First impressions of Marstar's new Winchester M97
- Thread starter xURSOx
- Start date
Never had to remove my face when cycling the action.
The design most certainly does not imply that you have to remove your cheek from the stock. The bolt doesn't come back near far enough to hit you.
-Nick
No danger of poking the shooter's eye out. Millions of originals and clones out there and never heard of one such incident.
The 3" shell thing is just you. I belong to the camp that believes magnum shells (both 3" and 3 1/2") are for people who fall for marketing nonsense. There's not a single purpose for a 3" or a 3 1/2" shell that can't be served by a purpose-loaded 2 1/2" shell (let alone a 2 3/4).
True. At some point in scale one goes from branding to decorative engraving, and it's not all that decorative.
Having "don't shoot your eye out" type warnings roll marked prominently on certain other brands is the only thing that's worse.
lejarretnoir
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- 162km from Connaught
Here's a clip from The Wild Bunch featuring the M97 in a the Bank Shootout scene. Audio cuts out after shotgun scene.
Warning: It is graphic!
Warning: It is graphic!
Good to know. Appreciate for your reply.
I got my Numrich Trenchgun hardware at last. Numrich parts had a good reputation and this seems like a nice component.
The heatsheild needs three screws to secure it, and normal 1897 only has one screw at the barrel band to secure the mag tube. On a normal barrel you just carefully file/dremel the barrel to make room for the extra screws, but in another thread someone mentioned that these new barrels were potentially too thin (due to the chokes).
I have not test fit it yet because I have to remove the bead site to get the heatshield in place (and it has it's own bead). But I don't want to do that until I know the heatshield can be safely and securely mounted.
I will bring it to a gunsmith for their opinion. If anyone else ordered one of these for the new 1897s and it worked out for them, please let me know. Thanks.
The heatsheild needs three screws to secure it, and normal 1897 only has one screw at the barrel band to secure the mag tube. On a normal barrel you just carefully file/dremel the barrel to make room for the extra screws, but in another thread someone mentioned that these new barrels were potentially too thin (due to the chokes).
I have not test fit it yet because I have to remove the bead site to get the heatshield in place (and it has it's own bead). But I don't want to do that until I know the heatshield can be safely and securely mounted.
I will bring it to a gunsmith for their opinion. If anyone else ordered one of these for the new 1897s and it worked out for them, please let me know. Thanks.
Thanks for the info, mr_trout. What kind of paperwork, if any, did you have to go through to ship the heat shield from Numrich? The trench gun look is also something that I'm interested in; I already have the 1917 bayonet.
I guess the presence of the choke tubes is a double-edged sword. I was happy with the obvious utility of being able to swap out the chokes, but as you and few others have pointed out, this is a problem for installing the heat shield. I look forward to hearing from you. Please share your information with us as soon as you can, mr_trout.
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Thanks,
Q
I guess the presence of the choke tubes is a double-edged sword. I was happy with the obvious utility of being able to swap out the chokes, but as you and few others have pointed out, this is a problem for installing the heat shield. I look forward to hearing from you. Please share your information with us as soon as you can, mr_trout.
_____
Thanks,
Q
So I got my M97 yesterday and oh man the action was incredibly stiff! It took nearly all of my strength pushing forward, then a quick hard tug back to break open the action. I'll do a full cleaning tomorrow and take pictures and maybe a fit/finish review if anyone's interested. I don't want to say anything yet, but I'm looking at ways to smooth out the action. Does anyone of any gunsmiths with 1897 experience? At the very least there are a few questions I'd like answered...
Those are good looking, blue bluing and the wood looks nice. Better than my Polytech, I'm guessing. I hope you guys enjoy your 97s, but they can be a very finicky design. In cowboy action circles, they say you should have 3, one to shoot, one as backup and one to be in the shop. I have 2, one a Poly and one a Winchester with a 30" barrel.
Cycle it a bit and then find some youtube videos, and cowboy action shooting articles and learn how to tear them down, find where they're rubbing, clean em and lube em and put them back together.
IF YOU HAVE A FAIL TO FEED AND NOTICE THAT THE BOLT CARRIER IS NOT DROPPING DOWN LOW ENOUGH TO ALLOW A SHELL OUT OF THE MAGAZINE, DO NOT PUMP HARDER!! SOMETIMES THE RIGHT BOLT EXTRACTOR CAN MOVE OUTWARD AND JAM ON THE REAR OF THE EJECTION PORT!
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/860753-Norinco-1897-won-t-feed?highlight=1897
Watch out while shooting into the wind, if you notice while cycling the action with the gun shouldered, you can see right into the action above the bolt. You can get a wiff of hot smoke in your eyes.
A link to some CAS `97 pages.
http://marauder.homestead.com/Shotgun.html
So I cleaned it up and greased it up with froglube and decided to let it sit in the safe and soak for a few weeks as the weather wasn't good enough to go out. Finally went out last weekend, wiped it down and ran some #7 winchester ammo through it. I can say that these need to be shot to get the action smooth! First couple of shells through it I had to put some effort into cycling, but after a full tube things started to get much smoother and much better. It still feels "gritty", but I think I'd have to send it to a smith to get it buttery smooth. Slam-firing all 6 shells was incredibly fun, and the grin on my face never left! I was hesitant to jump on a new Chinese product, but I am very satisfied and already looking to get aftermarket mag spring and plunger which lets you hold 6 in the tube, and I'm patiently waiting on Mr_Trout's report before getting a heatshield for mine. I'm supposed to be cleaning a new K31 today, so I may pull out teh shotfun, take some pics and unscrew the choke, as I'm really hoping to identify which models will fit. I want to run slugs through this bad boy.
Sorry for the delay, life decided to get in the way of fun. Anyway, I took out the choke and took an admittedly terrible photo. It's 4cm in length and has NO identifying marks whatsoever. No make, no model number, not even the semi-typical notches denoting what kind of choke it is. If anyone can help ID any possible chokes that could fit, it'd be greatly appreciated. If you need any more photos, just let me know.
I'd also like to know which chokes it takes. I remember reading somewhere that it takes Baikal chokes, but I'm not sure where I heard that.
I just received mine from Marstar a few days ago, and I was pretty impressed by the quality. Good finish overall, and it feels very solid. The only criticism I have is that the wood on the pump is a little loose and slides around a bit clockwise/counterclockwise. The wood seems to be of good quality though. Definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a model 1897.
I just received mine from Marstar a few days ago, and I was pretty impressed by the quality. Good finish overall, and it feels very solid. The only criticism I have is that the wood on the pump is a little loose and slides around a bit clockwise/counterclockwise. The wood seems to be of good quality though. Definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a model 1897.
As KDG pointed out in post #24 (thanks again KDG) it's a match for a Baikal choke. My chokes from my MP-27-EM-1C fit it perfectly.
Using a choke gauge from Brownells it looks like an Improved Cylinder (looks like closer to Light Modified). I've also read that the gauges aren't really accurate as it depends on the manufacturer but it's probably close to what they were trying to make.
So choke = Baikal IC LM. (edit... looking at the tru-choke and trulock chokes, it may actually be a Light Modified, which my gauge doesn't have but it mikes out closer to that (0.715") than the IC.).
Both manufacturers have a section for Baikal chokes.
Also information in this thread http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1057152-New-arrivals-at-marstar/page5 about the trench gun heat shield.
How tight was your heats hield to barrel mr_trout. Did it look like a real tight fit?
Using a choke gauge from Brownells it looks like an Improved Cylinder (looks like closer to Light Modified). I've also read that the gauges aren't really accurate as it depends on the manufacturer but it's probably close to what they were trying to make.
So choke = Baikal IC LM. (edit... looking at the tru-choke and trulock chokes, it may actually be a Light Modified, which my gauge doesn't have but it mikes out closer to that (0.715") than the IC.).
Both manufacturers have a section for Baikal chokes.
Also information in this thread http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1057152-New-arrivals-at-marstar/page5 about the trench gun heat shield.
How tight was your heats hield to barrel mr_trout. Did it look like a real tight fit?
