Winchester Model 1897
The Winchester Model 1897 is probably one of the most well-known and widely recognized pump-action shotguns ever created. Known not only for its widespread use in the Old West (as well as movies, shows, and even games centered around the Old West), but also for its notable use by US Soldiers in both World Wars and even the Vietnam War, the M1897 can be seen both as a military and police shotgun as well as just a good all-around shotgun for hunting and recreation. The one featured in this review has been used quite successfully in skeet shooting, for example. Let's go ahead and learn a bit more about this shotgun.
Here we see the right-hand side of the Winchester M1897 shotgun. This particular one is a 12 Gauge and features a 20in. (50.8cm) barrel with a cylinder bore and has a tube magazine capacity of five 2.75in. shells. Worth noting, these shotguns cannot chamber 3.0in. shells, and steel shot and magnum loads, etc., should be avoided in these shotguns. Three-dram equivalent shells are also not advised for firing from these shotguns. This particular shotgun was originally made with a longer barrel (approx. 26-28in. (66-71cm) in length) with a full choke and was modified by its previous owner via a barrel length reduction. It was reduced beyond the choke, so now it simply has a cylinder bore. A new bead sight was also installed, and it appears this shotgun's metal and furniture has been refinished at least once before. That said, aside from the "FULL" stamping on the chamber area, this shotgun is now an alright example of what Winchester's "Riot" model that was marketed towards law enforcement would have looked like.
The business end of the shotgun doesn't have much going on: a very simple bead sight (which we'll look at closer later) and a flat-faced magazine tube. All pretty basic stuff. You can also see how there is a screw-tightened clamp that holds the magazine tube to the barrel on these shotguns, as well.
The M1897 has a single action bar linking the pump to the bolt inside the receiver. While this is in no way a problem, you'll probably notice many modern shotguns have switched to having dual action bars so that they are a little smoother-cycling.
Skipping the receiver, we see the buttstock. As you can tell, it's pretty basic. Just a nice wooden stock with a plastic buttplate. Underneath this buttplate is a hole going a few inches into the stock itself for the stock screw that attaches it to the receiver.
As you can see, the Winchester M1897 does not have a loading gate. When you load a shell into this shotgun, you are using the bottom of the bolt carrier assembly as a guide into the magazine tube. This has the pro of making reloading a very easy task without having to worry about pinching your thumb or the fabric of a glove, but it does mean the shotgun is a little more susceptible to dirt entering its action.
Here is the shotgun with the pump pushed rearward. Take note of the large bolt body coming rearwards out the back of the receiver. This piece has occasionally been nicknamed the knuckle-duster as too high of a grip on the buttstock/grip area of the shotgun can result in a bloody thumb knuckle.
Like most any other pump shotgun, the M1897 can be cycled after firing with the only effort being pulling rearward on the slide. However, the slide is locked in place if the firearm is cocked and ready to fire. See that circular piece that's sticking out the side of the receiver my finger is touching? This button is your pump release. Simply depress it and you can cycle the pump by-hand.
Worth noting, this is the only control on the M1897 (later models had two more buttons, one on either side, used to empty the magazine tube) as it lacks a manual safety of any sort other than manually lowering the hammer to the half-cock position on a live round. Their manual-of-arms insofar as a safety is concerned is practically identical to any single-action revolver of the time.
Worth noting, this is the only control on the M1897 (later models had two more buttons, one on either side, used to empty the magazine tube) as it lacks a manual safety of any sort other than manually lowering the hammer to the half-cock position on a live round. Their manual-of-arms insofar as a safety is concerned is practically identical to any single-action revolver of the time.
Let's start again with the hammer fully rearward as this is where the hammer would be if you were to have just chambered a round (cycled the shotgun). Go ahead and rest your thumb on it, as well, firmly.
If you needed to make the M1897 "safe" while keeping it loaded, you would have to do what you see here: put your thumb on the hammer, pull the trigger, and slowly allow the hammer to fall about halfway forward. Then you can release the trigger, and continue to let the hammer fall slowly until it stops.
You can see here that my thumb has continued to ride the hammer forward, but I am no longer pulling the trigger on the firearm. This allows the hammer to fall and stop at the half-cock position, which is the only "safety" this firearm has. While this may seem quite unsafe today, on practically every firearm of that time with an exposed hammer, this was the norm. Lever-action rifles of the time are also an excellent example of this.
As mentioned, the hammer should stop here, at the half-cock position. This position locks the hammer in place to where it cannot move further forward, preventing it from striking the firing pin, as you can see here. Then, whenever you need to fire, you simply recock the hammer by-hand and fire.
However, I feel it worth noting that lowering the hammer by-hand on a loaded chamber can be a little unsafe if you've got wet/sweaty hands, aren't too sure of what you're doing, or a list of things, really. Therefore, unless you absolutely must have the gun ready-to-go via cocking the hammer (such as when hunting and pumping the gun would scare away prey), I highly suggest keeping the M1897 "cruiser ready". That is, five in the tube, empty chamber, and the hammer forward. If the shotgun is needed for whatever reason, you can simply pump it and pull the trigger since there is no safety on the M1897 beyond the half-cock position.
However, I feel it worth noting that lowering the hammer by-hand on a loaded chamber can be a little unsafe if you've got wet/sweaty hands, aren't too sure of what you're doing, or a list of things, really. Therefore, unless you absolutely must have the gun ready-to-go via cocking the hammer (such as when hunting and pumping the gun would scare away prey), I highly suggest keeping the M1897 "cruiser ready". That is, five in the tube, empty chamber, and the hammer forward. If the shotgun is needed for whatever reason, you can simply pump it and pull the trigger since there is no safety on the M1897 beyond the half-cock position.
Here's a look at the front bead sight of the shotgun. This one was added by the previous owner after the barrel chop, but I don't know how accurately this would represent the original bead sight on an original Riot or Trench Model 1897 shotgun since this one is new-production.
The rear "sight" is a lot like a single-action revolver in that it's a groove that you simply look "through" and align the front bead with the center/bottom of said groove. It's a very simple but usable design.
As you can see, aiming the M1897 is about as precise as you'd imagine a bead-and-groove arrangement to be. It won't be the best for slugs (and I would not recommend firing slugs out of an M1897, to begin with), but for skeet, trap or other up-close and quick-moving shooting with shot, it is beyond adequate.
That should cover about everything on the Winchester M1897 shotgun. Worth noting: I mentioned that the sights are not too dissimilar from an old single-action revolver or other kind of "cowboy gun". That is not the only thing. Like you saw, this shotgun has an exposed hammer (again, like a SA revolver or lever-action), and only fires after the hammer has been fully cocked... again, like a SA revolver or lever-action. This shotgun also features no disconnect for the hammer. That means, if you hold the trigger down while pumping the M1897, the shotgun will fire every time the pump closes and goes fully into battery. This is called "slam-firing," and it is the equivalent of "fanning" a revolver. Keep this in mind with your M1897 shotgun, as its lack of a manual safety and disconnect can easily mean a negligent discharge if you're not paying attention to your trigger finger when chambering a new cartridge. This, of course, applies to any firearm, as well, regardless of its design, so if you're practicing your firearms' safety appropriately, this should not be an issue.