I'm pretty sure it is) doesn't help the value but then, neither does the Poly-Choke.
Do you plan on hunting with it? I sure would if it were mine. Ought to make for a nice handling upland gun and I love the classic Winchester looks (especially compared to some of the ugly, ponderous looking stuff on the market today).
 
I've got some kind of orange-scented wood cleaner sitting around the house that I use on oiled gunstocks. This one was soooo dry that it just sucked the stuff right up. It looks really pretty now.

No hunting for me - I shoot clays and that's what I'm going to do with this one. Sporting clays and skeet. It'll be a nice change from the 1897s :)

The recoil pad is an add-on. You're right about what it and the choke do to the collector value of the gun, but I was just looking for a shooter, so I think that this one is going to work out just fine. We're heading to the range to shoot skeet tonight.
 
Have fun but don't make those '97s jealouse-mine used to miss on purpose when I was courting other scattergirls...:)
 
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