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Bert or one of you winchester guys

hillbille
Just got a model 97 and was wondering if you could give me a year of production serial # 244051. It has the 1897 on the forearm slide arm so I know it was one of the earlier ones just wondering if you could get me closer to a year. sorry don't have a digital camera to upload pics with. thanks in advance. also did they come standard with a 32" modified barrell?
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  • Bert H.
    Hello hillbille,

    Model 1897 serial number 244051 was manufactured in May/June of 1904. It should be a "C" series gun (the "C" should be stamped above the serial number on the receiver frame).

    A 32" barrel was a no cost option, as was a "MOD" choke... but the combination of the two is extremely rare. The vast majority of Model 1897s were made with a 30" FULL choke barrel, and that was the standard cataloged gun. Typically, when a 32" barrel was ordered, it was made with a FULL choke barrel.
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  • hillbille
    thanks Bert, that was my feeling also, it is the first I had saw with a modified barrell, in the standard grade, only reason I noticed I put it in the safe beside my model 12 and it wouldn't fit, to tall. It is rough no blue left, wood is scarred, but the action is still tight and is still shootable, poor old gun has just seen a lot of hunting and has been handled a lot. thanks for the answers. I noticed the C by the serial number, I'm just not sure why the long barrell and mod choke wouuld have been ordered, especially here in WVa, I would think they would wanted full.
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  • MIKE WISKEY
    "d I put it in the safe beside my model 12 and it wouldn't fit, to tall."...........a pipe cutter will fix that[}:)]
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  • Bert H.
    quote:Originally posted by hillbille
    thanks Bert, that was my feeling also, it is the first I had saw with a modified barrell, in the standard grade, only reason I noticed I put it in the safe beside my model 12 and it wouldn't fit, to tall. It is rough no blue left, wood is scarred, but the action is still tight and is still shootable, poor old gun has just seen a lot of hunting and has been handled a lot. thanks for the answers. I noticed the C by the serial number, I'm just not sure why the long barrell and mod choke wouuld have been ordered, especially here in WVa, I would think they would wanted full.


    You are quite welcome[:)].

    Is it a Take Down frame or a solid frame... if Take Down, that will solve the problem of being too long (and you will not have to consider using the pipe cutter that Mike mentioned).

    One more question... what type of butt plate does it have (e.g. smooth steel, checkered steel, or black hard rubber)?
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  • hillbille
    I had to raise the shelf in the top of the safe, just makes it tight on a few pistols, the buttplate is smooth metal. what would the advantage of the extra length be if they put a mod choke in it, wouldn't that overide the extra length? I know it is no where near collector value its just that makes no sense to me.
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  • Floyd58523
    I would find a new home for that gun before cutting off the barrel. As the years go by I have a difficult time modifying old guns. Even with no finish, beat up and not collectible to most people. When you lay the old gun down and bring out the hacksaw. It looks up at you with tears in its eyes and says why. I then take it back and buy a new safe or sell it to a new home.
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  • Ambrose
    Maybe most of us on here are too young to remember phrases like "shoots hard!" and "carries up!". The thought process was that anything shorter than a 30" barrel would be slow--so, of course, a 32" barrel would be better! My father was born in 1902 and he insisted on 30" shotguns for that reason. (But he was a full choke guy, too.)
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  • Bert H.
    quote:Originally posted by hillbille
    I had to raise the shelf in the top of the safe, just makes it tight on a few pistols, the buttplate is smooth metal. what would the advantage of the extra length be if they put a mod choke in it, wouldn't that overide the extra length? I know it is no where near collector value its just that makes no sense to me.


    As I mentioned before, the combination of a 32-inch barrel and a MOD choke is very rare... why someone ordered it that way will most likely forever remain a big mystery.

    So, it has a smooth steel butt plate... is it a Take Down or a solid frame?
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