Good question- went to the Madis book on M12- page 67 -ad from Cutts Comp. in June 1939 National Sportsman- shows Cutts for Winchester M 12- Rem. Sportsman- etc. No direct mention of the M42 Win. although the last line of the ad installation arranged by sporting goods dealers for 12 through .410 gauges. pages 52 and 53 give more detail- so I will Ass-U-Me that Winchester used the same proceedure(s) for the little M42 as they did for the M12; If factory ordered on Model 12- the Cutts would have a step at the rear-the OAL barrel length would usually be 28" (again, I assume to the front of the choke "cage" as a Full choke tube was way longer than a spreader tube-and there would be NO choke marked on the barrel at the receiver end, as on a std. M12 w/0 choke device- After market-some guys sent their M12's (and possibly M42's as well) back to Winchester for installation- still the step when the barrel was cut, and then the Cutts installed- but whatever original choke was in the barrel when mfg.'d still was stamped on the barrel and NOT obliterated by the Custom Shop-I believe the M42 first came out around 1933- partly developed by Bill Roehmer (one of the designers of the great Model 21) so by 1939 I would GUESS-Cutts was making their Compensators for that Model- Best of luck- the M42 is a "cutie"-never owned one- I like big birds and 12 gauges-but I read that "Ike" used a Model 42 for quail-not too shabby!!!RWTF
Last edited by Run With The Fox; 09/16/08 07:22 AM.
