The most disrespected shotgun on Earth. Why?

[Bitterroot Bob]

Howdy,
A long time ago, I inherited a J C Higgins Model 20 12-gauge pump shotgun. It is a deluxe model with vent rib, PowerPac choke/muzzle brake, magazine cut-off lever, and red recoil pad. It is still an extra-solid shotgun that I cannot miss with. I have a complete set of choke tubes for it and will never part with it. It has sentimental value, as well as being a quality arm.
My neighbor has about five Model 20's of various configurations and loves them to death. His late father had a still-board barrel (60" with a .410" choke") fitted to one of the actions. He has trouble passing them up at gun shows.
Last month I found one at a Gander Mountain in Lansing, MI. It has unbelievable wood, vent-rib, muzzle-brake w/ adjustable (like Polychoke) choke, jeweled bolt, and appears to have never been fired. $150.
I have seen beat-up 870's and Mossbergs sell for twice that much. This was a new gun, albeit a 1961 model. There seems to be little if any collector interest in them, and most people avoid one in a rack like the plague.
How is it that this High-Standard-made shotgun is so disrespected? Are they the Studebaker of the gun world?

Bitterroot Bob

[dukkillr]

You've seen a beatup mossburg go for 300$?!?  Please PM me with the buyers info, I've got some ground I want to sell them...

[S.E.Ak]

I think they bring about as much as other High Standard shotguns. That said a JC Higgins marked Winchester mod. 70 brings less than a Marked Winchester Mod.70

[darkgael]

There seems to be little if any collector interest in them, and most people avoid one in a rack like the plague.
How is it that this High-Standard-made shotgun is so disrespected? Are they the Studebaker of the gun world?

Where did you get the idea that this is "the most disrespected shotgun on Earth"? I don't know what "most people" do since I haven't met "most people" but used shotguns are a sometimes funny/strange/unpredictable sell. What you notice about the Higgins gun is not unusual. For example, at a LGS that I frequent, there are apt to be six to ten used Ithaca 37s on the rack all at about $250+/-. Does that mean Ithacas are disrespected? They had a fine condition Savage 311 of the rack for years at $265. Ask just about any shooter who knows about shotguns and you'll get a positive report about the 311.
Why are these desirable and shootable guns even there? Go figure.
About the Higgins model - You are pretty knowledgeable. I doubt whether many people know that they were made by High Standard.
 

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  One of the tightest shooting shotguns I ever owned was a J. C. Higgins..I have looked for one with a vent rib and full choke for years...most did not have the rib, or they have a choke device..they were a slick working shotgun for the price...If you travel around, guns vary in price a great deal from area to area..Model 12's seemed to have dropped in value over much of the country...as for the J. C. Higgins, I am not sure they were real popular, or well known..to me they are a decent medium priced shotgun...while many may not like them, they will kill game as far as a Browning, but they just don't have the snob appeal that Brownings seem to have.....

[gmctrucks]

Hi guys/gals new member here hey from Texas. Ok now I just put on layaway at a pawn shop a 12ga. J.C. Higgins pump shot gun now it has a rib on top of it and a muzzle brake with a choke on the end but from what pictures I have seen this muzzle brake is much longer and stock.
 
Does anybody know what model it would be and so on? Yes I messed up and didn't get the model I just bought because it looks nice and I like older shot guns like my Sears Ted Williams 12ga. semi-auto which looks brand new. Put on layaway short on cash right now paid $153.00 for it and it's really in not that bad of condition other than the inside of the berrel is dirty.

[gmctrucks]

Hey guys I found some info on my shot gun it has a 12ga Power Pack body & medium range choke that is the reason I liked it so much and again I love how Sears had them made nowadays if one wanted a nice gun with the design that's on the wood and the rib it's not cheap.
 
Im going to clean it up real good and if I don't like it im going to have it reblued or the whole thing redone. I have kin folks down in south Texas so im going to get ready for bird hunting. The last time I went hunting I took out my Ted Williams 12ga. semi auto and other hunters there were admiring it that made me feel good    it also has a choke on it.

[Bitterroot Bob]

Here's a link to manuals for the J C Higgins:
http://www.histandard.info/manuals/sears/pashotguns/index.html
The early M20's had the PowerPac choke and the tubes can still be found if you hunt for them. Numrich sometimes has them, as do parts dealers at gun shows.
Bitterroot Bob

[mauser98us]

It's the trade name thing. For years Sears,Montgomery-Wards were importing rifles made by FN under their trade name. Now if you know quality, that is all FN made. For years you could get these rifles for a song and a dance. This has changed in the last few years. These rifles are now bringing pretty good money on the used market.

[DeerSlayer777]

I love those old brands. I have an old J.C. Higgins 12 ga and its a sweet shooter with slugs and shot.

[gmctrucks]

OK guys it's a  J C Higgins Model 20 12-gauge pump shotgun deluxe model with vent rib, PowerPac choke/muzzle brake im thinking just like Bobs.

I took it out the other day from the pawn shop where I bought it from and im real happy with it I looked it over real good and it needs not to re-blued and the wood just needs some wood polish that can cover up a small scratch on it so score for me all I need now is a long choke for it she has a medium choke on it now so if any of you guys have a extra please let me know.

My son works a gun shop so he is going to take it all apart and clean it with some special type of cleaner they have to clean them. Im 51 and im so excited about my new toy am I normal?? LOL

[Bitterroot Bob]

Hey GMC,
The Model 20 is just the most solid pump shotgun I've ever fooled with. You're gonna love it.
I would pattern test the gun before I spent a lot of effort on a long-range tube. Modern shotshells, with the plastic shotcup-wad, pattern a lot tighter than the old shells. Full choke isn't really necessary unless you are shooting 27-yard trap. Keep your eyes open for a short-range tube, as that will be most useful for upland game and sporting clays. If you can get both, you'll have the complete set and that is rare among Higgins owners.
Congrats on the scoring a quality shotgun!
 
Bitterroot Bob

[Graybeard]

When I was a young lad dad sold his Winchester Model 12 and kept my grand father's JC Higgins Model 20. Since he wasn't a hunter really and hardly ever used a shotgun anyway he kept the one given to him.

I used the gun in my early hunting days on squirrels, dove and quail. At that time all three choke tubes were with it. When I moved out and got married I bought my own guns and most were Remingtons.

Several years ago dad died and his second wife gave me the few guns he had and the JC Higgins came to live with me. It's hanging on a wall and might never get shot again I dunno. My little four year old grandson Wyatt has claimed it as his and I told him that was fine since it was my grandfather's gun it should go to one of my grandsons.

On mine the pin part #29 in the drawing for some reason became loose. It really should have been a roll pin but at least in mine isn't it's a straight solid pin. When it worked loose it locked up the action and I'd have to take it down and get it back in place. After a few times of that I took a hammer and mashed it on one end enough to hold it in place. It never again locked up the gun while I was using it. Other than that one minor problem the old gun always worked fine for me and I shot it fairly well tho in those long ago days I wasn't that much of a wingshot. I don't guess I've ever fired it as an adult only in my teen years before leaving home to make my way in the world. Now my shoulders both need rotator cuff surgery and are way too tender to be shooting 12 ga.

Most of the ammo I shot in the gun was one ounce loads bought at the local drug store by the each from an open box. They would sell you just one shell if you wanted. Most of the time I'd get ten for a dollar. Later I bought them at Sears where the gun was bought and paid $2.10 a box for them.

[Bitterroot Bob]

Howdy Graybeard,
Most of my shotguns require me to work hard to keep my head down and follow-through. The Higgins fits me so naturally and has enough heft that I look like a practiced wing-shooter. I truly need to spend time to build the muscle memory, because I like breaking clays. The Higgins is quite forgiving, for an off-the-rack gun.
Just lucky, I guess. Your is a great memory.
 
Bitterroot

[gmctrucks]

I bought a choke set short, medium, and long for less than $10.00 I got super lucky.

[Ranger99]

J.C.H model 20 was one of the best pump
shotguns ever made in my humble opinion.


i've had the luck to be able to use 3 different
ones in my short life.


i sold the last one i had a good while back
when i was laid off where i worked at the time.


never had a double-feed like one of the more
popular brands i know.
built back when there was craftsmanship in
firearms.

[gmctrucks]

Hey members if anyone wants to get rid of there J C Higgins model 20 drop me a email/PM.
                                      Thanks!   Roland

[SHOOTALL]

I watch a program about a vet from V.N. he said he carried a HS shotgun while in V.N. Here we see few JCH or HS shotguns. Mossbergs are considered less valuable than 870's . I was offered a Ithica 37 for $125.00 a few weeks ago. I saw a couple mossbergs in a shop yesterdat for $229.00 one a 3 inch camo turkey gun the other a blue 28 inch bbl with wood. Both looked well used but not abused. On the same rack there was a 870 express that looked like it was dragged behind a truck they wanted over $300.00 for it. IMHO the Ithica is a good gun but it lacks style , the stock has to much drop coupled with it's light weight it seems to kick hard. The Mossberg is bulker than an 870 and no where near as smooth . Also this is Remington country and all stores carry them and most gun smiths customise them and fix them if they ever break which is not often. Also over the years Remington as been steady always aval. Most other pumps would come and go Mossberg is now becomming a force in the market . The BPS is a nice gun but alot like the Ithica , both bottom eject which alot of folks just don't care for . First in a boat or blind the empty hulls under your feet can be a trip hazzard. Second clearing a jam is harder since you have one less opening to work with. A friends 37 jammed due to filler comming out or Remington shot shells. I had similar with a 10 ga BPS , it didn't jam just got really hard to cycle the action.
  All the above is either experince or what others have offered. Maybe an insite to why one gun resells high and another does not. The 870 proably has more after market stuff offered for it which may help sales also.
   When someone ask what gun to get advising an 870 is easy and now the mossberg is also a good choice either in a used gun as both can be repaired fairly easy at a reasonable cost. Other guns may not be so easy or the cost may be high.
    That dosen't make the other guns dogs just less appealing on the resale rack and they get priced to move. That said if I had been looking to buy a shotgun yesterday it would have been that camo mossberg over the 870 , sometimes the shops don't reconise the value and the buyer wins .   
 
       

[painted horse]

For most disrespected, I'll call your JC Higgens and raise you my Iver Johnson's gun and cycle works Champion 20 gauge single. It's a clean old gun, I've replaced the lever spring and a couple other small parts and it functions like new. Also installed a "fancy" new white bead front sight on it and refinished the stock. If I wanted to sell it now (not) in it's "good" condition I would expect it to bring, oh, 25-30 bucks...also have a couple old 97's, one's a take down from the 30's, has one of those ugly poly chokes on the end, the other one's from the teens. Both in excellent shape (however the older one has a little pitting in the bore) and work well. Have an Aya side by side from the early 70's thats like new, (no shotgun games around here, just hunting and shooten pine cones outa trees) probably couldn't get 400 bucks for the lot of em'....until some of these imports started showing up, I always thought Mossberg was the "red headed stepchild"..

[SHOOTALL]

Enough ! you want disrespected then look no farther than a Winchester 1400 MK II . and many of them deserved the disrespect.

[scootrd]

J.C.H model 20 was one of the best pump
shotguns ever made in my humble opinion.

My dad worked for SEARS and ROEBUCK.

He bought a model 20 2ga. vent rib barrel in early '60's
He used it for years, never a problem.
He also use to hunt with his brother in Mass using a Higgins Sears and Roebuck 20 Guage Bolt action

When he passed away , some of his Rifles and shotguns were given to certain family members he was close too.
And some were set aside for me when I returned from Military duty.

I know my uncle in N.H. has the model 20 , and my cousin in Mass has the bolt shotgun.

Semper Fi

[Ladobe]

What you grew up using makes them more valuable to those of us that did maybe, not as valueable to later generations who didn't.    While I never had a JC Higgins shotgun, I still have my Nitro Marvel 12GA that is over 100 years old and still in very shootable condition.  Probably couldn't sell it for $50 on-line, maybe not even $35.   Same with my Stevens 58B 410 that has been mine since the mid 50's, in my family since the early 30's.   And the one JC Higgins/High Standard I do still have, a model 31 I got new in 1959.  A heck of a lot of auto RF's have come and gone since then, yet it is the only one that remains because none of them could compete with it in reliability.  So it matters not if their resale values are low to other folks, I still like them.   For the most part old firearms were just made better maybe, and to me at least have sentimental ties more important than the newest, latest, supposedly greatest on the market.
 
 

Enough ! you want disrespected then look no farther than a Winchester 1400 MK II . and many of them deserved the disrespect.

My 1400 20GA Modified was N48630X (so the 38630X standard 1400 made).   No idea if that was early enough to be a MK II now though, don't remember it being so marked or the differences between stock checkering patterns that was a clue.    But it was an excellent shotgun that never missed a beat.   I used it for literally everything sometimes for several years - from trap and skeet to any kind of hunting, including waterfowl a few times.  So I got pretty good with it, good enough my pards didn't like it when I brought it to the trap range as they knew they would be paying for the shoot and after treats, not me despite the 20 MOD.   It was an easy carry, so won the days hunt over all my other shotguns fairly often those years.  Not bad considering I am NOT a semi-auto fan when it comes to firearms.
 
Old slide scan from a funny duck hunt in '82 with the 1400 and a Scaup shot without a decoy spread.  We had swamped the boat going out in the dark, so waded to and were just standing in the reeds and icy water to call from.   The only score for the very windy rainy day between the 5 of us shooters, the other 4 with fancy 12GA's that a couple got off a going away shot with before I did.     BTW, that is one of their extra coats they insisted I wear, I didn't wear camo to hunt anything.
 

 
 
 

[SHOOTALL]

Ladobe , got mine about 1969 it is marked on the side of the reciver MKII  . It has been rebuilt twice ( the gas system, plastic parts ). It is a gun I also hit very well with mine was 12 ga 26 inch IC vent rib. Mine had an alum. reciver , I had not seen one with a steel reciver until a few years ago. Mine often became a single shot in the field . It has shot thousands of shells over the years , taken deer , quail , doves , turkey, limb rats , rabbits , a skunk. ground hogs ,and others. If it wasn't a jamomatic I would still hunt with it , but now it's a SX-2 ,

[Ladobe]

SHOOTALL,
 
As I said, I don't remember how mine was marked.   It would surprise me if it didn't have a steel receiver though... but again just from memory.   I just looked them up and the standard 1400's were offered from 1964-1981, the MKII's 1968-1972 per what I found.   Whether mine was from before or just after the MKII's I don't know, don't know how many 1400's they made total, or if mine in the 368XXX range of those first built would have been before or just after the MKII's either.    It was used but it was in mint condition when I traded for it in 1974.   Confirmed 1974 by just looking it up in my firearms data base - AND - that I was wrong in my post above in that I had forgot I ever had a JC Higgins shotgun.   Know that now because the 1400 data shows I in fact traded a JC Higgins Model 100 SXS 12GA (6379X) for the 1400 (and so the JCH is also listed and cross referenced).   I had remembered it as a Steven's SXS because I also had one of them then, so much for memory.   I did have the JCH for about 3 years before the trade.   Also confirmed that I sold the 1400 in 1993, so had it about 9 years.    A string from cash to cash that paid for itself well enough... I don't remember if I got much use out of the JCH, but the 1400 the dealer was asking 3X what I had paid for the JGH but made an even trade - I sold the 1400 for about 5X my original cash out for the JCH and got 9 years of use out of it.   Pretty good for two models that were not really in great demand.
 
Speaking of memory, in my case not as perfect as it once was... another good reminder why it was well worth all the trouble to keep all my receipts/records of buys/sells for decades on file, and taking the time years ago to put them all in a data base.  Still have the receipts/BOS's, but the data base is easier and faster (and backed up) with the many hundreds of firearms I've owned since the mid 50's.  It has holes in it, firearms I somehow lost the records for long ago, but overall a great tool when a thread like this comes up FWIW.

[SHOOTALL]

Mine is alum and it made it a bit barrel heavy which I liked also the much advertised rotary by one of the big name guns today was in the 1400 way back then. I wonder if the 1400 was made on the tools we have today with better materials if it would not be a top seller ? To be honest I had several and two were jam-o-matics the other never jammed. Also friends had guns that worked well . I just wore mine out I guess . But that was back when shells were $1.50 a box    boy they were the days ...........

[Ladobe]

Always considered mine made more than well enough, and liked the vent rib as you did.   It never jammed ever that I remember.   But it also was not worn out when I sold it... still looked and functioned like new.  I probably would have hung onto it if a friend didn't want it real bad.    He just wouldn't let it go.   When he later finally told me it was for a neice ready to move up for upland hunting, I offered to just give it to her.   Now way (typical proud German), so I told him to set a low price that fit into his budget.   And I told him it was too high when he did, but he insisted.  So I also gave him my last case+ of shells for it, a case of clays and a hand thrower, and the leather sheepskin lined case I had made custom for it that I insisted were just gifts to his niece.    After all, I can be proud ridgid too... I am Swiss German.    
 

[SHOOTALL]

That was nice of ya .
 
I got mine as a kid so will hand it down (for what it's worth ) to one of my kids. I got it for Christmas , my brother also got one . Well we bird hunted as there were few deer . My uncle took me to a place after Christmas lunch where there was always a covey and let me "walk them up" . Well i had hunted with a single shot until then and when the birds got up it was going to be three shots for sure . Got two birds , not bad since that was the first three shots with the gun from a 12 year old kid.

[Ladobe]

I was married near a year before you got your 1400, but when I was 12 I was still using my Steven's 58B 410 for everything, including waterfowl.
 
Another good example of shotguns that held little value yet were great for what they were... the old, cheap bolt action shotguns made by just about everybody at one time.    My Stevens 58B 410 shoots very tight full choke, so smaller game like doves/quail you kind of have to let get "out there a ways" so as not to blow them up.   It was perfect for pheasants and turkeys, cottontails/snowshoe jump shot and tight enough for the later for head shots if they didn't run.   And partds are still available for them.
 
Yet another example - the old Nitro Marvel I mentioned.   Just one of many other "hardware store" shotguns made by various makers in Europe and the US with many names on them that were cheap when brand new from the 1800's into the 1900's and often only marked with the name of the store made for.    Mine is a great single barrel single-shot 12 and very well made, and it has stood the test of time and hard use very well.   It's probably a target/light ammo 12 now, IOW I don't want to find out if it can handle high base/mags and chance destroying it.   But it is NOT just a wall hanger, it still has life left in it for hunting.
 
I don't have pictures of mine, but very similar to this 58? and exactly like this NM...
 

 

 

[gmctrucks]

Keep in mind guys I have seen parts for model 20 on ebay.

[D Fischer]

Who really cares how respected or disrespected your shotgun is? If you like it, to h*ll with everyone else.