Is the blue orginal?
That is a very nice model 12...the price was fair if the gun is in good condition, it looks to be in very good condition, so I think you did fine. You can always tell if a model 12 has been shot much by holding the unloaded gun by the forend with the barrel straight up in the air with the action open. If the gun stays open, or slowly tries to close, the gun has not had very many shells through it. If the gun closes fast and hard, it's proabably been used as a target gun, which isn't bad. You can't wear the darn things out, and there are a ton of replacement parts for any little spring or pin that could start to wear. The other test I would do is grab the gun by the barrel and and stock, if there is any wiggle the bushing in the barrel needs to be brought out a thread or two, this will tighten up the action to barrel fit. If the gun does not have any adjustment left (which some don't because how they were fit at the factory), there are shims available from brownell's for a less than 20 bucks that will work just fine. This will aid a little in accuracy.
You'll find that the 12 doesn't really kick anymore than the 16 with target loads. The 12 gauge is built on a heavier frame which will probably improve your shooting scores.
In target shooting a heavy gun with a longer barrel helps in a couple of ways.
1. More lead in the air (always a good thing)
2. The longer barrel makes a longer sight picture, wich aids in pointing. Although yours looks to have the same barrel length?
3. The added weight helps improve your swing on angled targets. I'm sure you noticed by now, the trick is to swing through your targets on crossing and angled shots. The intertia of the added weight helps insure the gun keeps moving on those targets. Swinging on a moving angled target and stopping the gun barrel is a great way to miss more birds.
4. Cheaper shells = more shooting = a better shot.
Trust me, for target shooting the 12 is the way to go...the 16 was never really built to be a target gun, although in the hands of a competent shooter, it will still knock down a lot clay birds. Its real purpose to was to be a gun that carried like a 20 gauge, and hit like a 12. IMHO the 16 is about one of the finest upland hunting rounds ever. They started to fade away when companies didn't want to invest in the materials needed to run a 16 gauge. You have to have a strong frame and action to contain that round. When compainies decided to cheapen up operations, and stick a 16 gauge barrel on a 12 gauge frame, you lost all the advantage the 16 had, a lighter to carry field gun than the 12. Deputy's 16 is a great example of a TRUE 16 frame. Great guns and getting harder to find all the time. Model 12's are built like tanks, Winchester was able to run the 16 gauge on the 20 gauge frame. That means they are a VERY light 16 gauge, wich adds to the recoil. That also means that if you see a fancy stock or a forend marked for a 20 gauge, it will fit your 16.
You should pick up a 12 gauge trap style forend, they are VERY nice to shoot. And if you look around on ebay or guntrader, sometimes you can find one cheap. I got a fancy Italian walnut trap forend last year for less than 20 bucks.
I think with the popularity of bird hunting making some what of a comeback, I think were poised to see the "re-birth" of the true 16 gauge.
