Crow Busters Forum

nhcrowshooter · Guru

Oldest guns in active crowbuster use

Hizzoner · Senior Member

Nhcrow,
Yup,I still prefer the old winchesters,my model 97's and model 12's!! smile

Gadget Bob · Guru

Hi NH,

Interesting topic... And you are the champ! My oldest gun that I have taken a crow with is a 1947 vintage Winchester M70 in .22 K-Hornet.

T-Matt and I did whack a few jack rabbits and prairie dogs with a 1898 date of manufacture Krag a couple of years back. My dad paid all of $45 for that rifle at Montgomery Wards in 1967 after I spied it on a gun department recon mission. He had it beautifully restored, so the collectors wouldn't want it. It is a great shooter for me and maybe a crow or two is in its future.

Warmed up on a handful of crows over this weedend (9 in total with 10 shots) with a 2009 built Maxus. What a great decrower, but you and your partners' Parkers are priceless!

Warm regards,

M12Shooter · Guru

This is a good thread! Shot 8 crows and one probable with 15 rounds this sunday afternoon. All with the oldest shotgun gun in my locker... M12 Winchester manufactured in 1929 according to its serial number. It's nickle steel, 30 inch solid ribbed, full choke...one of my favorites. Gun's tight as a drum, very smooth action and has a nice ring to it when fired.

My gun locker is graced with five other M12's in 12 and 16 gauge, all post war. My youngest was manufactured in 1963, a trap model which I shoot a round or two of trap each week for five months of the year.

Love shooting those vintage shotguns.

Ted

Hizzoner · Senior Member

Yo M12,
Another one of my favorites is an 03 springfield action buttoned to a FLAGG 22-Varmiter barrel built in 1960 with a custom roll-over stock, and I can tell you for sure I smoked a lot of wood chucks and crows with it and it is still my favorite varmit gun!

nhcrowshooter · Guru

I have to try to remember to bring my camera. This is the old ten bore with the first bird I shot with it last December.

I have had to do some work to get the ole girl back in action, she was off face and when I went to get the stock bent to better dimensions the smith found some internal cracking at the head of the stock. All better now. Next step is to have the checkering freshened up and then send the barrels out to be refinished.

Kinda of neat to be shooting birds with gun built when Grover Cleveland was President. The larger bore is amazingly more effective at long range clay pigeons using 1 1/8 loads compared to a 12ga.

-- Edited by nhcrowshooter on Monday 6th of September 2010 01:25:44 AM

watch em fall · Senior Member

now that is worth crowing about, I've shot alot or birds in the past with an old remington pump. It was my dad's,I can't remember model, but it looks like an ithica. Made in 1915 according to stamp on barrel. It is in gun safe at mom's house maybe I should break it out for another trip. If that gun could talk

.

-- Edited by watch em fall on Monday 6th of September 2010 01:51:09 AM

SHANEDOG · Guru

I know this wont compare to some of your shotguns but,I and my dad have a matching pair of Winchester Model 50's made in the fifties,both 30" barrels his is mod.and mine is full,the originial inertia drive!! smile They are excellant crow bang sticks!! biggrin

nhcrowshooter · Guru

watch em fall wrote:

now that is worth crowing about, I've shot alot or birds in the past with an old remington pump. It was my dad's,I can't remember model, but it looks like and ithica. Made in 1915 according to stamp on barrel. It is in gun safe at mom's house maybe I should break it out for another trip. If that gun could talk.

Yes you should!!! Remington made a model 17 pump 20ga designed by John Browning with a bottom feeding and ejection port. I have one with a 26" IC barrel, very light gun. Anyway Remington sold the rights to Ithaca and it became the Ithaca 37. If the old Remmy is a 12ga it is probably a model 10. If it was my dads gun it would be in use. A family gun is a fantastic treasure, your fortunate.

watch em fall · Senior Member

That sounds like the gun, bottom feed and eject and it is actually a 20 gauge with a polychoke on the end. I'll check the model# next time I'm at mom's and post it.

nhcrowshooter · Guru

watch em fall wrote:

That sounds like the gun, bottom feed and eject and it is actually a 20 gauge with a polychoke on the end. I'll check the model# next time I'm at mom's and post it.

Watchem, you'll find a model 17 a joy to carry and it is one of the smoothest slide action guns to operate. The forend moves like it has ball bearings on mine. Again if it was my father's gun I would be using it to feel connected to him.

Hizzoner · Senior Member

Shaneo,
I have 5 50's all the way from imroved cyl,mod,skeet 1 and full chokes.Model was my first gun

M12Shooter · Guru

My favorite M12 16 gauge with some of the morning bag. I have likely shot a thousand crows with this gun alone. Sadly no decent reasonably priced ammo availabe for this gauge anymore

Ted

Lone Star Phil · Senior Member

NH:

Good for you! That is some old steel and I'm happy you're out exercising those tools.

I'm probably guilty of bringing the average IQ on this thread down a notch when I tell you that I shoot a reproduction of a Model 97 on non-metro barrel crow shoots and any other shotgun shooting. Had it out this morning on mourning dove and some hapless rock doves.

nhcrowshooter · Guru

Lone Star Phil wrote:

NH:

Good for you! That is some old steel and I'm happy you're out exercising those tools.

I'm probably guilty of bringing the average IQ on this thread down a notch when I tell you that I shoot a reproduction of a Model 97 on non-metro barrel crow shoots and any other shotgun shooting. Had it out this morning on mourning dove and some hapless rock doves.

Nothing wrong with that at all. I believe you shoot what you can afford and when you can afford better you shoot what you want. Old doubles appeal to me. They can be a lot of fun but they are not everyone's cup of tea. I like holding and shooting an old double, it is essentially a time traveler. The barrels of my 10 bore have some light external pitting from the muzzle and back about 5 inches. This no doubt happened early in it's life from firing black powder shells. Imagine being there in the 1890's, guns booming with heavy loads of FFg, smoke bellowing and geese dropping. The shooters taking their prize home in a horse drawn wagon. Shooting this gun today connects me to those bygone days.

-- Edited by nhcrowshooter on Tuesday 7th of September 2010 02:09:53 AM

Hizzoner · Senior Member

M12,
field stock/plain barrel="SWEET"

Lone Star Phil · Senior Member

NH:

Found this pic of someone I know exercising my Model 97 Stumpy ejecting.jpg

repro with some all-brass shells on a sporting clay course! Just because it's old doesn't mean it can't do the job!

M12Shooter · Guru

Hizzoner wrote:

M12,
field stock/plain barrel="SWEET"

Bought that 16 years ago at an estate sale for 200 bucks I believe. Guy purchased it for his wife who used it exactly twice biggrin

Ted

nhcrowshooter · Guru

Lone Star did you know the Germans tried to get the Model '97 Winchester shotgun banned from use by the USMC in WWI claiming it was an inhumane weapon.

-- Edited by nhcrowshooter on Tuesday 7th of September 2010 11:00:34 PM

Lone Star Phil · Senior Member

NH:

Yes sir, I did know that. Sorry Kaiser, them's war guns.

Did you know that since that picture was taken, that gun has been parkerized (Gadget Bob insisted that the sun's reflection off the blued steel was scaring away crows - which it was), has choke tubes installed and has had an action job. Relatively heavy, practically ugly but I can hit things with it regularly

Shot some sporting clays last weekend and tried a couple of side by sides for the first time. Once I determined to ignore the barrels and use the bead to direct my aim, I found they are quick pointers, effective and fun to shoot!

M12Shooter · Guru

Browning Double Auto. One of my favorite crow guns, two barrel set light modified and full. Modified barrel has seen 90 percent of the shooting I have done with this classic. My wife likes it for trap...when she finds the time to accompany me to the range that is

Ted

Lone Star Phil · Senior Member

M12:

I have never seen that Browning model before.

The port on the left side of the receiver is for loading, right?

Why?

What's the "Double" refer to?

Why is it your 'go-to-gun' for decrowing operations?

M12Shooter · Guru

Lone Star Phil wrote:

M12:

I have never seen that Browning model before.

The port on the left side of the receiver is for loading, right?

Why?

What's the "Double" refer to?

Why is it your 'go-to-gun' for decrowing operations?

Phil, Browning double auto only hold two shots. Load from the left side when action is open and it will chamber the round. Second sits in the loading port on left side. Double autos were made from early 1950's and discontinued in 1972. Mine has a steel reciever, many were made with aluminum alloy recievers which came in several funky colors. Aluminum guns were called "Twelvettes"

Very fast shooting auto with light recoil. Nice for close in action and reloads in a second from the port side. I've shot thousands of crows with the gun pictured.

Ted

wingmaster · Senior Member

I see the 16ga metion ;) I do reload the 16ga and have fun doing it. The cost may be a little more than a 12 but it worth it. I reload just to bring it out to blow the dust of it :)

nhcrowshooter · Guru

How much does the Browning Twelvette weigh, I alway thought they would be light guns for a 12ga?

Reloading it is the way to go for 16's and 10's. I would imagine hulls and wads are harder to find and more expensive but if you like your gun and effective spending money on having fun is worth it.

-- Edited by nhcrowshooter on Friday 10th of September 2010 09:56:56 AM

shaddart · Guru

i shoot a 20 ga lefever nitro special sxs made in 1923. 28" barrels choked full & mod, one of my favorite shotguns