Just the other day I was looking around at one of the pawn shops in town, and I found a great looking shotgun, the Winchester 1300 Defender for a very low price ($250.00) so I decided to put it on layaway. As many of you may know, the Winchester factory in New Haven, Connecticut was closed in 2006 thus ending the production of Model 94 rifles, Winchester 1300 shotguns, and Model 70 rifles. I personally believe this was a very sad event because the factory had been making high quality American-made rifles and shotguns at this factory for over 100 years. I was fortunate enough to get a hold of a Winchester 94 44 magnum rifle a few years ago and now I will be adding a Winchester 1300 to that collection. Just a little bit of information you might find interesting, Winchester is now making their new model SXP Shotguns which are very high quality shotguns, but they are actually made in Turkey and come in a synthetic stock.
The Winchester 1300 Shotgun I plan to get is great looking, it has an all wood stock and wood forearm that look amazing. I like this shotgun so much because I feel it resembles the pump action shotgun from Resident Evil 1, it has a wood stock and a 7 or 8 shot capacity. This is quite a rare combination in this day in age, Mossberg makes 7 or 8 shot capacity shotguns only with a synthetic stock, and their shotguns with wood stocks have a low capacity. This shotgun is a 12 gauge and that means it is very powerful and has a huge assortment of ammunition that you can use, from buckshot, bird shot, slugs and even mini slugs! From what I have researched, many shotguns will not handle the mini slugs, but the Winchester 1300 handles them with ease, along with 2 3/4 and 3 inch shells, what more could you ask for. This particular shotgun has a bead front sight which is adequate for what a shotgun was designed for, short distances, although I believe I may be able to pull off 100 yard shots with a slug if I am able to practice enough. I plan to shoot a lot of birdshot, slugs, and a few rounds of buckshot when I take it to the range, I already can tell it is going to be a lot of fun to shoot, although I am unsure if my wife will be able to handle it since 12 gauge is a hard-hitting round. I am planning on possibly putting a side-saddle on this gun, and a sling for sure, but everything else will stay in tact, especially those wonderful looking wood stocks and forearms.
So anyways, before this shotgun came along, I was planning on getting a Remington 870 which is another great weapon, and possibly a Saiga Shotgun down the road, but the Winchester 1300 Defender is a great, classic looking gun, that is going to be awesome at the range or who knows, maybe even for blasting a couple of zombies, you never know.