Winchester 97

[dirty dave]

Who knows if all Winchesters had smaller chambers than 2 3/4 ?Did all 16 & 20's shoot them when did they start using 2 3/4 shells in these guns?

 

[mljdeckard]

Um, my dad had a 12 and a 16, they both take 2 3/4s. I don't know the date in the 16, IIRC the 12 is from 1912.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Most of the early Model 97's that I've seen had short chambers. They were chambered for the 2 5/8" shells of the day, which were also roll crimped, rather than star crimped, which made them even shorter. They also had short forcing cones in a lot of cases, since they were chambered by hand. You can tell if the chamber of your gun is short by looking at the plastic of a fired shell. It the mouth of the hull is feathered, or shredded, then the chamber is too short and pressures will rise.

To the best of my knowledge, the Model 97 was never chambered in 20 gauge. The Winchester Model 12 was brought out in 20 Gauge from the very beginning, since they didn't want it to compete with the Model 97. It wasn't until a couple of years later that the Model 12 was made in 12 gauge.

Hope this helps.

Fred