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winchester 97 barrel insciptions

c.shimer
I have a takedown 1940 manufactured Winchester model 97 12 ga 30" bbl. full choke shotgun.both receiver and extention have same sn # According to the Winchester book of 1977 by George Madis the barrel should say
Model 97 -Winchester- 12 ga- 2 3/4 Full
-trade mark-
Mine says Made in New Haven Conn-Winchester-model 97-12ga-2 3/4 cham.
-us of America- -trade mark- Full
Also this gun has a grooved matted receiver which is mentioned on page 595 of Madis' book as being rare other than the model 1895. Should I accept this as gospel? I have not been able to turn up any other info after extensive searching and am thinking of putting this barrel on a later made model. c.shimer@sbcglobal.net
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  • Bert H.
    Hello c.shimer...

    No, you should not take George Madis' written word as the "gospel"... at least not on the Model 1897/97. As with all Winchester firearms, there was always an overlap period between each change in manufacture. Winchester never threw out any useable parts, and used them until they were exhausted. The listed manufacture date (1940) is most likely not correct either. It would be a real shame in my opinion to split up the gun.

    Bert H.

    Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!
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  • only winchesters
    Hello c.shimer: Winchester made numerous changes to the roll die stamps, thus as you look at Winchesters of the same Model over the years, you will see changes in the stampings on the barrels. In 1935 they started marking the chamber lengths on the Md 97 and Md 12. that was the year they introduced the Md 12 duck gun with a 3 in chamber. Prior to that there was no mention of chamber length on the 1897/97 or the Md 12 12 ga. 1940 is all so the last year you will see patent dates stamped on barrels. Winchester shotguns after 1940 no longer had them. One less operation to do in manufacturing. Regards Dave
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