I had heard of it, but never actually seen one. No, I didn't buy it. This shotgun, instead of an action charging handle, has a knurled section of the barrel that you grasp and pull back on to chamber a round or clear a stoppage. (Good luck with that after you've fired a shot.) Since this requires a great deal of effort, sometimes users would brace the butt on the ground to cycle it, which leaves the gun in a position to blow their heads off. The shotgun had signage on it saying "Widowmaker" and that it would only be sold with a signed waiver.

Cool find, I've never seen one in person. Forgotten Weapons did a segment on them that was pretty interesting. What a horrible design.

Ah yes, the Widowmaker. What a lovely design...IIRC, Winchester designed it like that because John Browning had already patented a charging handle for the long recoil system for a competitor, and using the barrel directly to cock the gun was a way to get around that. Probably thought they were being pretty smart until the first fudd jammed the stock into the dirt, pushed down, and blew his head off !

It was in (at a casual glance) near-pristine condition. Maybe it was only used once?

I'm not sure what value this thing would have, unless for a Winchester collector who just has to have one of every model made, no matter how bad. Or just likes oddities. Getting to see unusual items like this are why I like going to gun shows.

A little about that shotgun. New to me.



.

^^^ Interesting to see how both work. The principle is the same, but the executions are quite different.

Winchester told JMB to kick rocks with his auto loading shotgun after buying dozens of patents the previous few decades. So he went to FN, that left Winchester behind the 8 ball and they came up with this loser design. File this one under Great executive decisions in history.

sold a couple a few years ago from a collection, not in great shape but not really a beater either,

they went cheap, most folks don't know what they are


incidently, the collection was maybe 2 hrs (or 3) east of the OP

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Cool find, I've never seen one in person. Forgotten Weapons did a segment on them that was pretty interesting. What a horrible design.

There's one at my local, I looked at it yesterday. $200. I'm... actually contemplating buying it just to have a total oddity you never really see.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Cool find, I've never seen one in person. Forgotten Weapons did a segment on them that was pretty interesting. What a horrible design.

There's one at my local, I looked at it yesterday. $200. I'm... actually contemplating buying it just to have a total oddity you never really see.

For $200 it's probably worth it just for the oddity alone. Plus you never know when you might need a loaner gun for somebody you really don't like !

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:


There's one at my local, I looked at it yesterday. $200. I'm... actually contemplating buying it just to have a total oddity you never really see.

Unless somebody posted something before yours and deleted it before I saw it, this is an old thread.

I restored one for a friend back in 2023.
https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...920053994#9920053994

^^^ [Mr. Spock impression] Fascinating. Me and wood do not get along.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Unless somebody posted something before yours and deleted it before I saw it, this is an old thread.

Indeed, old thread warning. I remembered replying and it felt recent. I didn't actually look at the date, but more than a year has gone by.

I'm still debating buying it. It's not in great shape, but I suppose that doesn't matter much. Everything seems to function correctly and nothing felt sloppy on it, but it could use some cosmetic care. It really is an odd and interesting piece of firearms history, and I'm on a Remington Model 11 kick this year, so it would be neat to pick up the Winchester attempt from the same time period.

Benny, that's an impressive restoration you did for your friend! I'm encouraged by your results. Both the Model 11 I'm hopefully picking up today and that Winchester 1911 I'm debating getting would need some kind of restoration. Well... maybe not "need" but could definitely benefit from.