46 years later I still have this shotgun

[Clark]

Back in 1936 this Winchester 1897 pump 12 ga shotgun was manufactured.
It was sawed off to 18.5" and put in the ship's hold of a 4 masted schooner named "The C.S. Holmes".

Then the C.S. Homes was demasted in WWII and used as a sea going barge.

The shotguns were removed. The ship sunk.

Then my aunt married the owner and captain of the C.S. Holmes.
Then for Christmas in 1959 my father was given that shot gun.
My father took it to Warshall's Sporting Goods store in Seattle and had it rebarrelled.
In 1963 Remington came out with the new 1100 model, my father got one.
I recieved the old Winchester shotgun as a hand me down.

I was hunting doves in Moxee, fell, got a muzzle full of dirt, and then blew up the muzzle.
We got the end hack sawed off at a gas station, and I actually shot more game with a short open cylinder barrel with no front sight than I did with the long full choke.
In 1965 I was a very good 14 year old pheasant hunter. I would limit before any of the adult men in the party would get anything.
Now in 2012, I still have the shotgun.

 

[WardenWolf]

A great story, and a great looking old gun. Thanks for sharing!

 

[mps111]

A great story, and a great looking old gun. Thanks for sharing!
+1

 

[ultradoc]

nice story.nice gun

 

[gp911]

Great story, thanks for sharing the pictures!

 

[Gordon]

This made my day Clark. So you been blowing up guns since you were a kid?

 

[Salmoneye]

I am a great proponent of the polychoke, and it's various copies...

Nice gun...Nice story...

 

[Dave McCracken]

Thanks for posting, and making my day a little better.....

 

[snooperman]

Same here...

I love this kind of story. Thanks, Snoop

 

[CWL]

Great story. Nice lookin' shotgun, nice pics and nice dog too!

 

[OARNGESI]

So the barrel is less than 18in now?

 

[Clark]

~ 12 years ago at Lynnwood guns there was a deal on another 1897.
https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!topic/rec.guns/dOP2Vj6suhs
It was $140 1.5 guns.
Enough parts to make a whole 1897 shotgun.

I bought this video:
http://www.americangunsmith.com/view.php?id=43

I can take apart or put together an 1897, as long as I am watching that video.

There are ~ 100 parts in an 1897. That is ~ twice as many parts as most guns.

I sold the extra parts.

 

[shiftyer1]

U may want to put that history on paper and also tell your children the stories. It would be a shame to lose the history.

 

[Owen Sparks]

Why was it re-barreled? Was it damaged by the salt air at sea? I hear that is terrible on firearms. Did you ever get a new front sight bead installed?

 

[Clark]

It was sawed off to 18.5" for the ship.

That video explains some of the real complexities in re barreling a 97. Special tooling is required.
Swapping uppers and lowers in take down models and then shooting can result in shotgun shells stuck in the chamber due to an offset.

 

[ole farmerbuck]

Thanks for posting, and making my day a little better.....

Agree. Now my day IS better.

 

[DM~]

Great story, thanks for posting.

DM

 

[murdoc rose]

woo great tale and love gordons comment

 

[Sebastian the Ibis]

Great story. I was wondering how you were going to blow it up

 

[Red Cent]

I have been through a number of '97s in the last 10 years. Still have a couple of solid frames. In front of me on the desk are two '97 barrels, one, a 30" with a polychoke on it. Primo condition. Gotta pick up another takedown model.

That was a neat story. Might be a really interesting read to fill in more details if possible.

 

[mingo]

Great story...someway it's nice to read something like this on a gun forum. Fathers, Guns, and respect come to mind somehow.

mingo

 

[lukedsh]

I like the happy ending and the gun. Its just something about guns with a story.

 

[Geno]

This is one of the best threads I have seen in quite some time. Thanks for posting it, and especially the photos.

Geno

 

[xtra870]

I hope to have stories lie this of my own someday. But for now the only used gun i have bought is an 11-87 Premier and its in too good of condition to have a story like this lol

 

[psyopspec]

What a fantastic story. Thank you.