The model '97 is great! I used one for many years that my dad left me. I still measure all pump actions against it, and many can't measure up. When you rack the slide, the sound actually goes "shlick - slick"!
Today I shot some trap with an original 1850ish percussion 12ga., and it was loads of fun.
65 grns BP, plastic AA wad/shotcup and 1 1/4oz #71/2 and an overshot card.
Its the first time I've used plastic wads in a ML. A couple shots at a pattern board showed a significantly tighter pattern than without the wads.