A friend asked me if I could get an old Winchester 1911 shotgun working again. It was a family heirloom and hadn't worked in many decades.

This shotgun earned the name of "widowmaker" because of this...


The family bought a parts donor gun and I was to get the original back into working condition. The original was missing a trigger and the bolt arm that goes into the buttstock was shattered. The forearm was split as well. I also found a crack in the trigger housing, so I used the donor trigger housing.

I completely tore down the receiver bare, hit it with steel wool and used some cold gun blue to get some color back. The top receiver looked more worn that the receiver on the bottom when I started.




I had them order a new stock set from Macon Gun Stocks. The stock set was truly "in the rough"




I had A LOT of carving and sanding to do...






I left the stock much more beefy than the originals. New on the far left...






After much sanding, fitting and staining, she's all done...


It's got some really nice flame on the buttstock...










And here it is next to what it should have been designed as...


Here's why the 1911 falls way short of the Browning A5...


Thanks for looking.

Tony.

That's beautiful work, Tony.

Quite a project! Cutts Compensator, too.

Thanks! Just got back from testing it. It functioned flawlessly.

Tony.

Very nice! I like how it still looks like an antique, but a much better taken-care-of one now.

Very nice work!!

Jim

Nice work! Always love seeing your project threads, thanks for sharing! That stock looks like it took a lot of time and effort!

Thanks! It was a full day on the belt sander for contouring both the butt and the forearm. A little jigsaw action here and there to speed some things up as well.

I actually bedded the recoil absorbing points of the pistol grip area for even recoil distribution. I sealed the inside of the forearm wood with a heavy outdoor wood sealant as well. I also added and bedded an aluminum pillar for the grip screw that holds the metal to the pistol grip.

To be honest, I was really surprised I didn't have feeding issues or jams with it. It definitely has some major design problems, but it was a unique shotgun to work on and it's a nice conversation piece, especially paired with an Auto-5 next to it.

Tony.

That's some nice work benny. You have more patience than I. I tried making some walnut grips for my SAA a few years back and gave up after screwing them up several times.

I have to say though, who would ever think that that was a good design for a shotgun? You're either grabbing a hot barrel to eject/load or you're blowing your head off. I would like to have one though.

Nice work. Quality is always satisfying to observe. Well done.

Looks great benny

I nearly bought a early Browning called Double Auto. Its barrel would cycle the action by 1/2" rearward motion. It was only a 2 shot auto with no magazine tube. Pretty sweet old gun.

I was going to reply that Winchester did a shitty job copying Browning's long recoil A-5 with that, but you succinctly said that in the last picture. Glad you got the old girl up and running again, though. Wonderful work!

Thanks again! My friend initially simply said he had a couple of shotguns that "needed to be worked on." One was a Winchester 1300 pump with bent slide arms and slide supports. The 1911 was the other. When he initially pulled them out of his truck, I thought they were Browning A-5's. Then as I began to handle them, I realized they were failed copies of the A-5.

I had never heard of the Winchester 1911 until that day which began my research into the platform. It was an interesting and intriguing trip into firearm history.

Tony.

Amazing work

If only Winchester had not been so cheap to not pay John Browning the royalties he wanted on this one so he went to FN. they had to build their own turd and put in features to avoid parent infringements. Oops. I had seen one in a gun shop once we all played with it to see what a terrible loading design it is.