I am considering buying an 1897. The one I was offered looks good for it's age but it won't lock when the action is closed. I compared it to another (not for sale) and as far as I can see all the parts are there (not mine yet-didn't take it apart). The schematic I found shows a C shaped part which pivots on a screw at the front of the breech block on the left side and apparently engages with the action bar to lock the action. Does this part break often? Is there something else I should be looking for?
Winchester model 1897
- Thread starter PShooter
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The 97 has a slide lock that some CAS shooters disable because they think they can speed shoot them faster. Can't tell you how to check and see if it's broke or disabled but a M97 gunsmith should be able to fix without very much trouble. Offer less money to cover the cost of the gunsmith.
ShakyJake
Member
+1 with Bill B.
This is a very popular SASS Shotgun. A great tank of a gun, the grandfather of the 1200 and 12 and 1300. Modern pumps, and that includes the new knock-offs, just don't Ker-junk with the same ominous authority that the ole '97 does. My Model 1300 is almost wimpy by comparison. A competent gunsmith should be able to handle the demodification. I agree also that the seller should pay for the repair (especially if SASS member). I really fail to see how it affects the operation that much, then I just can't take those milliseconds that seriously over operational reliability.
Dead on reliable under normal conditions. Mine even had the old cigarette, cigar, back room smell in the stock. It reportedly was manufactured in 1906. Only severe money woes forced selling that sweetheart.:banghead:
TaKe CaRe
Ted
This is a very popular SASS Shotgun. A great tank of a gun, the grandfather of the 1200 and 12 and 1300. Modern pumps, and that includes the new knock-offs, just don't Ker-junk with the same ominous authority that the ole '97 does. My Model 1300 is almost wimpy by comparison.
A competent gunsmith should be able to handle the demodification. I agree also that the seller should pay for the repair (especially if SASS member). I really fail to see how it affects the operation that much, then I just can't take those milliseconds that seriously over operational reliability.Dead on reliable under normal conditions. Mine even had the old cigarette, cigar, back room smell in the stock. It reportedly was manufactured in 1906. Only severe money woes forced selling that sweetheart.:banghead:
TaKe CaRe
Ted
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mljdeckard
Member
I agree. My dad has two of them, one 12 and one 16, and he's had them worked on, all of the parts are available and the gunsmithing is straightforward.
I have a few 97s, and a couple of replicas that Coyote Cap has smoothed out for me. I carry one of the replicas in the trunk of my work car, no one can tell the difference, and all the kids on the job just wait for the old guy to haul out his wheelgun or his old style shotgun(most of them have never held a revolver).
The M97 is in fact somewhat related to the M12, however it(and the M12) have absolutely no relation to the model 1200 or the Model 1300, the actions are entirely different-not better just different. The 1300 is an OK police/military gun(it is now put out by FN as the FNP), the 1200 was pure junk as a tactical weapon. The Chicago PD bought hundreds of them in the early 70s to replace the older 97s and 12s. Within a year 90% of the 1200s were DOA. and the older guns were reissued till the CPD could replace the 1200s with Ithaca 37s-that was a good call.
The M97 (and the M12) do have an authoritative sound when racked into battery, but the tale about that sound scaring the crap out of the BG is just that, crap. Do not let some gun shop commando wannabe tell you that. It just ain't so. Yeah I keep any loaded SG cruiser ready, that is loaded mag, empty chamber, if I rack the gun it means I am preparing to shoot, like now! The only guys that sound scares is the cop ahead of the cop in the stairwell that has racked his SG, which means that some guy is behind you, all pumped up, with a shell chambered, and most likely the safety off. I once had a round go off behind me in that exact situation, I ceased ops for the time necessary to grab the gun and use it to give its former operator a vertical butt stroke. After that I made that guy go in front of me while I periodically racked an empty(unknown to him) SG. He got the message.
Point is, that for the guys who matter-the bad guys-the "sound" simply has no effect whatsoever, they are usually doped up, drunk, or so hyped by the potential of doing violence, they are not thinking straight, that is why they need shooting not psychological defense on the part of the potential victim.
Back to the M97, great guns, they just are a little stiff for the first half century or so.
The M97 is in fact somewhat related to the M12, however it(and the M12) have absolutely no relation to the model 1200 or the Model 1300, the actions are entirely different-not better just different. The 1300 is an OK police/military gun(it is now put out by FN as the FNP), the 1200 was pure junk as a tactical weapon. The Chicago PD bought hundreds of them in the early 70s to replace the older 97s and 12s. Within a year 90% of the 1200s were DOA. and the older guns were reissued till the CPD could replace the 1200s with Ithaca 37s-that was a good call.
The M97 (and the M12) do have an authoritative sound when racked into battery, but the tale about that sound scaring the crap out of the BG is just that, crap. Do not let some gun shop commando wannabe tell you that. It just ain't so. Yeah I keep any loaded SG cruiser ready, that is loaded mag, empty chamber, if I rack the gun it means I am preparing to shoot, like now! The only guys that sound scares is the cop ahead of the cop in the stairwell that has racked his SG, which means that some guy is behind you, all pumped up, with a shell chambered, and most likely the safety off. I once had a round go off behind me in that exact situation, I ceased ops for the time necessary to grab the gun and use it to give its former operator a vertical butt stroke. After that I made that guy go in front of me while I periodically racked an empty(unknown to him) SG. He got the message.
Point is, that for the guys who matter-the bad guys-the "sound" simply has no effect whatsoever, they are usually doped up, drunk, or so hyped by the potential of doing violence, they are not thinking straight, that is why they need shooting not psychological defense on the part of the potential victim.
Back to the M97, great guns, they just are a little stiff for the first half century or so.
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