Does this look like the real McCoy U.S. 1897?

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Im by no means an authority on this subject but it looks legit to me. Could it have been in the arsenal until WWII and marked at that time? Looks nice .
 
It's earlier than 1923 mfg. The shotgun was probably serialized in 1920 because I have one slightly higher in number that was serialized that year.

But what bothers me most about the gun is that no WWI Military M1897 riot gun (at least to my knowledge) has ever been authenticated with hand stamped "US" and Ordnance flaming bomb markings. Only some of the WWI trench guns were so marked. The WWI riot guns are usually found unmarked or with a factory applied small "U.S." mark on the left rear side of the receiver above the trigger guard. And, the "U.S." marking on the subject shotgun looks a bit suspect to me. I would have to examine the gun in question to be sure. Also, the fact that it was made post WWI is troubling too.
 
Good idea to give Bruce Canfield a few $$$ if you're going shopping for .mil-marked shotguns!

http://www.amazon.com/Canfields-Complete-United-Military-Shotguns/dp/1931464286

In short, that's the proper location and marking (including the hand stamped part) for some (not all) WW1 TRENCH guns.

WW1 RIOT guns (that were marked, not all were) were marked US on the LEFT side of the receiver above the trigger pin, the ord bomb was on the bottom of the receiver between the serial # and the loading port and on top of the barrel in front of the receiver. Serial # range for WW1 riots should be in the 650,000 range. I don't see any indication there was any official acquisition of riots after 1919, there were a few Win 97 trench guns made for the commercial market in the late 1920s - early 1930s but they were not .mil marked.

There have been a good many attempts at fakes for .mil marked shotguns, caution is the watchword here. LOTS of study is needed to know what you're doing in this field of collecting.

fwiw,

lpl
 
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