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model 59 winchester

bridgebuilder41
on a model 59 winchester 12 shotgun it has a win-lite barrel.i have never heard of this kind of barrel before.what is it?thanks bridgebuilder41.
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  • perry shooter
    Hello This barrel is made up of a thin steel tube wraped in fiberglass if bobski is around he will give you production date etc I may be corrected but I also think it was first factory shotgun with choke tubes as we know them some barrels had tubes and some fixed choke.
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  • bridgebuilder41
    Do these barrels hold up as good as the all steel barrels?
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  • only winchesters
    Hello Bridgebuilder41: The Md 59s fiberglass wrapped steel barrel was the first to come with "choke tubes", I believe they actually started offering those in 63. Also if I recall correctly the 59 was first offered in 1961 and through 1965.

    The Md 59 had several draw backs, the barrel being one of them. Each steel liner was wrapped with over 5000 ft of fiberglass line, then an epoxy type resin (black in color) was applied. While the guns overall weight was extremely light for an auto, (a quail hunters dream) Once the epoxy resin wore off at the muzzle, the fiber glass line was exposed and soon do to wear, would start to unwravel. The second major draw back was the aluminum receiver, they had a tendancy to crack over time, at the end of the slot for the breech bolt handle.

    The gun could last a long time using just dove and quail loads, or light target loads, but the 1 1/4 oz. lead loads and 2 3/4 in Magnum loads beat the heck out of the receiver. This Auto loader was the 2nd shortest lived semi from Winchester, only the Md 40 was shorter.

    If one were to buy one to shoot, and used light loads and really babied it, it will last you. They do have some collector interest.

    Regards Dave
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  • bridgebuilder41
    Thanks Dave,you said the model 40 winchester was the shortest lived, why?
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  • bobski
    model 40 was done in by WW2. winchester switched to serious war orders and the 40 died. not to mention the 40 being a bad design that had some catastrophic failures. it was not popular.

    former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, former navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction. NRA certified instructor.
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  • brycelarson
    Hi all,
    I've got my grandfathers's model 59 - it's a fantastic gun to carry for upland birds - light and shoots great.

    I have two questions:

    1. Does anyone have a manual for it they could point me to or email?

    2. The stock is in a well loved state (ie. 35 years of pheasant hunting) - is this somethink I should consider refinishing or is the gun a collectors item and should it be left in original condition?

    thanks,

    -Bryce
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  • bobski
    email me. i can make you a copy. 50 and 59 manuals are all the same. btw...lets get your gun tuned before you shoot it much. i copied this off another website. its very valuable info. read it, and then do it.[;)]

    "......The very first tell-tale sign a mod.50 or 59 Winchester is out of time is throwing spent hulls quite a distance away from the gun. This problem is usually an easy fix but sometimes it's necessary to have the proper sleeve driver with which to tighten the stock if somewhat loose. Close the bolt first. Remove the butt-pad, remove the wish-bone wire clip. There's an aluminum screw plug with a large slot cut in the middle with which the gun is timed. With the bolt closed, back off the plug till the bolt won't stay in the open position. When you get to that point, reverse the process screwing it in till the bolt locks back. Place your finger on the operating handle and pull back and see how far the bolt will travel to the rear from that locked position. By adjusting the aluminum plug a 1/4 turn at a time till the bolt locks and you have approximately 1/16-1/8 inch of rear bolt travel from the locked position. Sometimes you can hit the mark on the first try, sometimes it takes a couple tries to get it right. I use loctite on the aluminum plug and aluminum foil folded and placed over the wish-bone wire clip to prevent it from moving. When re-inserting the wire clip, make sure it goes into the set of holes in line with the slotted plug."
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  • brycelarson
    the serial number is 1161 - how early in the run would it have been?

    Is there a way to tell which barrel is on it - I see no markings on the barrel itself. It's the non-interchangable barrel.

    thanks,

    -Bryce
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  • bobski
    look on the side of the bbl. it will tell you what choke the bbl is and have the guns model number, (MODEL 59.) it will also say: imp cyl/mod/ or full. 1161 sounds like a 59/60 gun to me.
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  • brycelarson
    Yeah, the engraving is so minor I didn't see it on first pass. It's certainly there.

    thanks,

    I dropped an email a while back - any luck on the manual?

    -Bryce
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