Winchester Super Grade O/U

brianfrancis45

Out the other day and bumped into a lad who had a Winchester Supergrade (Game) 12 gauge O/U , chambered 2 3/4 inch, 28 " barrels.

We had a good days sport - a handful of teal, couple of mallard + couple of roosters ( most shot by him of course:o) . At the end of the day I handled his gun and it fitted me like a glove . Lovely lightweight gun it was and it just felt so ''right'' to me. Long story short he saw the glint in me eye and before I even asked he said ''not for sale ''. Didn't get the chance to ask him any further questions about the gun as he had to rush off.

Have any of you lads owned/used the same gun and how did you find it ? Is Winchester a decent make and what would a decent 2nd hand one set a fella back ? I tried the net but could find very little useful info.

Any informed opinions appreciated.

Thanks

kermitpwee

brianfrancis45 wrote: »

Out the other day and bumped into a lad who had a Winchester Supergrade (Game) 12 gauge O/U , chambered 2 3/4 inch, 28 " barrels.

We had a good days sport - a handful of teal, couple of mallard + couple of roosters ( most shot by him of course:o) . At the end of the say I handled his gun and it fitted me like a glove . Lovely lightweight gun it was and it just felt so ''right'' to me. Long story short he saw the glint in me eye and before I even asked he said ''not for sale ''. Didn't get the chance to ask him any further questions about the gun as he had to rush off.

Have any of you lads owned/used the same gun and how did you find it ? Is Winchester a decent make and what would a decent 2nd hand one set a fella back ? I tried the net but could find very little useful info.

Any informed opinions appreciated.

Thanks

They havent been made since the 80's. Basically its a 101 your looking at, they were a class gun and still are can be hard to get parts for. hard to get in ireland as most people hold on to them.

TM RACING

I have been handed down a winchcester supergrade from my brother. Its a 1983 and it is mint. My brother now shoots with a Beretta silver pigeon 3 wihch is a lovley gun but just cant match the supergrade for handleing, this must be one ofthe best handeling o/u's ever made. Between the ammount of shooting both me and my brother have gave it, im talking flat out clay shooting(although the plastic but pad can hurt after a while)pigeon, game............. and it is still as tight as a hens ear. The only thing ever to go was the top pin, other than that it has been faultless. I would never sell no matter how much was offered because even though it is not the fanciest gun in the world, few handle like it. As regards finding one they are not too common. I saw a beautiful straight hand stock one during a days shooting in lyons estate but he too would not sell. I was in a gun shop about 10 months ago and there was one for sale, needed a bit of tlc. I don't know if he still has it but i will pm you the number.

ormondprop

if you really want one maybe you could import from the uk
http://www.guntrader.co.uk/GunsForSale/results.php?&Filter[NewType][]=Shotgun&Filter[NewMechanism][]=Over%2FUnder&Filter[NewMechanism][]=Over+and+Under&Filter[NewMechanism][]=Over+%26+under&Filter[Calibre][]=12+gauge&Filter[Make][]=Winchester&skipNo=0&perPage=50&sortField=poa&sortOrder=desc

brianfrancis45

Thanks for that Ormond. I already have me eye on one of them in the UK and trying to get a friend over there to have a look at it (photos can be misleading...)

Bit of a minefield though trying to figure out what is what as there seems to be so many variations of the ''Supergrade'' . Some of them they describe as '' lightweight'' but they are close to 7.5 lbs. The old model fixed choke Supergrade I handled recently , felt more like 6 .25 - 6.5 lb , not a huge difference I know but I like a lighter gun for the long day out rough shooting.

For general rough shooting do you think 1/4 and 3/4 fixed choke is a reasonably good choice ?

kermitpwee

brianfrancis45 wrote: »

Thanks for that Ormond. I already have me eye on one of them in the UK and trying to get a friend over there to have a look at it (photos can be misleading...)

Bit of a minefield though trying to figure out what is what as there seems to be so many variations of the ''Supergrade'' . Some of them they describe as '' lightweight'' but they are close to 7.5 lbs. The old model fixed choke Supergrade I handled recently , felt more like 6 .25 - 6.5 lb , not a huge difference I know but I like a lighter gun for the long day out rough shooting.

For general rough shooting do you think 1/4 and 3/4 fixed choke is a reasonably good choice ?

Thats the perfect choking. These guns are down as 101 winchesters as well, thats what they are. Supergrade is just the grade of the gun. If you want one for rough shooting then the 101 xtr lightweight game is the one to go for. I had one and stupidly sold it a few years back. They handle fantastic and are very light, the one I had had a straight stock rather thena pistol grip so if you put very heavy loads thru it then expect a fair amount of recoil. These guns had lightweight barrels of very high quality, the max load I would give it would be 32gr. The xtr lightweight would be my choice for pheasant and woodcock and the odd duck.

These guns are getting on so you need to check the action for wear and the barrels. I have came across a sporter that was quite loose and a game gun that was a little loose so they can wear out like all guns if they get heavy use. To get a minter with very little work done then expect to pay 800 sterling. You could get a sporter but there heavier but very well balanced. Steyrman has a skeet model for sale on here at a bargain price but it might be too heavy.

cruisedub1

brianfrancis45 wrote: »

Out the other day and bumped into a lad who had a Winchester Supergrade (Game) 12 gauge O/U , chambered 2 3/4 inch, 28 " barrels.

We had a good days sport - a handful of teal, couple of mallard + couple of roosters ( most shot by him of course:o) . At the end of the day I handled his gun and it fitted me like a glove . Lovely lightweight gun it was and it just felt so ''right'' to me. Long story short he saw the glint in me eye and before I even asked he said ''not for sale ''. Didn't get the chance to ask him any further questions about the gun as he had to rush off.

Have any of you lads owned/used the same gun and how did you find it ? Is Winchester a decent make and what would a decent 2nd hand one set a fella back ? I tried the net but could find very little useful info.

Any informed opinions appreciated.

Thanks

Winchester have a great reputation , if the shotgun you were looking at was made before 1987 it was made by OLIN KODENSHA in TOCHIGI , JAPAN for Winchester .they are a very well made shotgun and the value of one secondhand depends on which model it is , value starts at about $1000 for a basic model and rises to about $4500 for a rare production model . If it was a current manufacture Winchester it was probably made in Belgium for Winchester and secondhand one's start at about $1800 , these values are for one's in 95% to 100% condition .

steyrman2

kermitpwee wrote: »

Thats the perfect choking. These guns are down as 101 winchesters as well, thats what they are. Supergrade is just the grade of the gun. If you want one for rough shooting then the 101 xtr lightweight game is the one to go for. I had one and stupidly sold it a few years back. They handle fantastic and are very light, the one I had had a straight stock rather thena pistol grip so if you put very heavy loads thru it then expect a fair amount of recoil. These guns had lightweight barrels of very high quality, the max load I would give it would be 32gr. The xtr lightweight would be my choice for pheasant and woodcock and the odd duck.

These guns are getting on so you need to check the action for wear and the barrels. I have came across a sporter that was quite loose and a game gun that was a little loose so they can wear out like all guns if they get heavy use. To get a minter with very little work done then expect to pay 800 sterling. You could get a sporter but there heavier but very well balanced. Steyrman has a skeet model for sale on here at a bargain price but it might be too heavy.

just weighed the gun 7 lb 7 oz and its a 26 inch skeet gun also good game gun

brianfrancis45

ormondprop wrote: »

if you really want one maybe you could import from the uk

Managed to locate a Winchester Super Grade 12 G field gun, made on the 101 action, 1/4 and 3/4 fixed chokes, 28 inch barrels, non ejector, manufactured in Japan in the 80's. Mate of mine over in the UK (where the gun is located)had a quick look at it and says that it is in excellent condition for the age.

My question is how do I get it imported to Ireland ?

I have looked at some past posts here on the forum , from which it seems that RFDs in the UK will not/ cannot post and that it would have to be sent by airfreight - someone mentioned a cost of £ 150 , which is very steep ! Another OP mentioned that once you get it licensed ( I would just be doing a substitution) you could fly to the UK , pick it up and fly back to Ireland with it using Aer Lingus. I do fly to the UK fairly regularly for work so I could kill 2 birds with the 1 stone. However, I also read that the best way is for me to arrange for a local RFD in Ireland to buy it from the English RFD and then I ''buy'' it from the Irish RFD and pay him a fee for his involvement. If I did it that way , how would I be able to pick it up myself in the UK as I guess that officially it would be sold to the RFD here and not myself ?

Suppose the first step would be for me to talk to my local RFD here and see what he says ??

Any ideas on this lads as I really would like to get the gun ,providing it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to get it back here, and I'm a bit confused as to the best way to go about it.
Thanks

meathstevie

The current Winchester would be very very similar to their Browning cousins ( nothing wrong with that btw ). I've had the pleasure of having a go at one of the older ones ( can't even remember which one exactly ) many years ago and I fired a few shots out of a Perazzi the same day and to be honest with you I'd prefer the Winchester any day.