Winchester 1300 Defender 12ga.

[Goshen606]

Anyone have one of these and how do you like it compared to the 870 or Mossebergs? Any known issues or problems I should be aware of? Thanks.

[Jay Cunningham]

The first firearm I ever bought back in 1992 was a Winchester 1300 Marine Defender - I gave it to my dad earlier this year.

It is a good, solid shotgun. Note quite an 870, but better than the Mossy IMO.

[CobraBG]

I've had one for many years. It was the first shotgun I purchased. I changed the wood stock and forend to a Pachmayr pistol grip (no stock) and forend. It now rides in the trunk of my car... just behind the fold down rear seats.

I have shot it a lot and it has always been reliable. No complaints.

[DWood]

I don't like the safety forward of the trigger (the 890 is behind the trigger) and I find the slide release awkward since it is a small button that pushes in from the side rather than the 890s slightly extended lever that pushes up from the bottom.

I just find the 890 slightly more intuitive, for me, but the 1300 is still a good shotgun.

[trukreltrog]

I had an early one, that had an annoying habit. It would drop the last loaded shell in the tube on the ground, instead of feeding it. Got rid of it, never tried to figure out why.

I was at a shoot a couple years ago. We were shooting Pepper Poppers with shotguns. A guy there was using a 1300, lost a round out the bottom just like my old one. Kind of weird, almost seems like a Winchester quirk. Two different guns dropping the last shell instead of feeding it. :confused:

[rob_s]

Agree with Katar, although I sold mine to an old roommate rather than giving it to my dad.

They have a peculiar rotating bolt and the slide will unlock and move back slightly when fired, making for the potential for very fast cycling for a pump gun. If you hold only the rear stock when firing the forend will come back at least half of the way, and with heavier loads can even sometimes eject the empty shell.

The magazine tube is fixe, so that is somewhat limiting. Accessories and such aren't as plentiful as for the Remington or even the Mossberg.

[Jack_Stroker]

I've had both the Winchester 1300 Defender and the Remington 870. I've also had a Mossberg 500 for what its worth. Out of the three the Remington 870 is my favorite. Quality, fit and finish is better on the 870, and the 870 is definitely the more durable of the three. Also I felt that the 870 handled 3" Magnum loads better than the other two did. Less felt recoil. The Winchester was the worst in that regard.

All of them are good guns but for my money, the Remington is the best choice.

[austinN4]

Like Stroker, I've had all 3, and mine were at the same time - 18.5" 1300 Defender, 18.5" 870, and 20" M590A1.

Of the 3, I liked the M590A1 the best (dual extractors, operation of shell lifter, and location of the safety and slide release), but sold it anyway as it was too heavy and long for a house gun.

The felt recoil on the 1300 was the worst by far, and sold it also.

I still have the 870, but will probably replace it with a 930SPX.

[USAFCATM]

Currently I own Remington, Mossberg and Ithaca although I did have a bit of expereince with the Winchester 1200 when I was in the Marines. I guess the thing I didn't care for them was the small slide release button was hard to manipulate for starters. I guess if I had to rank them, I'd place the Mossberg 1st, Ithaca 2nd, Remington 3rd and the Winchester 4th. The Remington button can't be reached without either breaking your firing grip or sprouting a finger like a Gibbon but it's larger size made it easier to work with than the small button of the Winchester.
My other issue was the way the pump would blow back with recoil when a round was fired. I know this is advertised as a speed feature but we were trained on Mossberg 590s (and myself personally, I grew up with a Model 12) that didn't do this so we found it to be rather disconcerting when it did this. I guess my thoughts on it were that if the slide was going to move back, I wanted to be the one pulling the pump back rather than have the gun try to shoot it back out of my hand.
However, with all that said though, once I get off this current deployment, my first order of business is a Remington 870 20 guage for my son then possibly looking for an old 1200 to convert into the trench gun configuration we had back when I was a young Marine. Maybe I'm just getting sentimental in my old age but I'm willing to give the Winchester another chance.

[Beat Trash]

I bought a Winchester 1300 Defender in the mid 1990's to be used as an extra "beater" shotgun. I still own it.

It is very fast to cycle due to the rotating bolt design.

It has a very short overall length.

With a sling attached, you have to be careful the sling does not extend past the muzzle.

I don't like the position of the safety. I have spent almost 30 years using the Remington 870's, so the Winchester safety is in the "wrong place".

The slide release button is too small in my opinion.

The recoil of this gun is more noticeable than with my Remington's and seems a bit more than the Mossbergs, though to be honest, I have never shot a Mossberg and the Winchester, side by side at the same time to give an honest comparison.

While I do not feel the Winchester 1300 is as rugged as the 870 design, I like it enough to keep mine around as an extra "loaner" shot gun.

[Jack_Stroker]

I bought a Winchester 1300 Defender in the mid 1990's to be used as an extra "beater" shotgun. I still own it.

It is very fast to cycle due to the rotating bolt design.

It has a very short overall length.

With a sling attached, you have to be careful the sling does not extend past the muzzle.

I don't like the position of the safety. I have spent almost 30 years using the Remington 870's, so the Winchester safety is in the "wrong place".

The slide release button is too small in my opinion.

The recoil of this gun is more noticeable than with my Remington's and seems a bit more than the Mossbergs, though to be honest, I have never shot a Mossberg and the Winchester, side by side at the same time to give an honest comparison.

While I do not feel the Winchester 1300 is as rugged as the 870 design, I like it enough to keep mine around as an extra "loaner" shot gun.

That's a good point. I can fire a Winchester faster than I can the Remington or the Mossberg. The felt recoil is terrible compared to the other two though. That's the main reason I got rid of mine. Now I own three shotguns. Two Remington 870's and one Saiga-12 semi-auto.

[brown3345]

I have a 1300 Stainless and really love it but I would like to get better Iron sights for it.