Winchester Model 12, Ducks Unlimited
Official wording
Winchester, Model 12, "Ducks Unlimited" shotgun, bearing S/Ns DU-001 through DU-800 (Commemorative).
What this entry requires
- ATF REQUIRESYour firearm is this edition: “(Commemorative)”
- ATF REQUIRESYour serial number is one ATF listsATF: “bearing S/Ns DU-001 through DU-800 (Commemorative)”
- INFOATF states no date; production was about 1975.
Editorial facts · Our research
- Country
United StatesBasis: no citation - Manufacturer
- Winchester-Western Div., Olin Corp.Basis: outside reference ³
- Type
- ShotgunBasis: the ATF wording
- Action
- OtherBasis: no citation
- Caliber
- 12 gaugeBasis: outside reference ²
- Made
- c. 1975production; ATF states no dateBasis: outside reference ¹
- Service
- Commercial
Source
- Official wording
- ATF P 5300.11, April 2025 edition · Section II · PDF p. 19 ↗ · ATF original ↗
- Entries
- 1 line
- Verbatim check
- Checked against the PDF text before every release
- Editorial facts
- Confidence: Medium · Last revised 17 October 2026 (Data-trust review) · How we rate confidence
- References
- 1. outdoorlife.com ↗, years: DU went with the Winchester Model 12 in 1975; 12-gauge, 30-inch full-choke barrel
- 2. outdoorlife.com ↗, calibers: 12-gauge, 2¾-inch
- 3. Wikipedia, “Winchester Repeating Arms Company” ↗, maker: “In December 1980, the New Haven plant was sold to its employees” and “incorporated as the U.S. Repeating Arms Company”, “granted a license to make Winchester arms”; Olin made Winchester arms until then; made 1975, before the sale: Olin era.
- Fact tags
- ATF the ATF wording states it.
- REF ¹ an outside reference supports it; the number points to the list of references.
- ESTIMATE an approximate or indirect reading, for example the production range of the base model.
- NO CITATION we haven’t attached a reference for this fact; it’s our editorial reading, not ATF’s.
- Source checked
- 20 October 2026: ATF’s page still lists the April 2025 edition
- Corrections
- 2 changes · see below
Correction history
- Data-trust reviewEditorial confidence: Low → Medium. Re-rated after supporting references were added or re-checked.
- Data-trust reviewYears: 1972–1979 → 1975. Outdoor Life: Ducks Unlimited chose the Model 12 in 1975
Historical context
Image: Wikimedia Commons, “Winchester Model 1912.JPG” by Yaf at en.wikipedia, Public domain. Retrieved October 2026.
Summary: Wikipedia, “Winchester Model 1912”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
The Winchester Model 1912, also commonly known as the Winchester 1912, Model 12, or M12, is an internal-hammer pump-action shotgun with an external tube magazine. Popularly named the Perfect Repeater at its introduction, it largely set the standard for pump-action shotguns over its 51-year high-rate production life. From August 1912 until first discontinued by Winchester in May 1964, nearly two million Model 12 shotguns were produced in various grades and barrel lengths. Initially chambered for 20 gauge only, the 12 and 16 gauge versions came out in 1913, and the 28 gauge version came out in 1934. A .410 version was never produced; instead, a scaled-down version of the Model 12 known as the Model 42, directly derived from scaled drawings of the Model 12, was produced in .410.