Gun & Ammo have been sitting for years.

[63bears40]

Used to do a lot of pheasant hunting & for fun shoot some skeet.
Then came golf, which put fishing & hunting on the back burner, along with limited hunting spots.
Haven't used my Winchester 1200 ( I think ) 12 gauge in more than 10 yrs.
I still have bunch of shells as well. Which are stored in their box & in plastic bags.
The gun is stored in it's leather gun case.

Just curious as to what problems I can encounter, w/ the gun?
And how do determine if the shells are still safe to load?
Any input would be appreciated.

 

[whyoh]

i don't know about shells...i would imagine they're good to fire



i've heard stories of folks finding surplus ammo from WWII that they load up and it fires just fine

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

If stored properly, any gun should be fine. You may find some surface rust if it wasn't stored properly (oiled every once and a while) and some people find that some of the gun oils or lubricants they used can build up and turn into like a little plastic glue in the chamber.

With that said, my grandfather had a 30-40 Krag that sat in the corner of his office for 60+ years and I took it out and fired it after he died and it works just fine. He did take it out every few years and oil it up so it wouldn't rust, but that's about it. With a shotgun, you have even less to worry about.

If there is surface rust, you can google different ways to take that off. If it isn't terrible, it's usually pretty easy to get rid of.

I'd imagine the shells are fine as well. But 12g shells aren't that expensive to begin with. You can still buy surplus ammo from WWII.

 

[63bears40]

If stored properly, any gun should be fine. You may find some surface rust if it wasn't stored properly (oiled every once and a while) and some people find that some of the gun oils or lubricants they used can build up and turn into like a little plastic glue in the chamber.

With that said, my grandfather had a 30-40 Krag that sat in the corner of his office for 60+ years and I took it out and fired it after he died and it works just fine. He did take it out every few years and oil it up so it wouldn't rust, but that's about it. With a shotgun, you have even less to worry about.

If there is surface rust, you can google different ways to take that off. If it isn't terrible, it's usually pretty easy to get rid of.

I'd imagine the shells are fine as well. But 12g shells aren't that expensive to begin with. You can still buy surplus ammo from WWII.

Thanks for the reply. Let my gun card expire as well. So buying shells is out of the question right now.

 

[AHFox]

Make sure you take the gun out every 6 months and whip it down with a rage and some gun oil. Store the gun barrel down so the oil will not seep into the head of the stock and cause the wood to soften. Leave the gun case open so air can get to it. If not condensation can happen that's what cause's rust.

 

[BigRedMoe]

Make sure you take the gun out every 6 months and whip it down with a rage and some gun oil. Store the gun barrel down so the oil will not seep into the head of the stock and cause the wood to soften. Leave the gun case open so air can get to it. If not condensation can happen that's what cause's rust.

Yes.... whip it good.

 

[Team Mookie]

The shells should be fine, give them the once over just to be sure. I have a bunch of paper shells from
(I believe) the 30's or 40's at the house that I will occasionally use on pheasant hunts when I'm feeling nostalgic.

You may also want to check for pits inside the barrel.

 

[da55bums]

Used to do a lot of pheasant hunting & for fun shoot some skeet.
Then came golf, which put fishing & hunting on the back burner, along with limited hunting spots.
Haven't used my Winchester 1200 ( I think ) 12 gauge in more than 10 yrs.
I still have bunch of shells as well. Which are stored in their box & in plastic bags.
The gun is stored in it's leather gun case.

Just curious as to what problems I can encounter, w/ the gun?
And how do determine if the shells are still safe to load?
Any input would be appreciated.

1200 - pump? I had one for 20 years...oil it up and pump it til its smooth...absolutely will be fine.
if they are green/blue on the brass..pitch them..if not, fire away...waterfowler's advise.

 

[63bears40]

1200 - pump? I had one for 20 years...oil it up and pump it til its smooth...absolutely will be fine.
if they are green/blue on the brass..pitch them..if not, fire away...waterfowler's advise.

Had mine for a good 40.

Thanks for the reply.
Was really worried about any spring damage. That might or could occur while sitting for a long period of time.
The shells also. Talked to a supposed gunsmith a while back while golfing. And he said if there's no rust on the shells they're good to go. But who knows if he was really gunsmith . But what he said sounded good.

 

[JuiceTheGator]

I've used some old 12 ga. shells that lost their zip. About every third shot would be weak from this box that had been out hunting a few times but didn't get used-up. It wasn't dangerous and the used shell would eject from the semi-auto just fine....I could just tell there wasn't any power. You could really hear the difference too. So, we used 'em up for targets.

 

[da55bums]

Had mine for a good 40.

Thanks for the reply.
Was really worried about any spring damage. That might or could occur while sitting for a long period of time.
The shells also. Talked to a supposed gunsmith a while back while golfing. And he said if there's no rust on the shells they're good to go. But who knows if he was really gunsmith . But what he said sounded good.

well, rust on brass? the green/blue always seemed to look like corrosion over rust...but I am not a gunsmith so I have no idea...I usually just shoot away even if have if there was a little on it (if I needed more shells at the time)

 

[LALakersboy24.7]

 

[Team Mookie]

Had mine for a good 40.

Thanks for the reply.
Was really worried about any spring damage. That might or could occur while sitting for a long period of time.The shells also. Talked to a supposed gunsmith a while back while golfing. And he said if there's no rust on the shells they're good to go. But who knows if he was really gunsmith . But what he said sounded good.

Believe it or not, springs won't go bad due to compression, but through overuse.

 

[63bears40]

Believe it or not, springs won't go bad due to compression, but through overuse.

Thanks.
So a good cleaning & oil down, should be good to go .
Now I just need some ambition.