Winchester Model 1897 12ga help request

[Viking Guy]

Guys,

A friend has asked for help getting his 97 in runnning order. I suspect there are more than a few things wrong here. First off, it has been reblued by someone in his family at a date unknown. It is missing the action slide lock and spring, the left cartridge stop and screw, and a forearm screw. The odd thing is that the action slide only has the words "Winchester Model 1897". There is no patent date, etc. I suspect this may be a replacement. The gun is not a takedown model. The serial number is 284170 with a "C" above the s/n denoting I believe the third change within the 97 series.

From what I have been able to find, the gun seems to be fairly early (I can't seem to find an exact year). It's a shame it has been reblued but it is what it is. Certainly it will be his call to get the thing back in working order but at what cost? I know family history means a lot and you can't really put a price on that.

Any insight will be much appreciated.

TIA
VG

[gwp]

These sites may help:

http://marauder.homestead.com/Model97sn.html

http://marauder.homestead.com/97info.html

[Viking Guy]

gwp

Thanks. Either my ISP is not cooperating or those sites are dead.

Thanks
VG

[gwp]

From: http://www.winchesterguns.com/support/files/images/wfa/2012-All/2012-Articles/Winchester-Manufacture-Dates-by-Year----2012-Scanned-Documents.pdf

RECORDS AT THE FACTORY INDICATE THE FOLLOWING SERlALNUMBERS WERE
ASSIGNED TO GUNS AT THE END OF THE CALENDAR YEAR.
MODEL 1897
1897- 1 TO 32335 1928- 796806
98- 64668 29 - 807321
99- 96999 30- 812729
1900- 129332 31- 830721
01- 161665 32- 833926
02- 193998 33- 835637
03- 226331 34- 837364
04- 258664 35 - 839728
05 - 296037 36- 848684
06 - 334059 37- 856729
07- 377999 38- 860725
08- 413618 39- 866938
09- 446888 40- 875945
10- 481062 41- 891190
11- 512632 42- 910072
12- 544313 43- 912265
13- 575213 44 - 912327
14- 592732 45- 916472
]5- 607673 46- 926409
16- 624537 47- 936682
17- 646124 48 - 944085
18- 668383 49 - 953042
19 - 691943 50- 961999
20- 696183 51 . 970956
21 . 700428 52- 979913
22- 715902 53- 988860
23- 732060 54- 997827
24- 744942 55- 1006784
25- 757629 56 - 1015741
26- 770527 57- 1024700
27 - 783574
RECORDS ON THIS MODEL ARE INCOMPLETE. THE ABOVE SERIAL NUMBERS ARE
ESTIMATED FROM 1897 THRU 1903 AND AGAIN FROM 1949 THRU 1957. THE ACTUAL
RECORDS ARE IN EXISTANCE FROM 1904 THROUGH 1949.

This is the same information from the first site from the previous post. The second site

http://marauder.homestead.com/97info.html

lists the changes to the 1893 and 1897 shotguns. This site is still active.

[Viking Guy]

gwp,

Once again, thank you. For some reason my browser will not let me on to the site. Here's what I get:


Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage

So, I'll try from another computer at another time. I do appreciate the time and effort on my behalf.

VG

[emmagee1917]

These lists are not worth the paper they're not written on. They are telling me my '41 dated trench , E934954 , was made in '47 . Must have been given to Starfleet for one of thier time trips.
Chris

[gwp]

These lists are not worth the paper they're not written on. They are telling me my '41 dated trench , E934954 , was made in '47 . Must have been given to Starfleet for one of thier time trips.
Chris

I belive the SN range for WWII produced Winchester Model 97 Military shotguns is in the 920,000 - 960,000 range.