AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
I've had dad's hunting shotgun, a Winchester Model 50 semiauto 12 gauge for around 15 years. I've never shot it since I got it because it wasn't working correctly, shells wouldn't load from the magazine tube and the action just felt sluggish when charging the bolt. I've been using his Charles Daly skeet gun lately and decided to see what was wrong with the Winchester. Dad never took a gun apart in his life. His cleaning procedure was to clean the barrel, wipe down the outside, then stick the straw of the WD-40 can into the action and give her a couple of squirts. A quick look at a YouTube video to get familiar and got after it. Wasn't surprised what I found but how bad it was is amazing. The gun was made in 1960 so I assume he bought it then so this is 65 years of no cleaning and WD-40 for who knows how long. Dad loved hunting birds and also shot trap and skeet quite a bit so it has a bunch of rounds out of it.
Not in terrible shape for a hunting gun that got used hard.
The trigger group. Yeah, time for a cleaning.
The bolt. No wonder it felt sluggish going into battery. The inside of the receiver looked the same along with the inertia rod and link and recoil spring that lives in the stock. I didn't get more pics because my gloves were a real mess and didn't want to take them off. Everything cleaned up and for as much use is has nothing looks very worn, some parts are polished up of course but it's a heavy duty design, no little parts to break. No plastic and the only aluminum is the spring tube and plug. Lubed everything that slides or pivots with Tri-Flow for now as I wanted to feel how the action cycles and locks up. I'll apply something a bit heavier later to the sliding parts. It loads shells out of the magazine with authority when you push the slide release and snaps into battery with a solid thunk. I think I'll take it to the skeet range and see if I can hit any clays with it. In dad's defense there was no YouTube to look at and there are a couple of steps you're have to puzzle out to get it apart and back together. Dad died in 2015 at 87 and I sure miss him. Handling this shotgun brought back some good memories. I never could convince him that WD-40 isn't a lube.
Not in terrible shape for a hunting gun that got used hard.
The trigger group. Yeah, time for a cleaning.
The bolt. No wonder it felt sluggish going into battery. The inside of the receiver looked the same along with the inertia rod and link and recoil spring that lives in the stock. I didn't get more pics because my gloves were a real mess and didn't want to take them off. Everything cleaned up and for as much use is has nothing looks very worn, some parts are polished up of course but it's a heavy duty design, no little parts to break. No plastic and the only aluminum is the spring tube and plug. Lubed everything that slides or pivots with Tri-Flow for now as I wanted to feel how the action cycles and locks up. I'll apply something a bit heavier later to the sliding parts. It loads shells out of the magazine with authority when you push the slide release and snaps into battery with a solid thunk. I think I'll take it to the skeet range and see if I can hit any clays with it. In dad's defense there was no YouTube to look at and there are a couple of steps you're have to puzzle out to get it apart and back together. Dad died in 2015 at 87 and I sure miss him. Handling this shotgun brought back some good memories. I never could convince him that WD-40 isn't a lube.
