I've got the opportunity to buy a 1897 Winchester takedown... matching numbers, LONG barrel, and a mfg date of 1906.

The forearm is cracked, its been painted and repainted, it's had a pachmayr butt pad poorly fitted to it but otherwise is clear of rust and operates smoothly.

I am going to buy it regardless, I am not a collector but wanting to refinish it and try my hand at fixing the wood.

Would it be a sin and chop the barrel down on this one to create an 18" slam fire oldie? I am the kind of guy that modifies everything... I've got lots of other 12ga guns but I am drawn to the old iron and anything JMB designed. Not sure if I should keep this piece of Americana alive? I don't bird hunt, I have no interest in a sporting gun.

Make a trench gun

It doesn't sound like it has much collctors value .

If thats what you want do , do it .
If you do a good job it will be worth as much as it is now .

A WW 1 Trenchgun would be cool !

18.5" riot gun with some new walnut furniture.

OP, post some pics if you can.

They made over a million 1897's cut the barrel. Attached File

If you like the takedown feature, don't turn it into a trenchgun.

I figured with 1,000,000 produced it can’t hold too much value. I really want it for the slam fire. I’m not going to start dressing up in cosplay and doing reinactments ;)

I’ll post up pics when I get it in hand.

Now, I want to see some SBS 1897’s!

I have a takedown from 1907ish if I remember correctly. It had been through a flood, so the stock was bad and the whole left side of the receiver is pitted pretty bad. Ended up cutting the barrel to 18.5 inches and cut the stock down so the whole gun is 27 inches overall. I think I paid $70 for it.
It's funny how compact it is when you take it down

Chop it.  

If its a takedown don't go less than 20in. The lever/pin thingy that unlocks the mag tube & slides upwards stops @ around the 19-20in mark on the barrel. If you go shorter it can slide off and makes reassembling the halves a bit more of a PITA.


I was in a similar situation with a Model 1912. 30in barrel, solid rib, full choke.
Just enough damage to keep it from real collectors.  
I cut it to 20in and it went from something I would never use to something I grab 95% of the time I walk into the woods.

Think about having the chamber lengthened to 2 3/4, the forcing cone done and having it threaded for choke tubes.   I skipped having tubes done.  Kinda wish I didn't. Attached File

Thats badass!

I have a 1918 vintage takedown Model 97. I had mine cleaned up and threaded for choke tubes.  It makes it much more useful.

For reasons stated above, and to keep it looking period-correct, go to 20”, not 18”. My $.02.

You can always go shorter later, after all.

This is really good info guys, thanks. I would have gone to 18.5" so thanks for the heads up.

I actually didn't know they weren't cut for 2-3/4" shells, 'smiths are in short supply around here. Is there a go-to barrel smith for the cut, forcing cone and chokes? I don't think I'll go full Vang-Comp on this one.

I have looked the gun over, it is actually pretty clean with globbed on old paint. No pitting, no rust no major scratches. Seller is asking $100.

I used Rose Action Sports.  I mailed him my barrel and it was back at my house in 11 days.

If the gun is safe to shoot cut the barrel. It's your gun after all. I have a Remington Model 11 waiting for form 1 SBS to be approved. The barrel doesn't match so no big deal. I have another Model 11 that will follow. People cut down the Winchester 1897 since they first came out.

A good read is The Worlds Fighting Shotguns by Thomas Swearengen. Very inspirational.

Well I finally closed on the deal for my Winchester model 1897 shotgun. Overall it’s in really good condition, and a great deal for $100. I went ahead and contacted Rose action sports about having work done to the barrel. But I need to make sure that it’s all functioning before I send anything out. Is there any concerns of putting a few rounds of light bird shot through the gun? I’ll have the chamber opened up to two and three-quarter when the barrel work is done. But I wanna make sure there’s no other issues before sending it out for work.

Overall the whole gun is in pretty good condition. The forearm is cracked down the whole length, so I’ll probably track down a replacement part. This will be a budget build and I’m hoping to try Duracoat or Brownell‘s cold blue after I pull this old paint off. I’ve been watching a few videos on how to restore the stock as well, and looking forward to trying the method of steaming to pull up some of the dents. The wood is really attractive overall and I’m looking forward to how it will look restored.

Anything else I should be considering before tearing into it?
Winchesters site puts the serial number as a 1906 build, that’s so rad to me







Also does the gun give any of it’s story away with these markings? Modified choke (MOD)?

U could glue the forend.  Wedge open the crack with toothpicks. Use dental floss the work the glue in.  I used gorilla glue.  

If u really want to fire it I'd throw a mini shell in. But u can check everything with dummy rounds and use a dowel to check the firing pin.
Have fun!

OP I’m in the same boat and just picked up a 1899 mfr gun from a member here. I’m gonna get it sent off but I have put about 150 shells through it shooting varmits and pigeons. I cut the barrel to 22” roughly and I’ll cut it to 20.5” when the bayonet lug shows up.

I’ve been shooting 2 3/4” low dram, low FPS shells and haven’t seen any issues. Just don’t put high brass 1300 FPS loads through it and you should be fine to shoot a little before sending it off.

Also, slam fire is fun and now I want a model 12 to go with my 1897