I have an 1897 16 gauge with a poly choke, was my grandpa's, that I still take out on occasion. However, I would like to move from the stone age to maybe the bronze age and pick up a Model 12.
I've read the sticky and I believe I'm not violating the rules about gun values, if not, please let me know.
1. What a reasonable cost for a decent (read used but not abused) shooter Model 12? I'm not going to baby it, so it needs to have a few appearance issues already present so I don't put the first ding on it, but it also needs to be 100% functional.
2. Does a poly choke affect the value? Again, being a shooter, it doesn't bother me - I actually would prefer it, but the ones I've looked at it doesn't seem to matter if it's a straight choke, a Cutts, or a Poly on the end in regards to price.
3. How hard it is to plug the gun for migratory bird hunting?
4. Anything else I need to know about the model 12's?
I have a couple lined up to look at, one is a $900 20 gauge vent rib without a mark on it that's way too nice, but man, that thing just fits like a dream. My daughter shoots a custom fit Beretta 390 and she didn't want to put that model 12 back.
The 1897 is a trip. Nothing better than hunting with a new crew who all pull out SBE2's and I pull out a 100 year old veteran.
Model 12 questions
