1897 riot ???

[joem]

I've been watching at auction a 1897 take down 12 ga that is listed as a trench gun. I've never heard of a take down being a trench gun. Seems strange to me.

[Keydet92]

joem,
Are you sure it's a Model 1897 and not a Model 97? WWII Model 97 trench guns were take-downs. WWI Model 1897 riot guns would also be solid-frame (per-Canfield).

[joem]

Possibly, I just looked at it and have no interest in bidding.

[Johnny P]

A Model 1897 and a Model 97 are the same gun. Several of Winchester's guns that dated from the 1890's were marked "Model of 1897" or whichever model they were. A few years after the turn of the century Winchester decided to change the model designation to bring it into the 20th century even though it was the same gun. The Model 1892 became the Model 92, the Model 1894 the Model 94, and so on even though they were the same gun.

[Keydet92]

Johnny P,
I completely agree with you, minor evolutionary changes not withstanding. I'm just saying that if it's a take down trench gun marked Model 1897 then something is probably wrong.

[joem]

It's is listed as a 97. It's pretty rough with deep pits here and there. Looks like it had a hard life.

[scosgt]

WWI Win 97 trench guns were solid frame
WWII Win 97 trench guns were takedown.
Over and out.

[Art]

The Model 97 is a textbook case on how to put a company into bankruptcy. The gun was produced from 1897 to 1957. By 1957 it had been surpassed by just about every other companies pump gun (the Rem. Model 670 was introduced in 1951 and it still took Winchester five years to get the message.) It stayed in production by Winchester 44 years after the near legendary Model 12 was introduced. Why it was kept in production past 1913 or '14 is a mammoth mystery to me, it certainly isn't because it was better or cheaper than the Model 12.

[scosgt]

Maybe because people were willing to pay for it.
Mystery solved.

[hyrax222]

Some peeps like external hammers. Some like lack of trigger disconnects.