Had my eye out for a nice 1897 for a while, took a 32” one on trade that seemed to be ok if a little rough (other than the last 6” of the barrel being bent which I found after shouldering it once home though I had planned to have it cut down and restore anyway). Sent it off to a gunsmith who had a site specifically listing 1897 work who let me know on closer inspection that the barrel was unusable (welded in a few spots with the welds protruding into the bore, painted black instead of blued etc.) and he wouldn’t work on it but did offer me next to nothing for it as a parts gun. Tried to find a replacement barrel but the only one was in the states and would have cost an arm and a leg to buy and get it here.
Luckily the guy I had taken it on trade from was a stand up individual and once I received it back from the smith we agreed to reverse the deal - he apparently had no idea how bad it was after receiving it from an auction house and I took the hit on shipping. Anyway, every cloud has a silver lining and the gunsmith let me know (while he still had the first 1897) that he had received a trench gun in on consignment I might be interested in that was fully operational and in good shape, needless to say I snatched it up after seeing the photos he sent and present it here now for your viewing pleasure.
Serial number puts it at a 1930’s birthday for the original shotgun that at some point in its life received the full trench gun treatment, builder went as far as to get ‘cyl’ stamped under the ‘full’ where it was cut down. Does not have the flaming ordinance marking so pretty confident it’s not the real deal but it’s a nice homage in my humble opinion. Gun came with the bayonet and I have since added the correct period style M1907 sling. Looking forward to taking it out and hitting some clays.
Just posting for some easy reading entertainment this Family Day and for people who might be interested to see/appreciate it.
https://www.deviantart.com/###ualcastles/art/177dbbef-56c0-43ac-a780-f34340054b24-949831620
https://www.deviantart.com/###ualcastles/art/A1756afe-0cb3-483d-bce1-06033dfa60c1-949831622
https://www.deviantart.com/###ualcastles/art/1f7169b1-e8ab-41f1-a6c5-29feb74bbe20-949831627
Luckily the guy I had taken it on trade from was a stand up individual and once I received it back from the smith we agreed to reverse the deal - he apparently had no idea how bad it was after receiving it from an auction house and I took the hit on shipping. Anyway, every cloud has a silver lining and the gunsmith let me know (while he still had the first 1897) that he had received a trench gun in on consignment I might be interested in that was fully operational and in good shape, needless to say I snatched it up after seeing the photos he sent and present it here now for your viewing pleasure.
Serial number puts it at a 1930’s birthday for the original shotgun that at some point in its life received the full trench gun treatment, builder went as far as to get ‘cyl’ stamped under the ‘full’ where it was cut down. Does not have the flaming ordinance marking so pretty confident it’s not the real deal but it’s a nice homage in my humble opinion. Gun came with the bayonet and I have since added the correct period style M1907 sling. Looking forward to taking it out and hitting some clays.
Just posting for some easy reading entertainment this Family Day and for people who might be interested to see/appreciate it.
https://www.deviantart.com/###ualcastles/art/177dbbef-56c0-43ac-a780-f34340054b24-949831620
https://www.deviantart.com/###ualcastles/art/A1756afe-0cb3-483d-bce1-06033dfa60c1-949831622
https://www.deviantart.com/###ualcastles/art/1f7169b1-e8ab-41f1-a6c5-29feb74bbe20-949831627
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