One of my first shotguns was a Remington Wingmaster 20 ga. which was back in 1959. Before that I had a Spanish made .410 single barrel shotgun that I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn door from inside the barn much less a dove in flight. My dad took pity on me and bought the Wingmaster for me. That was the difference between night and day. I could actually hit a dove now and then like the big boys even though I was only 9 years old at the time. I enjoyed that shotgun for several years until our house got broken into and it was stolen. It was like losing an old friend.
Well after that I was working at Dad's service station and the AC oil and air filter company had a catalog where prizes could be won with enough oil and air filter box tops. They had a Winchester Model 12 in the catalog but no Wingmasters so when I finally had enough box tops which took over 2 years of saving every AC filter box top that was sold at my dad's service station during that time. Finally the day came when I had enough box tops so I sent them in for the Model 12. Then I received the terrible news...Winchester had discontinued the model 12 one year earlier. I had to settle for a Winchester Model 1200. That was almost as bad as having my Wingmaster stolen.
Now years later I've owned a number of Remington 870s and Winchester Model 12s and life is good.
Speaking of model 12s, my favorite .22 rifle is a Remington Model 12 Pump .22 short, long & long rifle that I purchased back in 2008. I've always enjoyed shooting the old pump .22s at the shooting galleries at the county fairs in the old days.
They offered quite a few grades of the model 12 between 1909 to 1936 when they were discontinued. Mine is a standard grade 12A.
Grades Offered:
12A Standard Grade,
12B Gallery Special,
12C Target, 12C N.R.A. Target Grades.
(12CS, DS, ES, FS chambered for 22 Rem Special cartridges)
12D Peerless
12E Expert
12F Premier






