A bona fide Winchester Trench Gun?

[JustinL]

I found this in a pawn shop earlier this week and am unsure of exactly what I bought. It appears to be a genuine US Property-marked Winchester Model 97. Of course, I am not an expert in forgeries so I am not 100% sure of this. I am also unsure as to whether or not it is a trench or riot gun. It appears a previous owner removed the handguard/bayonet lug combo to accomodate a "multi-choke" adapter. I could be wrong. I apologize for the quality of the pictures but there is only so much one can do with 240kb per photo. BTW the serial number dates to around 1950/51. Thanks in advance for any help you all can provide.

 

[JustinL]

more photos

If somebody accused me of being the world's worst photographer, I would not contest that.

 

[dreamer56]

That is cool -

do a search for winchester trench shotgun and see what turns up - a guy on the Pennsylvania forums is selling a "correct" 1897 Winchester for a couple grand - and yes - he is a better photographer than you are!

In any case - nice pawn shop find - I would be happy with that!

 

[Bill B.]

BTW the serial number dates to around 1950/51. Thanks in advance for any help you all can provide.

Unless I am looking at your pictures incorrectly you have a solid frame 97 which could be a WW I trench gun but it can't be made in 1950/51 or it will be an E series with a take down frame. These gun have had a lot of fakes made over the years to add value. It appears yours may have been a trench gun that someone turned into a hunting gun and killed the value. Most likely still worth $500 to $700 IMO given the market for 97's currently if it functions well. Check that serial #?

 

[JustinL]

I do know now how to tell a solid frame from a take down.

The Serial number is 959XXX. It is an E series gun.
The barrel is marked CYL.

 

[bushmaster1313]

I would check out Canfield's book, but based on 1950/1951 date it might not be genuine U.S. Military.

 

[Tom D]

It appears to be a WWII trench gun. The serial number is in the range of the WWII Military guns. Better photos would help, but it looks like it has all of the correct martial markings on it including a properly GHD cartouched stock. The barrel also seems to have the three transverse grooves on the underside near the muzzle for the bayonet adapator screws.

It's too bad someone removed the bayonet adaptor/hand guard and put the choke on it. That realy hurts the value. A real nice, original WWII Model 97 trench gun can fetch well over $5,000 these days.

Look on the underside of the barrel near the receiver for a date. It will likely be 42 (1942) or 43 (1943). The two digit number is sometimes hard to see because the magazine tube gets in the way. Use a flashlight if you have trouble seeing it.

 

[JustinL]

There is indeed a '43' on the underside of the barrel. I have also included a better photo of the markings on the top of the barrel. The Circled PW is also stamped on the top of the receiver. I had assumed the serial number dated to around 1950/51 as that is what is listed on proofhouse.com. My mistake.