winchester model 23

[jimh]

right before the old site went down i was picking bills brain on a winchester model 23 to see if it was a bargin price and what kind of quality firearm it was. i know nothing about side by sides and as it turns out i missed on this particular one anyway. i had heard of model 21's but the 23 was a new beast in my book. anyone else out there have one?? i'm thinking i may persue a sxs in the future but i can't afford to break the bank, heck even an affordable sxs is not goint to be cheap from what i can tell. i have time on my side but if anyone wants to share thier experiance with one of these shotguns or any other sxs to help educate me please feel free to enlighten me. by the way the reason i balked at first on the sxs i was asking bill about is it was noted as a "Custom" model('87 vintage) but the picture was of a very plain jane looking one which led me to believe it was a duck model. the custem model would have fetched 3500.00 or so from what i could find but this one could have been had for 1700.00. anyway by the time i did my little bit of research it was gone.

[bounce]

This is my opinion of Winchesters 21 & 23, The 21 is nice but the price is not at all. The 23 is just a good gun and so is the sevens 311, if your colecting winchesters fine, go for what seems to be a good buy. but if you wish to use it and enjoy it and realy like it you will find many others a much better purchass I belive!!

[jimh]

i'm not a collecter, i'm a shooter. would the 23 be a good shooter or is there as good or better out there cheaper? and if so what do i keep my eye out for?

[bounce]

jimh sorry I may have made a mistake when I answerd you be for, I talked with out checking or looking. when you said model 23 I was thinking of what is the model 24 I'm sorry. I see their is a model 23XTR and lots of models and grades also model23 Grand Canadian, 23 custom & 23 classic Don't think I have ever held one but they must be very nice looking at the price book. Me I would look for LC Smith or Ithica and others even parker some parkers can be very resionable when not in the colector class.

[jerry6stl]

I've owned and shot a 12 gauge Winchester Model 23 for the past 16 years. Mine has Win-Choke tubes and a rounded pistol grip.

A great gun, and I've had zero problems. Single selective trigger has been very reliable. Some would say it is a bit heavy, but not very. Came with a nice luggage type case.

I can break 22 or 23 at skeet with it; my limitation, not the gun's....it has taken many quail and pheasant, a few squirrels and rabbits, and three ducks.

I'd buy one again.

JERRY

[Bill]

The Winchester 21 was and always was a strictly custom shop gun. Never did get into mass production and from what I know, Winchester lost money on every gun they built. Probably one of the stongest built SXS's ever built. To prove this Winchester built a 21 with no top lever and their top factory skeet shooter shot this gun and all he did was let the gun drop open and reload and then hold it shut. The strength was due to the mechinical leverage from the long distance from the standing breech to the hinge pin. I think from what I can remember they copied this from the BSA of the late 1800's or very early 1900's
The model 24 is also a good strong gun but read this as strength by size rather than leverage. Butt ugly in a pretty sort of way and never did become something a shooter wanted but has become something that collectors buy moreso than shooters.
The Mod 23 in all its forms was built by the Olin Kredensia factory that Nikko and Winchester put together in Japan to build all the winchesters in. Its probably as good as an shhhhh American SXS gets although its made in Japan. Strong from great metal and well designed and made in the same factory as the Parker Repro winchesters were made and the inside parts of the parker repro are almost interchangable with the 23 win. They are all great guns and very sought after. I know of a 4 gun 4 gauge set for sell right now NIB for $20,000 and well worth it. The average Win 23 in 12 gauge will sell for around $2000 down but keeps going up in value. Like everything else in life, once shooters find out something is good they buy it and that keeps raising the value of them as numbers are limited.

[jimh]

bill, how is the parker repro designated? does it say parker or does it say winchester? and if it is winchester how do you know it is a parker repro? remember this is for an idiot like me that doesn't know what a parker looks like. hey donnie what is that fine looking sxs in the picture you posted on the old forum for the pheasant hunt uh wait a second here it is.

[donnie]

Jim
that is my Ugartachea grade 1, or model 30., That gun is a birds worst nightmare! It's a 12 bore that wieghs about 6.75# 2 3/4" chambers. You can order them through Lion country. It is a spanish gun designed in the tradition of English "best" guns. Very good quality and terrific handling characteristics! Talk to Bill or check Cabelas website also they occasionally have one in the gun library. www.LCSupply.com
$1295 in 12,16 or 20 bore, $1395 in 28 bore

[donnie]

Jim
doubleshotguns.com direct link to the guns

[Bill]

Oh don't worry about being able to tell a Parker Repro from a real one. You will know it when you see it. The Repro's are worth almost as much as an original Parker any more.
As far as that Ugaratachea Mod 30 of Donnie's goes it was one of mine that I sold to him to get him to quit whinning every time I took my gun out of its case. Caught him one day kicking dirt on his old Remmy after looking at my gun. That one was F/M and my other one was Skt1 and Skt2. I had taken it and had the chokes opened up to Mod/ IC which with modern ammo is a perfect upland game gun choking for a SXS. Those double triggers make choke selection as simple as changing triggers. The fireing pins on a Ugartachea are a bit on the soft side but I taught Donnie how to fix it in the feild so its not a great problem. Just more of an annoyance than anything else. The best thing to do is have them replaced with tool steel fireing pins.