Model 59 Winchester shotgun
 

Any Winchester shotgun enthusiasts ever hear of a Model 59, semi auto? A friend received one from his father's estate and wanted to show it to me. It has gorgeous wood and looks new other than a few marks on the bolt. All the paperwork, hang tag and bill of sale for$150were in the original, pristine box. He pulled the stock and barrel out of the box and screwed them together and handed it to me. WHAT THE!!!! The barrel is fiberglass!!! You've got to be sh-----! I have never heard of a fiberglass barreled shotgun. It's like handling a modern auto loader without a barrel attached. I have seen steel rifle barrels with fiberglass outertubes, but not a shotgun barrel completely constructed of glass.Not a candidate for steel shot, that's for sure.

RE: Model 59 Winchester shotgun
 

I don't know what it's made out of, but it's not fiber glass. Not unless it's some kind of copy of a real firearm. I've been wrong before though.

RE: Model 59 Winchester shotgun
 

I would like to see that.

RE: Model 59 Winchester shotgun
 

some search results http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=win...8&fr=yff3c

Regards,

RE: Model 59 Winchester shotgun
 

.......It sticks in my mind that Winchester called those barrels "WinLite" or something similar. A friend of my father's had one many years ago, but traded it off for something else, as I remember.......

RE: Model 59 Winchester shotgun
 

Yeah, It's fiberglass...It's a thin steel tube wrapped with miles and miles of glass fiber, which was made by Corning Glass Works... There used to be a M59 hanging in Corning's Museum of Glass...

I bought one used in 1963...It had less than 100 rounds through it and I paid $105 for it...It was my main upland and waterfowl gun for years and years...I killed a truckload of crows and ducks with it, along with all kinds of other critters, including my first turkey and my first goose..

It was based on Winchester's M50, which featured a "floating chamber" like the M1 carbine...The M50 was all steel, and the 59 had an aluminum alloy reciever and the fiberglass barrel...Muzzle light but VERY fast to get on target...Mine was always dependable and seldom malfunctioned..I still have it ...

These guns were only made from 1959 to 1963...Another innovation introduced with the M59 was interchangable choke tubes.. They are pretty much standard today, but in the early 60s they were something new...The M59 was offered with a "winchoke" option...Tubes were available in IC, Mod, and Full.. You could also get the gun with fixed chokes...Mine is threaded for the winchokes and I have all three tubes..

RE: Model 59 Winchester shotgun
 

Thanks for the info Pygmy. I told my friend that I was sure this was a display gun, not a shooter. He told me his dad used it quite often for small game. Remarkable!

RE: Model 59 Winchester shotgun
 

My oldest brother used to have one years ago.

RE: Model 59 Winchester shotgun
 

Sniper...Although some sources recommend avoiding heavy loads in the 59, mine has digested thousands of high brass and 2 3/4" magnum shells over the years with no ill effects , other than some pretty substantial recoil due to it's light weight.... Nowadays, I have other gunsbetter suited for theheavy work on turkeys, ducks, geese and the like, and I limit the 59 to target loads and light field loads...

If your buddy wants to shoot his gun, he should go ahead. Heshould be able touse it on upland game with 1 oz, 1 1/8 oz. or 1 1/4 oz. lead field loads for the rest of his life... That M 59 will still be tickin' when they lay him under the sod and HIS son inherits it..

RE: Model 59 Winchester shotgun
 

http://www.gunshopfinder.com/articles/winchester59.html

The link above will take you to an article about the Win Model 59. Seems to me that it'd be a good little shotgun, and if it's in the shape you say it is, I wouldn't hesitate to soot it or hunt with it. I probably wouldn't shoot any steel shot through it, but as a super-light upland bird and small game gun, it looks like it would be perfect. As for the barrel, it's a thinner than normal steel barrel liner wrapped in fiberglass and bonded with epoxy. This makes it very light, and as long as there are no defects in the fiberglass, it should be plenty strong. There are modern rifle barrels that are made the same way that easily withstand 60Kpsi+. Shotguns typically operate in the 10-15Kpsi range, with about 20Kpsi being the upper limit on the heaviest magnum loads.

Mike