They also have a well known and documented history of breaking parts which are no longer available. Be glad you got lucky.

 

It would probably be helpful to those interested to have a list of the well known problems? Instead of just saying they have a well known and documented history of breaking parts. I started this thread so we might have a fun and, interesting subject to discuss, good or bad about the guns. But do some research if you don't know what fatal problems they had, and share it. That would be interesting too, but not its a "pos" type post.

The og 1400 from the 60-70's had a plastic part in the receiver that would crack and cause the gun to malfunction. This is about the newer 1400 a much later gun, I have had 20 + years of good service from mine and there are many many examples all over the net of others that have too.

I would like this to be a nice thread about a gun that was made in the past, that actually when it came out was supposed to compete with the 1100 rem at the time in the 60's. The og 1400 fell on its face in that time frame with problems, and even though Winchester improved and fixed the guns over time Winchester 1400 never recovered in the public's eye. Thats about all the history I know of the shotgun. Other than my personal history with them.

I'm not trying to compare or say anything is better than whatever, only wanted to point out an interesting shotgun from the past I happen to own. Reality not even the 1100 back then functioned perfect, all semi's were not that reliable.

In some time I would like to spotlight a few other (what I think are interesting shotguns) Like my moss 5500mk2 next. Want to talk about issue's I can do three pages on that one, yet mine is fully functional and kind of unique when you guys see the pix of it.

If any of you think this might not be intersting or fun say so, I wont waiste my time with it. No big deal
Mike

 

seems I made a mistake, but didn't think anyone was going to run out and buy one today. The mk2 Is my 5500 Mossberg, although win made a mk2 1400, the newer guns like mine are just 1400's, kind of confusing cause the og win 1400 has the same name (1400) serial number starts with a "N" would be newer guns with changeable choke tubes. Sorry about that, Ill edit my og post
Mike

 

heres the 20 gauge, nice wood.

 

I had a Winchester 1400 back in the 70's. I think the bean counters were running Winchester back then, their stuff was made really cheap. Butt stock had some sap wood on it, forearm was green wood and split when it dried out, metal work was rough and there were plastic parts. I couldn't recommend that anyone gamble much on one. There are some inexpensive guns that are of reasonable quality, but many just don't hold up. They sell based on low price alone, but something of quality just can't be made as cheaply as something where quality wasn't a concern.

 

Yeah the first ones from what I have read were just blown away by the 1100 as far as reliability. These newer ones like mine above, show nice workmanship and the only plastic in the gun is the bolt release. But not wanted by any serious collectors. That alone makes it kinda special because there is no premium collector price added to them. None the less I think it's an interesting gun and there were plenty of people who swore by them over the 1100 back in the old days.

The other thing is it's a bit of a process to strip it down and clean it, not overly hard, but it has a few extra steps to do it. Ohh on edit the other quirk of these guns, sometimes the feed ramp would catch above the follower tip thats in the mag tube..and (that follower is plastic too) rare but it does happen.

Farmer haven't read much from you lately, hope everything's ok?
Mike

 

While not the exact same as the 1400 I had a Ted Williams Sears M300 back in the 80's that never skipped a beat. It was stolen when my apartment was broken into years ago. I was recently at a gun show and came across one that was in pristine condition for $275 so picked it up and haven't had a problem with it so far for the couple hundred rounds put through it at the local trap range.

Really enjoy this gun for what it is. Recently bought a full choke ribbed barrel for it and re-blued it that turned out great. Original barrel was same as my old gun, modified plain barrel so now I have two for it.

 

Brew I think you would be a good example of how these guns end up in our lives. I would think those that owned and lost or sold, or had stolen already have a fondness for them. In my case 25 years of ownership and no breakage, that's reliable, and I'm really fond of them, although I'm aware that I do not shoot these guns 10,000 rounds a year. They just round out a nice collection of fun shotguns I like. I think from your post I will drag out the SXS black powder 12 gauge for the next review.

A gun show, 275 bucks and all the joy you get from it, is priceless.
Mike

 

Last Thursday night at the gun club some FFA trap shooter's mother called me over to inspect her son's Winchester Model 1400 Mark II 12 gauge that the fore end was slipping forward on.

We managed to get the fore end off, and the gun is designed so that the fore end is only retained from slipping forwards by means of a ridge cut into the wood. The ridge had been pounded by the recoil against the steel barrel hanger to where the wood had broken away, and the gun needed another fore end,,,,,,,,which will do exactly the same thing as the old fore end in a few thousand shots.

The 1200/1400 series Winchester guns have several internal parts made of plastic that work very well as long as they work, but then break and leave the shooter without a gun. The guns were very attractive, well balanced, superbly engineered, safe, great handling shotguns,,,,that are not worth the $150 to $200 you see them on the shelves of the pawn shop gun racks listed for sale.

They are going to break down much quicker than any other popular brand of shotgun. When they do the cause will always be because of some penny pinching economy made by Winchester to manufacture the gun as cheaply as possible and yet the thing still work for a few thousand shots.

That FFA kid was "borrowing" his grandfather's shotgun. In the last six months time he's shot the gun about a thousand shots, and now it's broken down on him a week before the State finals. If they can find another fore end, or some clever gunsmith who can fiberglass in a temporary fix on the old one, the kid can shoot, otherwise he's going to have to borrow a shotgun that can go bang 100 shots in a row.

Winchester deserved every bit of the bad reputation it got by saving maybe five dollars a gun installing cheap parts and taking shortcuts in making up those guns.

Stay away from them. Some of them might shoot ten thousand shots, but most won't.

 

I found several stocks and some just fore ends on ebay about a month ago.

 

Jeez super that gun was used by his grandfather, probably his Dad, now down to the grandson. Now it's called into duty for competition shooting. That gun is between 42 and 46 years old, and who knows how many rounds through it.

I read what you said, I felt really bad for the kid, I even went and took my forearm off mine and saw what you are talking about. There shouldn't be any hammering on that wood unless the barrel nut is loose. all the force is on the barrel and receiver, the woods is along for the ride. It's a tight fit but the forearm does not buffer the barrel loop. You can actually shoot this gun without the forearm on it (not recomended you will cut your hands up) The barrel screws down tight where its suposed to, the nut puts all the force on the barrel loop.

That said I really don't want to get into dispelling myths or problems, I never said it was the best shotgun ever made, but come on we have to see some of the obvious here, the shotgun in a family for at least 3 generations, its 42-46 years old and is being used for competition trap then it breaks, and could have been caused by the barrel nut not being tightened enough.

I wouldn't say anything to counter what you said except you wanted to make a point that this gun will break and break no matter how many times you fix it, as well as state the 150.00 -200.00 bucks you see these in pawn shops, is not worth the money, and stay away from them. The win 1400 mk2 was the second generation, the 1400 was the first, and mine the new 1400 the third, the only plastic in my guns is the mag follower plug ( it feels like metal to me, but I dont want to be acused of misleading, so we will call it plastic) and the bolt release.

Sorry about the mislead in the title, I couldnt change it.

So here,
I'm sure the kid could get next day delivery if it's that important to use the 1400, this is what the gun should have been converted to, to use in competition in the first place. As well as should have a backup gun. I don't go shoot or hunt anywhere without a few shotguns. Come on you made me feel like it was the end of the world for this kid, and it was the shotguns fault.....
Scroll down to the plastc stocks no2 Is what he will need, 95 bucks, they also sell the wood stocks and fore arms. I would call them and make sure its the right parts
http://www.gun-parts.com/winchesterstocks/

 

A few years ago , some friends and myself were down at the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot. While walking the tables , my friend scored a pristine 1400 mkII for $ 100. This thing was mint. I asked him what he was going to do with it , knowing he wasn't a hunter. He cut the barrel down to 18 1/2" and rattle canned it flat black. I almost threw up in my mouth..... Fast forward to about 2 years ago..... I was given the opportunity to buy an early original 1400 from 1964. It wasn't mint , but a good solid 90%. For $ 200 I figured why not. I haven't been disappointed by it. I don't run 1,000's of shells thru it , but it will cycle just about anything I shoot. +1 on the previous posters comments about keeping it clean. If mine is freshly cleaned and oiled , it will cycle Win low noise low recoil loads reliably. But if it's a little dirty , it will not. It's a 26" IC barrel and works great for quail and pheasant and rabbits. I also have a 1500XTR that has a Winchoke barrel. Despite the misgivings I have read about these guns , I have never had any problems with either one of these. That being said , I am vigilant about keeping them clean after every outing. I'll try to get some pics of the two.

 

Like to see the pix's. I got sick reading what your friend did. Unless a shotgun actually blows up all the time, part of the fun with these kinds of guns is making them better, fixing them up, and having some shooting fun. In fact my nephew has my 12 gauge 1400 right now, that's why I didn't include a pix of it. He has used that gun hunting with me for years, loves the plastic stock and the 24 inch barrel, now that I think of it I better get it back, don't want to break up the two gun set, probably worth ohhhh 300 bucks :lol:

Wait till I post about the Mossberg 5500, and what I have done to it to make it better. Talk about plastic parts.....even the safety parts were made of plastic.
Mike

 

I suspect that the kid shot the 1400 more in the six months he's been on an FFA trap team than it had ever shot in all it's life, because it looked very minty. That makes sense that the kid left the magazine nut loose. I've never seen that particular problem with one before.

I've owned several of the 1200's and 1400's, every one of them looking like they were brand new, and I must say that so long as they work they are nice handling, good looking shotguns. The 1400 is an especially easy recoiling shotgun.

But I've been in so many gunshops where the gunsmith has showed me this or that busted plastic part on one, then had to take the serial numbers to try and find a part, that I've sold all mine and I don't want to take a chance on them.

If you have one just to have a cheap shotgun you don't care about much, they would be just the thing. For high volume use, forget about those.

 

I bought a 12 ga Winchester 1400 new from the Navy Exchange over in Japan back in the '70's. For years before I got corrupted by SXS's, it was my only shotgun. Didn't fit me worth a darn, but that was OK because I aimed it instead of pointing it anyway. Never failed to go bang and feed the next shell it's entire life. After going to properly fitted double guns for all my upland hunting, I fitted the 1400 with a B-Square saddle mount, a red dot sight, wrapped the sucker in camo tape and killed a bunch of turkeys with it. It is still setting in my safe, ready for duty.

There is a Winchester 1400 somewhere under all that tape.

 

Rifle great post and pix, we must have walked some of the same roads in life(navy 70's, 16 gauge SxS , good faithful dog).

Super got a story for you. working a clients pup on pigeons the deal with the client I work his dog, When the dog found the bird, I would release the trap remotely He would be in place behind the point at the time. Long story short, the client couldn't hit a bald eagle at 30 feet. I had my trusty 20 in the pix for a back up cause we needed the birds shot at this point so the dog would retrieve.

It was at Prado dog training park on a weekend lots of people there. Well dog found the planted trapped bird, went on point, owner came up on his dog, then I released the bird. Boom, boom, boom missed all three times, I dropped the remote, shouldered my 20 and fired once cause that bird was in the next county by then, a good 60 or more yards. That bird went down dead.

two guys yelled out to me and said that was a hell of a shot, I just shrugged it off like I make them all the time.

Thats was the luckiest shot I ever made in my life. The guys came over when we were breaking and wanted to know what shot? 7.5, what kind of gun? win 1400 20 gauge 24 inch barrel, What choke? I/C I told them I have never hit anything that far out like that before, but they were convinced it was the gun. Bet they ran out and bought one, used of course cause win stopped making them at the time.

You see for me all guns I have, over time have a special meaning to me, Even that nasty *** single shot 5 pound 10 gauge I have, no one can, or wants to shoot any more than two shells from it, most one and never touch it again.

That's why I wanted to start this thread I know there are people that owned them like rifle, brew, one, and even you that has a story behind their guns. I like to read them a lot.
Mike

 

My Dad had one when I was younger, a 20 gauge with the Winchoke tubes. It was a pretty good looking gun and he bought it brand new. Dad didn't shoot clays and the only action it saw was a few outings for dove season every year. We never missed opening day so my teacher's didn't find me in class on September 1st! Although it was pretty, it seldom went bang three times in a row without jamming. He would take it home and clean, clean, clean and strike out again hoping it would work. For about three or four years he went through the same routine only to be disappointed and finally sold it to a man who was still willing to buy it after Dad told him about all of the problems he had with it.

He bought a 870 wingmaster magnum after that (he still has it) and I laughed pretty hard for the first two years seeing him pull the trigger once, bang, pull trigger again, no bang, finally remembering to pump, etc.

Chris

 

If they just hadn't called the first pumps a "Model 1200" and replaced the Model 12 with them, and if Winchester had just spent a miserly few dollars to make some parts out of at least stamped steel or even pot metal instead of plastic, I think the Model 1200/1400 series wouldn't have given Winchester such a black eye.

Model 12's break, too. They go out of time, they droop their bolts, their magazine releases wear, and Model 12's have their share of problems. But a Model 12 is righteous unto the Lord, made with 2,700 separate inspections in the Winchester New Haven plant. They had no plastic or pot metal or aluminum and every tiny part was as well made as it could have been in 1912.

Nobody ever got mad at Remington for making millions of guns with punch pressed parts, aluminum trigger guards, and spray on poly finishes with pressed checkering. But then again, a Model 31 wasn't ever a Model 12, and the Model 870 wasn't named a Model 3100. And the 870 had the supreme advantage of having all the mousetrap looking parts inside actually working for a lifetime of hard wear.

What might have been, you know?

 

Yeah It wouldn't have killed Winchester to keep the model 12 for ever in their lineup. Like rem does with the 870, or moss 500.

I think if Winchester hit the 1400 out of the park in quality department that they would not have been able to compete either with the 1100. Even the A5 that was long in tooth at the time and wouldn't have been able to out shine them as far as price at the time.

They made mistakes, They counted on their rep for sales and tried to bring out lesser made guns than what they were known for. They paid dearly for that. But the up side of it, is the 1400 is still an ok gun, but it looks like the only ones that seem to last and people love them are from the people that took really good care of them. If I had to guess and it's a long shot, but good ole WD-40 may be part of the problem with the early 1400 plastic problem.

WD-40 was advertised as a great gun lube and water displacement for guns long ago, many many people used it especially on autos that were a bit sticky.
WD-40 and plastic, or rubber for that matter don't get along at all.

I did some research some last night, the plastic parts that went south were a two piece reducer. They are not available on any parts site I went to last night, Buttttttt, ebay sellers have them for around 20 bucks. So almost all the parts for the 1400 are available. I also found out the firing pin that is held in place by the massive bolt handle plate would sometimes get loose and once tried to fire that way would break the pin. The firing pins are readily available and there is a fix for the plate. Some of the Winchester 1400 models already have the fix from the factory.

But I think if it wasn't for the bad rep, these guns would cost used today around 6-9 hundred bucks, not 150 or so. If I run across a early 1400 cheap I might buy it to play around with it and may be come up with some homemade fix. Part of the fun. Ohh another thing nice about the 1400 is the choke is interchangeable with the Mossberg chokes.
Mike

 

Winchester, remember, was actually minting money in the 1960's and even on into the 1970's.

They sold a ton of those Model 1200's and Model 1400's and cheapened Model 94's and Model 70's and all those pot metal Winchester 190 type .22 rifles.

Where Winchester got into trouble was, ironically, trying to put quality back into the line in the 1970's. The Y Model 12's did not sell well. The Super X Model Ones, the finest automatic Winchester ever made and probably the finest gas operated semi auto ever made or that ever will be made, was a catastrophic sales disaster that cost Winchester over 20 million 1970's dollars worth four or five times more than our dollars today.

Remington did something right, where Winchester did it wrong.

And Beretta came in and did something more right than either company.

 

Yeah, Beretta wrangled a US military contract in the name of Better NATO relations. The gravy train to the stars.

 

Yeah super I remember wanting to get a semi in the 90's bought these 1400's worked till they got dirty, I got frustrated bought a 390. Later I was able to learn and deal with the 1400 and they have been great since. But still Beretta did make a hell of an auto at the time. I'm still a SxS -O/U guy but I do like the auto's

I just welded the action bar on my 5500 moss today, can't find a new one, so welded and grinded most of the day seems to be ok, we will see when I shoot it. I guess I'll put that one up for review next thread.
Mike
.

 

Only know of two people that had a 1400........................and both broke!
Say what you will about the 1200/1300 pump version.....................at least they worked good for the most part. :mrgreen:

 

mk2 1400 is one of the attractive gun and perfect to do hunting. My grand father also have one mk2 1400. In early day many hunters uses this rifle. I think today its around $ 700 to 900.

 

Huh?