A friend was just given a Winchester Model 1897 12 ga shotgun. The person he got it from was cleaning out an atic and found it. His cost was $0. It has an aftermarket choke attached to the end. It is in decent shape. No rust.

Does any one know about this modal? When it was made? Length of shells it can shoot? Worth? Is it a decent gun? Any help would be appreciated.

America's first repeating shotgun. Used in WW1 and WW2. Saw a lot of use in law enforcement. 2.75 inch chamber. I have shot them with low power trap loads. Good shotgun with LOTS of history. Real Bitch to take apart. Sorry, can't help you on value.

Karl

I am at work, so this is all off the top of my head, YMMV.

I think it was made between 1897 and 1958, or so.

There is a takedown verson that has a pin at the end of the mag so you can pull the barrel/forend from the receiver.

This gun, in a cut-down version, is very popular currently for cowboy action shooting.

Value will vary tremendously depending on condition, CAS has driven the price up in recent years.  Figure $200 for a rough one on up from there.

2 3/4 inch shells only.  It is a good gun.  Don't let the slide bite your hand when cycling the action.

Oh yeah, I believe the great John Moses Browning designed it too.

If the gun was a WWI or even a WWII 1897 Trench gun with proper heat shield, bayo lug, cartouches and in decent unmolested condition, your talking 2k up.

Thanks for the info. I guess it pays sometime to help people clean out their junk.

The best thing about the Winchester M1897 is that if you hold the trigger down and work the action it will fire as fast as you can pump it. No need to release and give the trigger a squeeze between shots. It's fun and you can see a great demonstration of this technique in the opening bank robbery shoot out scene in the 1969 western "The Wild Bunch".

Quoted: America's first repeating shotgun. Used in WW1 and WW2. Saw a lot of use in law enforcement. 2.75 inch chamber. I have shot them with low power trap loads. Good shotgun with LOTS of history. Real Bitch to take apart. Sorry, can't help you on value. Karl

Not really the first. Winchester had the Mod 1887 levergun and the Mod 1893 pump gun already. The 1897 was an improved version of the 1893.

I would guess the value of the gun you described would be in the $200-$300 range. The choke attachments detract a little and as stated above the condition of these guns HIGHLY determine their value.