Winchester 1897 12 gauge trench gun
hi i was reading a thread about this shotgun that was locked here but would like some advice from people like yall that are clearly knowledgeable on this gun , my find was one of those right place at the right time type things i found mine at a garage sale for 75 bucks ,i know very little about these shotguns and would like a few of yall to give me a fair price i should sell it for , i havent any desire to keep it ,iam interested only in modern long guns and want to use it as a trade to someone who would really enjoy it, anyway heres a little about the gun , first its missing the handgaurd other than that its in faily good shape , iam hoping its okay to post pictures here it makes it easier to show the shape of the gun the serial number starts off 9374xx the last two i blacked out if yall need the whole nuber ill post it ,thanks for any help you can give
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Good morning Georgec, welcome to the forum! You stole that gun, becarefull, you may have to go to jail now!! LOL Your gun was made in late 1948 so it's not a WWII Trench Gun, but there was Korea.
The markings look authenic, it's hard to put an exact value, since it's missing, the shroud and bayonet lug. But a ball park would be about the $1500-$2000 range. If you can pick up the original missing parts, it could push the value way above the $3000 dollar mark. You don't show the complete butt stock, it shouls have the sling swivel on the bottom, and I would want to see that it hadn't been cut.
Hope this helps. Hope this helps Regards Dave0 -
georgec: After looking at your pictures again, I dont see any threaded slots on the bottom of the barrel, just in front of the magazine tube, these slots are for the shroud. If there are no slots this would be just a milatary riot/guard gun, worth much less than the Trench gun. Riots in this condition, $500-$1000. The butt stock is properly marked for a Trench gun with "GHD" where the Riot was "WB" but Winchester or someone else could have put that butt stock on. The butt stock looks a lot lighter in color than the forearm. You may want to post some more pictures for us to see. Regards Dave 0 -
According to my references..."GHD" for Guy H. Drewry was stamped on M97 trench & riot guns after serial #927,000 and M12 trench and riot guns after serial # 912,000..This would make the stock on your m97 an original... The fact that there are not three grooves in the bottom of the muzzle end of the barrel would relegate it to the "riot" configuration.... If you compare the riot barrel to the trenchgun barrel, you will notice that the trench barrel is considerably thicker...to accomodate the three grooves for attachment of the bayonet lug / handguard assembly... The tenchgun barrels will NOT have been drilled and tapped for a front sight bead, since the sight bead for that configuration was on the bayonet lug... Hope this is of some assistance.. 0 -
wow yall are good , your exactly right i have a site bead on the end of the barrel that i forgot to metion , also i had forgot to metion it has the number 13 stamped on the butt stock next to the hand grip.
ia there any areas of the shotgun i should post? was this a military issue gun , when you say riot gun do you mean like a police issue thing ? um what other areas of the shotgun should i post to help in getting a good look at it, hummm but 500 bucks does sound nice i do believe id part with it for that ha0 -
You did very well. It looks correct in every way for a 97 riot gun. The receiver and barrel have the flaming bomb and U.S. stamps, the barrel is properly marked cyl., the cartouche GHD is good. If you are really going to sell it, I would have a knowledgeable smith verify that it's correct and professionally clean it up carefully, then offer it here with a reasonable starting price. Post a lot of pictures on the auction, and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Or if you don't want to go to all that trouble, I'll give you a couple of hundred for it.[;)]
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Whenever I see a cow eat grass, I am reminded that "This too shall pass."............ Baxter Black0 -
i think iam gonna do that, um one question i have is when i sell it on this auction site .ill need someone with a ffl to mail it right?
also if its being mailed to a gun store or a licenced gun smith can i send it to them myself? i know that if you send a gun in for repairs to the factory you can send it without going throuh a licenced ffl holder right?0 -
georgec: If you sell it here on GB to a buyer without an FFL, he/she must furnish a copy an FFL of the dealer it is suppose to be sent to. That's where you send the gun, the address on the FFL copy sent to you. You may choose to use FEDEX, UPS, USPS, all you need is that copy to show them in case they ask. I do recommend that you remove the barrel assy. from the receiver. Wrap both halves in paper, then bubble wrap or foam then put in box, fill all empty spots with bubble wrap, foam, or wadded news papper. You don't want it to move inside the box. Regards Dave 0
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