OT: Shotgun Help

carguy · Post by **carguy** » October 5th, 2007, 5:53 pm

My son owns a Winchester 1200 pump 12 ga shotgun. he bought it used and it is in great shape but he can only load it with 2 shells. The must be a plug that prevents any more than that and we cannot figure out how to remove it to either replace or adjust it.

Any knowledge of how to do this would be greatly appreciated.

Post by **normsutton** » October 5th, 2007, 6:33 pm

carguy

I think the lower tube unscrews
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/schema ... Model+1200+

NORM

reprisejim · Post by **reprisejim** » October 5th, 2007, 7:23 pm

You need to unscrew the cap which will allow the barrell to come off. Usually its a good idea (or a must) to have the gun in a "half-pump" position before doing this. Taking the barrell off will make the job a bit easier. You will most likely not be able to unsrew anything to get the spring and plug out (from the picture posted, the plug is the piece between 88 and 89) you will probably have to pry it out. Watch out as there is tension on the spring. Just put it back together without the plug and there you go.

I hope it works out as described.

carguy · Post by **carguy** » October 6th, 2007, 5:47 pm

I've played and played. The tube detailed as #93 is what I need to unscrew and can't seem to figure it out or just not strong emought to unscrew it if it does screw into the received.

I may take it to the club tomorrow morning and see if one of those "afficionados" can help.

Thanks anyways, and Norm thanks for the link.

reprisejim · Post by **reprisejim** » October 7th, 2007, 5:40 pm

After unscrewing the cap (86) you will need to take out piece (88). 88 keeps the spring in place. I suspect that 88 is friction fit and will just need a little persuasiveness to come out. You can usually get a hook into the hole in the top of 88 and pull it out. With 88 out the removal of the plug should be obvious. If you lived closer I'd take care of it for you!!

carguy · Post by **carguy** » October 7th, 2007, 8:20 pm

I can easily expose that cap over the plug (88) but was afraid to use too much pressure. I don't see how else it could be secured so I guess I'll try that one later. It was raining today so I did not get a chance to shoo trap and have the "gang" take a look at it.

Thanks for the advice. It isn't a big deal as we only shoot trap with it and no more that doubles (obviously) but my son just wants it to be able to hold a full compliment of shells if he wants to.

I'll keep you up to date.

donnerwetter58 · Post by **donnerwetter58** » October 7th, 2007, 9:38 pm

carguy,
The Winchester manual states a screwdriver is used to pry the magazine end cap from the magazine tube.
You can download the entire manual from Winchester's website.

barnett3006 · Post by **barnett3006** » October 7th, 2007, 10:20 pm

use a pair of needle nose pliers and a little more force than you think is necessary to pull part 88 out. It is made of spring steel and is fairly stiff. My Remington 870 is the same way, be careful though, when that retaining clip comes out the plug and spring are gonna go flying across the room.

reprisejim · Post by **reprisejim** » October 9th, 2007, 6:03 pm

Yah, don't be scared of using some force!! Just be patient as it will come out. Getting them back in usually isn't as much trouble. I just hope that as soon as you get the plug out your boy doesn't decide to go waterfowl hunting thus requiring you to throw it back in!!

carguy · Post by **carguy** » October 9th, 2007, 10:52 pm

Now that you all have given such sage advice my son says forget it..he doesn't want to "force" anything. He needs no more than 2 shells at a time so he is happy to leave it as is.

I am going to download the manual anyways.

Thanks for all the help...if I do pull it out on my own...can I cut the plug down (it appears to be made of wood) to allow for more or do I need a plg at all? Can I simply reinstall the spring under the retaining cap with no plug?

barnett3006 · Post by **barnett3006** » October 9th, 2007, 11:15 pm

you dont need the plug at all, removing it will increase magazine capacity to 4. The reason the plug is there is because of the Federal Waterfowl/Migratory Game Bird Hunting laws that say that you cannot hunt with a shotgun that has an ammo capacity of more than 3 rounds (1 chambered and 2 in the mag). So you don't need the plug in the gun as long as you are not hunting, if your just skeet shooting then you can leave the plug out and not reload as often. I wouldn't cut the plug, you may not be interested in bird hunting now but if you or your son decides to give it a try you will have to go through the hassle of finding a new plug to be legal.

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