RussellDyck
CGN Regular
- Location
- Lethbridge, AB
So this old Winchester 1897 12 gauge take down pump followed me home this past weekend
The blueing is almost all gone and what is left is turning a plum colored patina, a quick look down the barrel shows that it hasn't been cleaned up in a long time with pitting to top it off and there was a crack in the wrist.
Once home I broke it down, cleaned it up and repaired the crack in the wrist then reassembled.
Mating of the barrel assembly to the receiver was a bit loose, looking at the adjust ring(?) it was still set on the first notch, I moved it to the second and things tightened up, I may try it on the third notch but I am unsure how tight and snug the two halves should mate up (any good sources of information that can be had on line?).
I used a hand full of light target loads for testing, all rounds cycled and fired round ejected perfectly like it was a new gun fresh off the factory floor.
I'm not sure whether or not I should have this old thing restored or not, I can't imagine that restoring it would devalue it anymore than what it's worth, I guess it would all depend on whether or not the pitting in the bore can be polished out or if an original barrel can be had to replace this one.........
But for now I will leave it as it is as I picked it up mostly to have a neat bit of history for my collection, certainly not the prettiest example of a model 97 but if need be it will still get the job done...... It is 112 years old after all
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Winchester model 1897 sporting a 30" full choke barrel, the serial number suggests that it was manufactured about 1905
Not sure I should have been using the kitchen sink as there was a lot of old grease and grime that came out and ended up spending as much time cleaning up the sink as the gun
The serial numbers on both halves do match.
The blueing is almost all gone and what is left is turning a plum colored patina, a quick look down the barrel shows that it hasn't been cleaned up in a long time with pitting to top it off and there was a crack in the wrist.
Once home I broke it down, cleaned it up and repaired the crack in the wrist then reassembled.
Mating of the barrel assembly to the receiver was a bit loose, looking at the adjust ring(?) it was still set on the first notch, I moved it to the second and things tightened up, I may try it on the third notch but I am unsure how tight and snug the two halves should mate up (any good sources of information that can be had on line?).
I used a hand full of light target loads for testing, all rounds cycled and fired round ejected perfectly like it was a new gun fresh off the factory floor.
I'm not sure whether or not I should have this old thing restored or not, I can't imagine that restoring it would devalue it anymore than what it's worth, I guess it would all depend on whether or not the pitting in the bore can be polished out or if an original barrel can be had to replace this one.........
But for now I will leave it as it is as I picked it up mostly to have a neat bit of history for my collection, certainly not the prettiest example of a model 97 but if need be it will still get the job done...... It is 112 years old after all
.Winchester model 1897 sporting a 30" full choke barrel, the serial number suggests that it was manufactured about 1905
Not sure I should have been using the kitchen sink as there was a lot of old grease and grime that came out and ended up spending as much time cleaning up the sink as the gun
The serial numbers on both halves do match.
Not sure when I started with the high grip thing, could be from using my O/U in countless rounds of skeet and changing of the grip would allow me to maintain a safe muzzle direction while being able to easily open the action
