Winchester 1300 defender

[Benzene]

The barrel is 18.5". It is the 8-shot, 12 gauge version. The kick is that of a mule. Any suggestions of how it could be tamed? Thanks.

[Slugthrower]

http://www.knoxxrecoilsolutions.com/products/CompStock.php

This is a good solution. There are many styles to fit your choices. Check one out you will not be disappointed.

[.351winchester]

I hear ya brother, I had the Marine Defender (bought for looks, by the time I got home, wasn't cool looking anymore). Now at that time riot/HD shotguns were my thing, enjoyed them. Would get the itch, grab the ol' chopped & channeled Mossberg and blow off my 50 rd. bandoleer of 3" mag Green Rem. 00 and red Win. slugs. Plinking in the woods, 50 rounds gone in minutes, fast as I could reload and pick out a stump. I did that often, couple times a week. With zero adverse effect, may has well have been a really loud .22. Got sick of pretending my sawed off duck gun was a combat shotgun and grabbed the Winchester. It did feel preety light when first handling it, but thought nothing of it.
Man, first shot the buttpad...well I thought of an axe blade biting into wood. Adjusted my cheek weld and braced hard but calmly. Guess what? It hammered me again. Also noted that the action unlocking yanked the forend back viciously. No big deal except the ribs in the corncob, no matter my adjusted grip, would find my pinkie and damn near rip it off. Finished off the tube and went in. Next morning, purple left shoulder. I am not one to whine about brutal recoil, and those were my 'bar parking lot punching bag' days; but that is my first and only distinct memory of the 1300. Been warning people for years. My thought was the buttpad was too narrow.
Picked up the Pachmayr rubber, finger grooved PG/checkered forearm set.
Took me a few months to change, as I had difficulty finding a screwdriver with a shaft long enough to reach the stock screw at the very bottom of the stock, plastic hollow shell really."
I got rid of it, trade in either on P-89 or $475. 8" Anaconda.
The thing was just to light. Low brass birdshot gave me a thud. I had thought the regular Defender with wood would have been manageable. I hear a lot in 500 vs. 870 reccomendations for the Winny.

Hell with that. Good luck with the Knoxx, never tried one but have never heard or read anything but satisfaction.
These days, controllability is what I look for (not to sacrifice practical effectiveness). I'd think nothing of getting a 1911 in 9mm and have developed an interest in the 20 gauge fighting shotguns. That's about fractions of a second in recovery time. Let alone a needlessly underweight boat gun that makes you understand how 'Kick' became a synonym for recoil.
Go to the gun shop for a little el switcheroo for a Nova Defense.

got to say I did like the little brass or gold bead (misshaped stub). Over the years has realized that for me that's the cream of the crop, it's quick simple and just right for the ranges intended. iMO.

[banditt007]

you could add wood to it if it fits....weighs more... or take off the butt 'pad' from the factory, and fill the stock with #7.5 -9shot (smaller shot fits in tighter for more weight when full) and that will tame it significatly also coupled with a good Xcoil recoil pad or limbsaver. finally a muzzle brake should help but i havent expereinced one yet so i cannot tell you for sure, but everyone says it does.

1)add weight to the gun

2) recoil pad

3)muzzle brake

4) lighter loaded ammo

thats about all you can do coupled with good form.

[hogdogs]

When I originally bought my Mossberg 500 20 gauge I intended it to be used by me or the wife. She seen the kick and decided she would stick with my .22 pistol or .410 bolt action. To this day I am VERY glad it ain't a 12 gauge. So much more comfortable to shoot!
Brent

[madmag]

Here is how I tamed recoil on my synthetic stock 1300. Take off the butt pad and first put some Styrofoam filler (peanut type) in to fill about a quarter of the stock. Then put in a package of lead fishing weights. I think I used about a quarter pound of weights. Then more Styrofoam filler. Then at the top add another package of fishing weights. Make sure every thing is packed tight. Then replace the butt pad with a Limbsaver pad.

Of course the weight alone helps, but I think the weight also allows for some floating action that dampens the recoil. Depends on your frame of reference, but the weights go forward as the stock recoils back. Anyway, it is a cheap fix and seems to work for me. It helped mine enough that it stopped cheek slapping I was getting. Also, (for me) improves the overall balance of the gun.

Also, the reduced recoil ammo does work. You can get it in buck shot if needed.

[B. Adams]

I put Limbsaver pads on most of my 1300's, and it helps a lot. I will admit that a pad for a 1300 may be somewhat difficult to find at your local store, so you may have to order one.

Overall, I've found that my 1300's don't recoil any harder than other pump guns. Then again I don't think my Mosin-Nagant's are all that bad either, so maybe I don't have a good frame of reference. :rolleyes:

What loads are you shooting that are so hard on you? I use some reduced-recoil 00 buckshot that it noticably tamer than a standard load. Slugs will kick quite a bit no matter what.

Do you have a standard stock or a pistol grip stock? I've tried pistol grip stocks a few times, and I can't stand them. They're awkward for me to shoot, and they seem to hit my shoulder a little harder. If you have a pistol grip stock, you may want to consider changing it to a standard stock.

[Frenchwrench]

I've added the Limbsaver on my Defender also. My 18 year old daughter loves the thing. My son, who is 5'11 and about 140 lbs shoots the Defender for fun. I guess recoil is subjective. All loads were full power slugs and buck.

[Mister_Dinky]

If you can stand a little more length of pull, the Pachmayr slip on pads work well.

[Creature]

double post

[Creature]

Never shot a 1300 before but my 590A1 (w/ 20" heavy duty barrel) is a sweet shooter because it is rather heavy.

[RickInTampa]

Hi folks. I'm a new member and this is my first question/post. So if it's in the wrong place, I apologize in advance. But I hope someone can help me.

My wife just bought me a Win 1300 .12 gauge shotgun for Christmas. The gun came standard with a "mod" choke tube. (The barrel is not rifled) This is the first brand spankin new shotgun that I've owned. My only other shotgun is a Marlin model 43 and is 80 years old.

The range I belong to will only allow you to shoot slugs. The literature that came with my shotgun leads me to believe that I can't shoot slugs out of this gun with the "mod" choke tube that it came with. So I ordered a "improved" choke tube and a "full" choke tube from a gun store online.

Can someone please tell me what choke tube(s) to use / not use with slugs or anything else for that matter!

I own a few Mosin's, a Mauser, Rem 30.06, pistols, etc. and so on. But I'm not very smart about shotguns and I don't want to tear up a brand new gun.

Any help you good people could offer would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

Rick

[B. Adams]

You probably don't want to shoot slugs from the full choke, but you should be OK with the improved cylinder. Full is more constricting than Mod, IC is less constricting. It probably won't hurt the gun by firing standard slugs through any of the chokes, but it will definitely affect accuracy the tighter you go.

In a smoothbore barrel you should only shoot standard slugs, not sabots. Sabots are intended to be fired through a rifled barrel, and the solid sabot could damage your barrel or choke if the choke is too constricting. A standard lead slug should shoot fine in your shotgun, with accuracy out to about 100 yards or so. A lead slug will compress somewhat while going through your choke, while a sabot will not.

Hope that helps.

[crowbeaner]

I've got a 1300 XTR and no factory slug will give you problems if you shoot the old Foster style slugs. Pick up a 15 pack at Wally World and shoot away. They have both WW and RP along with 10 pack boxes of Federals too. They run about $8 a box plus tax. CB.

[RickInTampa]

Guys - That was EXACTLY the information I was looking for! Thanks so much for your help!