"new" JC Higgins 12 gauge pump shotgun

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Sep 5, 2025
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When my younger brother and I were teenagers, we used our father's and elder brother's JC Higgins Model 20 pump 12 gauge shotguns (two slightly differing models). These were manufactured by High Standard Manufacturing Company for Sears.

Many years later my elder brother gifted the shotgun to me. Unfortunately, it was a Safe Queen, as I didn't have a need for it.

A couple of years ago my younger son asked me for it. I wasn't using it, and it would go to him sometime in the (hopefully!) distant future, so I gave it to him. He uses it regularly.

Fast forward to now, I have a need (and a want) for a 12 gauge shotgun ... and bought one at auction at a good price. The price was low as the blueing is mostly missing, although the wood is good. I'm looking into blueing it myself as a project.

When I picked it up at the local FFL, the older gentleman who checked me in asked what I was receiving. When I said "JC Higgins" his face lit up!! He obviously has fond memories of this model.
 
That's awesome! Nothing beats that old-school nostalgia, especially with a classic JC Higgins 12-gauge pump. You know you got a solid gun when the FFL guy lights up, that's the ultimate seal of approval, post pics when you finish that re-blueing project.
 
That's awesome! Nothing beats that old-school nostalgia, especially with a classic JC Higgins 12-gauge pump. You know you got a solid gun when the FFL guy lights up, that's the ultimate seal of approval, post pics when you finish that re-blueing project.
In the 50's and 60's, the JC Higgins were popular. My younger brother and I shot trap with these shotguns, putting a LOT of rounds through them.

Refinishing the shotgun is going to be a longer term project. The wood looks fine, but it looks like someone took steel wool to the metal. That needs to be addressed first.
 

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