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For my next gun purchase/investment I am very seriously considering
A Winchester Model 42.
My question’s for you guys that currently and or used to own one.
1. What would be a preferred year of production?
2. 26” or 28” barrel with 3” chamber?
3. I would think full choke to be the best for the .410, or am I wrong on that?
4. Pistol grip stock or European straight grip stock?
5. Anything else I need to be aware of or looking for in the model 42?
6. Is the Win. model 42 a good shotgun for use as well as investment?
If you are looking for an "investment" 42, go for the lowest number gun in the best possible condition. Look for a 3" chambered gun. Barrel length and choke won't matter, but be prepared to spend a LOT of cash.
My Model 42 is serial #2238, but is used regularly so won't qualify as a "investment". Just a fine old 3" .410 that is fun to hunt small game with.
"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale, and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled or hanged"....President Abraham Lincoln
I've never owned a Model 42 but I know they are great little guns.
As for choke however,I have always done better with a more open choke. Full choke is very unforgiving and if you are bang on at .410 range, it can put too much shot into tomorrows dinner.
71/2 or 8 shot is fine out of a half choke barrel at 20 to 30 yds.
Good luck with your purchase/investment.
Whatever you do always give 100%........... unless you are donating blood.
Mike D. wrote:If you are looking for an "investment" 42, go for the lowest number gun in the best possible condition. Look for a 3" chambered gun. Barrel length and choke won't matter, but be prepared to spend a LOT of cash.
My Model 42 is serial #2238, but is used regularly so won't qualify as a "investment". Just a fine old 3" .410 that is fun to hunt small game with.
Yes I did take notice to the price tags on these
Little buggers. That got me to thinking
there must be something special about them.
My primary intended use more than likely will
be the occasional trip into a couple of my favorite
squirrel hunting woods where .22’s unfortunately
are no longer allowed.
While I've never owned a Winchester Model 42, I've owned/shot/hunted a Browning Model 42 clone - which I really appreciated for it's upgraded features over a plainjane M-42 field, like vent rib, high polish/blue, fantastic wood, checkering, etc.
My $0.02 - If I had my heart set strictly on a Win, I'd try to locate a M-42 Skeet gun.
I have owned two model 42s. I have one now. I differ with some, a full choke is necessary on most game in my opinion. I use it during dove season. In Quail season I guess a modified would be alright. ORIGINAL & CONDITION CONDITION CONDITION!
Pete44ru wrote:While I've never owned a Winchester Model 42, I've owned/shot/hunted a Browning Model 42 clone - which I really appreciated for it's upgraded features over a plainjane M-42 field, like vent rib, high polish/blue, fantastic wood, checkering, etc.
My $0.02 - If I had my heart set strictly on a Win, I'd try to locate a M-42 Skeet gun.
.
I did indeed check out those nice Browning 42’s.
But for the price’s those Browning’s are going for
I can get the real McCoy Win. 42, which I think
would be the better investment.
rangerider7 wrote:I have owned two model 42s. I have one now. I differ with some, a full choke is necessary on most game in my opinion. I use it during dove season. In Quail season I guess a modified would be alright. ORIGINAL & CONDITION CONDITION CONDITION!
I am in agreement with you on the choke.
especially where those tough hided squirrel
are concerned.
Back in the late 50's and early 60s when I was deep into Skeet, I had a 42 Skeet gun. It had a larger forend, a vent rib and a Cutts with a "Skeet" tube installed. The Skeet chock in the 410 is a modified in any other shotgun. These are wonderful shotguns and I used mine for dove shooting as well. There is no room for error with the 410 bore.
We had several outstanding skeet shooter in the club and from time to time we would have to have a 410 short shell match for those guys to seperate the men from the boys. Any of them could go 100 straight any day of the week with the 12 or 20 guage. With the 410 short shell, they could still shoot in the low 90s but there were winners and loosers.
The 410 can be good field gun in the hands of a good wing shot. They are not guns for kids to learn on as hitting is to hard with them as their is no room for error. The 20 guage is a good learning shotgun. In fact, it is what I still use. I dont consider it a waterfowl or turkey gun, but I have killed both with one.
... has been a lot better than its publicity for the last 40 years.
By Marshall R. Williams.
The most maligned shotgun gauge is the .410 bore. Every expert on shotguns declares it is as a poor choice, suitable only for poachers, experts, cripplers, taxidermists and so on down the line. Experts notwithstanding, I find it to be effective and useful within its limitations.
My first shotgun was a .410 bolt action Mossberg with interchangeable choke tubes marked modified and full. And a very good little gun it was. On December 16, 1955, my father bought it for the grand sum of $24.95. A box of three-inch shells cost another $2.15. The hardware store owner threw in a silicone wiping cloth for good will.
A good combination for close-rising grouse - a late season, a .410 Remington 870 skeet and a fair grouse dog.
My father suggested we pattern it, and we went out to a vacant lot in the country and shot the gun at shirt cardboards at an estimated 30 yards. We discovered two things: the patterns were dense enough to kill small game and the modified choke tube shot a slightly more open pattern than the full choke tube. I rightly concluded the full choke tube would kill farther than the modified tube. I wrongly concluded the full choke was a more desirable choke and used it exclusively for some years. Shortly afterwards, I went rabbit hunting and used the little gun to shoot the first game I ever killed. I got two rabbits with two shots, and they were taken quite as well with my little .410 as any other rabbits shot with twelve gauge guns that day.
For many years, this was the only shotgun in our household, and, in addition to rabbits, we used it on quail, doves, crows, buzzards, squirrels, skunks, possums, chipmunks, raccoons, one catfish, and goodness knows what else. Eventually, I grew up, joined the U.S. Air Force and learned to shoot skeet using this gun.
Of course, all of this happened while I was yet naive about shotguns and, more or less, a boy. My father had somehow imbued me with the notion that a .410 bore shot its pellets just as far and just as hard as a 12 bore did, and the fact that there were fewer pellets didn't matter at short range. This is more or less true. Actually, the twelve shoots its pellets a little harder, but it doesn't matter at short range.
Eventually I outgrew the little Mossberg and gave it to a friend whose son and daughter were young enough to use it. The children promised to pass on the little gun to another kid when they outgrew it. I've lost track of the friends and the gun, but I hope somebody somewhere is still using it, and I hope that person is a beginner.
When I outgrew the Mossberg .410, I got a 12-gauge Remington Model 870 pump Skeet gun and a Remington 11-48 automatic .410 with full choke. I also borrowed a Winchester Skeet gun with Cutts Compensator. I used all three guns to shoot Skeet and frequently did better with the .410's than with the 12
The skeet shooters are muttering, "This Turkey has got to be kidding." Nevertheless it's true. One day in particular stands out in my memory. I broke 15 out of 25 of the 12 and followed it up with a 23 out of 25 with the .410.
Here I learned something new. The 12-gauge gun kicked and roared, and I was recoil and noise-shy. The .410 punched and popped and I wasn't afraid of it. As a result, I concentrated on the fundamentals of skeet and ignored the gun. Of course, I had learned to shoot with the .410 and had confidence in it. I had been shooting the 12 for just a couple of months.
Since those halcyon days, I have owned a large number of shotguns and many of them were .410's. There have been several Remington 11-48's, several Winchester Model 42's in different configurations, a Remington 1100, a Remington 870, a High Standard pump, and perhaps others I have forgotten. Most of these were skeet guns, but some were choked differently. I have made it a point to shoot as many other .410's as I could talk their owners into letting me use, and have shot and used Browning, Winchester, Daly, and SKB over and unders, and Fox, L.C. Smith, Iver Johnson, Ithaca, and one fabulous Winchester Model 21 in side-by-side doubles. All of these guns were delightful to shoot and play with. Some of them I shot well and some not so well.
I patterned as many as it was convenient to pattern. I occasionally break 25 at skeet with the .410, and once did so with frequency. I believe I have now learned a little about these guns and understand why they get short shrift from shooters less familiar with them.
There have been a number of things going against the .410 over the years. Not the least of them was, and is, the general unavailability of good quality, well-constructed working guns. The only repeaters available now are the Remington Model 1100 Automatic and the same company's Model 870 pump and Mossberg's Model 500 pump. If you can afford the price, you can get over and unders in .410 from Browning, Winchester, and SKB if you fancy a double, you may have to shop for one of the European imports. I do not know whether the Fox Model B and Stevens 311 will be available. I believe the Mossberg bolt action is still available, and of course the various single barrel guns. However, the average gun store will probably not stock .410 bore guns except in the cheap single barrel models. Thus, while .410's can be had, they are more trouble to obtain and frequently require special ordering. It isn't nearly as simple as walking into K-Mart and getting a 12 gauge.
Another problem, and perhaps the biggest overall, is the general unavailability of any choke except full choke in the more common .410's or the choice of full choke when more open choke is available. While there is some apparent logic behind such a choice, I think it fails under critical examination. The logic runs thus: the .410 is a small bore with a small shot charge; therefore, in order to kill cleanly at maximum range, we want a tight pattern, and that requires a full choke. While that logic is unassailable, who picks a .410 for a long range gun? My observations lead me to believe that the tightest choked .410 cannot be an effective 40-yard gun, but an improved cylinder or skeet bored .410 will do nicely to 30 yards.
Whatever you do always give 100%........... unless you are donating blood.
The main reason for the price of quality Model 42's is they are Winchesters. The Model 42's were built in the days of solid billet machined receivers, hand assembly and beautiful finishes. When I was in the trades we seldom ever saw a "42" come in for repair. They are a smaller version of one of Winchesters most famous shotguns, the Model 12. If you compare them with the current batch of pump action shotguns on the market, they stand alone above the rest.
The problem that many a dad created for his son was to give him a .410 when he should have started him with a 20 gauge shotgun. A lot of kids had a problem hitting anything and became disappointed with shooting. As mentioned above the .410 is not a youth starter gun. However in the hands of a experienced shooter it is a joy to watch.
I agree that the full choke may be the best in this caliber for practical use. If you are shooting at shorter distances than normal, say 20 yards, then the modified choke may be better.
That got me to thinking 
