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WW1 era 97 Trench
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March 15, 2018 - 12:00 am
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I traded a Rem 742 for this old piece today. I know it has a ton of issues. I’ll list what I know is wrong and let you guys tell me the rest.

 

Missing guard & bayonet mount

Butt pad wrong

Poly choke added (guy said he deer hunted with this for the last 25 years)

Finish almost looks black not rich blue.

OK, what else? Does this old thing have much value? Are the missing parts around and would it be worth the effort & money to try to correct the defects/missing parts?

IMG_1749.JPGImage EnlargerIMG_1754.JPGImage EnlargerIMG_1753.JPGImage EnlargerIMG_1752.JPGImage EnlargerIMG_1750.JPGImage EnlargerIMG_1751.JPGImage Enlarger

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March 15, 2018 - 4:37 am
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The gun is beyond resurrection in my opinion, and the cost of the parts needed to resurrect it will far exceed what it would ever be worth.  It  does not have any value in the collector market. 

Bert

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March 16, 2018 - 8:12 am
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Could be worth something to the right person as a parts gun if you don’t want it for a shooter.

 

Mike

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March 16, 2018 - 3:16 pm
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There aren’t enough parts left to help anyone. This shotgun is a total disaster of a WW1 Trenchgun. OH THE HUMANITY !!!! Sorry, but as a former US militaria collector, I had to say that. Big Larry

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July 22, 2018 - 5:08 pm
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Well despite the fact that you guys think this shotgun is a lost cause I have moved forward with it’s comeback. Handguard found and installed and choke removed. What I need to finish the project is a correct butt plate. Were these hard plastic or steel? I read where they were plastic but seems odd for a military ver. shotgun.

 

Thanks, Charles

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July 22, 2018 - 6:48 pm
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nascar fan said
Well despite the fact that you guys think this shotgun is a lost cause I have moved forward with it’s comeback. Handguard found and installed and choke removed. What I need to finish the project is a correct butt plate. Were these hard plastic or steel? I read where they were plastic but seems odd for a military ver. shotgun.

 

Thanks, Charles  

Where in the world did you find a proper handguard?

Not plastic, but composition.

HereM1897-Trenchgun.JPGImage Enlarger‘s a WW2 Trenchgun.   Big Larry

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July 22, 2018 - 9:13 pm
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No they were Not plastic, Or composition. Instead, they were black hard rubber. There were also a small number of the early WW I Trench Guns equipped with the checkered steel butt plates that Winchester used on the Model 1897s before switching to the black hard rubber as the standard butt plate.

Bert

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July 22, 2018 - 10:30 pm
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Bert,

I think you and Big Larry are talking about the same butt plate material.  In the 1920 catalog for the Model 97 Winchester calls the butt plate material “Composition Rubber”.  I have seen them also referred to in the catalogs as simply “Hard Rubber” and “Composition Butt Plate”.  I believe the references are all the same material.  The material change to cellulose acetate butyrate (a mixed ester) occurred in 1938 for many of the .22 models and some of the center fire models.  The cellulose acetate has a tendency to shrink over time whereas the previous composition hard rubber did not.

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July 23, 2018 - 1:01 am
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JWA said
Bert,

I think you and Big Larry are talking about the same butt plate material.  In the 1920 catalog for the Model 97 Winchester calls the butt plate material “Composition Rubber”.  I have seen them also referred to in the catalogs as simply “Hard Rubber” and “Composition Butt Plate”.  I believe the references are all the same material.  The material change to cellulose acetate butyrate (a mixed ester) occurred in 1938 for many of the .22 models and some of the center fire models.  The cellulose acetate has a tendency to shrink over time whereas the previous composition hard rubber did not.

Best Regards,  

Jeff,

You may be correct.  In the literature for the 1917 production Riot and Trench Guns, it has listed as “Hard Rubber”.  I think of “composition” butt plates as the late 1930s material you describe.  The Model 97 made the same transition in butt plates as the .22 models.

Bert

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