Not a rifle, Win 97

[RBHarter]

I love my BPS .
The 37 in 16ga is ok .
5 M12s one of them kicks like mule and rides up , a real shiner maker . One is just an instinct Widowmaker , of course Dad spent weeks fitting it just so . One is a 1914 with letters explaining why it has a parts bin 1968 SN , for me it's a near perfect factory fit , a little cast on wouldn't hurt anything. The others are just hock shop orphans that needed a home one has the headspace too tight the other is black oxide matt .....

 

[Bret4207]

DAD had a couple, grew up on a 16ga. I have that 16ga and both his Model 12's. And His Grandfather's Wards Western Field 20ga. Bought a Model 97 and modified it for Cowboy Shooting. Cut bbl to 18 1/2" , fitted with choke tubes, reblued and refinished the stock. A Recoil pad to finish.
Model 97 & 1897 are Great guns. Even took a few Dove with the 16ga, just to say I did.
I was told by a Wichester Collector that all 6 digit serial numbered guns were 2 3/4" chambered. And all true Trench guns were too. As the U.S. only issued 2 3/4" shells. By 1918 the U.S. issued all brass cased shells for Trench guns.
Hang on to that M97, they are great shotguns.

Pretty sure this is a for real Trench Gun as it has the handguard, bayonet mount etc.

 

[Bret4207]

Any of you retired peace officers remember the old horizontal shotgun mounts that were under your legs at the front of the front seat?

HAR! I was NYSP from '87-'09. For the first 20 years if you had a shotgun with you, it was stored in the trunk, not in a mount of any kind, just in the trunk with the first aid kit, flares and spare tire! Towards the end we got a rack in the van and I think the road guys had a rack on the truck interior lid. Of course you also had the passenger seat blocked by a computer or 2, printer, radios, etc. Must have been a lot of fun to ride 2 to a car on midnights!

 

[Walks]

The mark of a real Trench gun is the Ornance stamp, aka the Flaming Bomb. Regardless, ya got a piece of history.

 

[RicinYakima]

The mark of a real Trench gun is the Ornance stamp, aka the Flaming Bomb. Regardless, ya got a piece of history.

Also remember that they were also made for LE for about 10 years after WW1 since the parts were available. No Ordnance stamp, but all the right parts.

 

[Bret4207]

Okay, so much for my memory. Way, waaaay too much stuff rattling around up there. The handguard wasn't on the '97, that was on an M1 Carbine stacked beside it. The '97 does have the bayonet mount though so I guess that makes it a riot gun, not a trench gun. Having been to a couple of riots, I can sort of see the benefits of a bayonet, although that's probably not at all PC or "inclusive"! Still, it's a neat old shotgun. Heavy, but interesting if for no other reason than the history.

 

[Jeff H]

Okay, so much for my memory. Way, waaaay too much stuff rattling around up there. The handguard wasn't on the '97, that was on an M1 Carbine stacked beside it. The '97 does have the bayonet mount though so I guess that makes it a riot gun, not a trench gun. Having been to a couple of riots, I can sort of see the benefits of a bayonet, although that's probably not at all PC or "inclusive"! Still, it's a neat old shotgun. Heavy, but interesting if for no other reason than the history.

Maybe it once did have a handguard? Bayonet lug is harder to take off and lose track of.

 

[Bret4207]

I didn 't see any sign of anything being removed or an Ordnance Bomb. Honestly, the old girl is rough! Between the rust, pitting, what appears to be, by smell anyway, cat pee! and dirt it's hard to see much other than it being marked "CYL", "Winchester" and not much else. I've hosed her down and wiped off what I could. Have to wait for warmer weather, or more likely some time when the furnace in the shop is running, to do much more.

 

[ScottM65]

I killed my first turkey with a Winchester 97.