[ACP230]

I have been dancing around the purchase of a Winchester 97 pump gun for a lot of years. A friend had sound one in 16 gauge minus most of the finish that I would have bought in a second, but he sold it to someone else. He got another "guard gun 97" later that was too expensive for my wallet.

At a gun show a month ago I found another 16 gauge at a fairly decent price but was broke again.

I used to see a guy do good work with one at a bowling pin shoot for years. Then he stopped because he said parts were too hard to find.

Has anyone used one of these in competition or for hunting? Got any stories you'd like to share?

[Jim Watson]

They are popular and common in Cowboy Action Shooting. Light loads but rapid fire. The experts will amaze you. A lot of old guns are being dug out of closets and shot, there are gunsmiths working on the beat up ones. And the Communist Chinese are making fakes at low prices, if you want to support them on more than sneakers.

[ACP230]

I have never seriously considered buying a Chinese M97. They look pretty crude to me.

I want an original M97, preferably a 16 gauge. I plan to keep wandering around hoping to stumble across one when I have both the inclination and the dinero.

[Detritus]

will have to agree that the early norinco 97 copies were mighty crappy looking, the current batches, (the walnut stocked "coach guns", and the "trench gun" version) are much improved and more on par with what the originals were/would have been like new. do not make the mistake of comparing how smooth a pre-war original 97 is to how the chinese copies are fresh out of the wrapper, the original has been "broke in" adn then some.
i don't know which models you've encountered, but if they were some of the early import batches, then those were definately not truly indicative of what's out there now.

that said i respect your choice to go with a REAL 97, esp since you say you want a 16ga.
if i'd had the money 2 years back i would have bought the 16ga 97 with the factory 24" barrel that was being sold by a member of the CAS group i'd just joined.. but not only was a short of funds but i'd also decided that i wanted a 12ga SxS (easier to use without fumbling shells) as match gun.

[LostOneToo]

I have an original 12ga '97 my best friend left me when he died. I am reworking it and have put a 20 in barrel on in place of the 30 in it had. Have had no problems getting parts for it from GunParts.com. It's in great shape and I can't wait to get it finished and take it out to the range.;)