Win 1897 info

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sawdeanz

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I'm seeing a 1909 one for sale in my area. It's in pretty rough shape on the outside so I was thinking of turning it into a trench gun - replica. I see the heatshield/bayonet lug available some places.

What's the strength on these? I'm not concerned about firing magnum loads but I wouldn't be interested if it couldn't at least shoot walmart-ammo or other commonly found shells. Would this be mitigated by a new barrel?

Also I haven't found a source for barrels (repro or otherwise). Could I cut it down from the ~30" barrel or would I need a different profile for the heatshield.

What would be a good price for this year with about no bluing left?

Would an ithaca be a better host? I'm a little confused, were there two different trench guns?

Thanks for your help.
 
I got one that was mechanically strong made in 1906, it was in cosmetic condition similar to yours. What I did, was I completely disassembled mine and cleaned it up, removed the rust (surface for the most part) polished the inside of the barrel as it had some pitting. I completely re-did the stock and the fore end, using a Winchester reddish finish. Had the entire gun re-blued and left every thing else intact. Fact is, it looks like it just came out of the factory. I've only shot light quail/trap loads thru it, and it has held up very well. I have other shotguns available to me so if I have the inkling to shoot magnum loads I'll use one of my other guns.
 
Check to see what the chamber length is. As I recall, they measured it differently when these guns were manufactured (roll crimped shells then and star crimp now). So even if it says 2 3/4" it might be too short to safely shoot modern 2 3/4". Over the years many of these shotguns were reamed out to fit modern 2 3/4."
 
I'm a little confused, were there two different trench guns?
Click to expand...
Yes, there were two different Trench Guns used in WWI.
Winchester Model 97.
Winchester Model 12.

By WWII, there were 8 different brands used, including the Model 37.
Here is a list of shotguns used during WWII.

http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/wwIItms/TM9_285_1942.pdf

During Vietnam, the Ithaca37, and Winchester Model 1200 were most common.

During Iraq, the Mossberg Model 500 & 590 was widely used.

rc
 
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