doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Win. 1897 as a serious duck gun?

They do make a magazine spring kit 'as of late' that will allow the magazine to hold six shells.

The trick used with double gunning (pair of guns and loader) was to take one driven bird first with the choke bore then change guns and take a pair in front before swapping again to take a pair behind. I would doubt if all were still in the air at the same time. There are tales of Walsingham and DeGrey standing side by side at a drive and taking all eight driven partridge coming over between them. Lagopus.....

Five pages to say YES, it is an excellent duck gun..I shoot lotsa ducks with 2 3/4 inch steel number #1's Aint rocket science..

Here's a nice one.

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/585652497

One of the last ones made, by pricing on the label,, the serial number, and also by the field "beavertail" forearm, the earlier M97's had the 18 ring "corncob" style forearm, smaller in dia., and the mid-1930's M97's showed a slight change in the shape of the pistol grip and the comb fluting as well-one of the best pump shotguns extant--

I have 3 1897's that I use mostly for cowboy shooting, a Chinese one (and the parts are NOT interchangeable), an E model in 12 gauge with a 30" barrel choked modified and a C model 16 gauge 30" barrel choked full.

I would definitely recommend getting the E model. Some will hold 6 in the tube, some will hold 5. A 97 does not like to be babied, if you baby it, that's when you'll get jams and hang ups. Ejection problems not related to the gun being babied are usually one of 2 things, the left hand extractor is broken, which you can tell with the bolt open, if you don't see the tail of the spring or it isn't under tension, the extractor spring is broken. The ejected is a little spring that is on the left side and is held in place by a screw. If the tab is bent too far back, there isn't enough energy to eject the shell.

3 for Ducks...That's what this thread is about (or was)...They don't need to be pretty to drag in and out of a muddy blind...

No one wants to hunt with a worn out piece of junk....

That does look like a clean one, but I'm going to call about a 32" one tomorrow morning. A little more worn looking, but it's an "E" model.

Thanks, jOe.

SRH

Any 12 gauge Model 12 with the special order 32" barrel carries a bit of a premium over the more common 30" tube. More M12's in 12 gauge in field guns had 30" full choked plain barrels than any other available combination from 1914 through 1964. Not sure if that carries over with the Model 1897, but it may well be. In the Depression era, the Model 12 field gun sold for $10.00 than the Model 97 field gun-- a drop from the pre- 1930 pricing for both these great repeaters. One theory for the great popularity back in those pre-WW2 years of the 30" full over the 28" barrels offered by WRA- farmer thrift- you got 2" more steel with the 30" barreled M12 or M97 than you got with a 28" barrel, for the same price. I have a 1949 era 3" Magnum Model 12 gauge with a 32" full choked barrel with solid rib-both the 32" barrel and the solid rib make it worth a bit more than my other 3" Magnum M12- made in 1939 with the std. 30" plain barrel full choke. Go figure the market on that, hey??