1897 Project No. 2

[ssgross]

All of the wear was from handling and rarely being shot.

Been looking at 97's and 12's for a very long time before I found the ones to restore at the price I wanted. I think I've surmised that the factory finish, on the model 12 in particular, was not very good nor durable. Likely a function of the alloy and bluing method. A good slow-rust blue should be much more durable.

I've never been a shotgun guy...in fact I have only fired a shotgun once in my life - I think it was a Remington 870? I shot 5 beanbag rounds during non-lethal weapons training in the USMC. I still haven't fired one since. I'm a bit OCD - the other 1897 I cut back and made a trench gun out of, I removed material from the barrel (slots for the bayonet adapter screws), so I wanted to find a nice quiet location I could put it in sled and pull a string from a distance first. This one all is in working order, just need to finish it up.

I think I need to start a new thread for the model 12 I'm working on. I thought I had one already but can't find it. The other thing I've noticed about these, especially more of model 12's, is how utterly filthy they become internally. If something is too difficult for the average Joe to maintain properly, he likely won't. No one wants to fiddle with a million springs, screws, and pins. I particularly hate all the staked parts on model 12 - but we managed where we had to. My model 12, on the original 30" barrel, has a small bding few inches back from the muzzle that will need dealt with. Need to measure how far into the choke it is. If it's in the middle, I think I can get at it with a hardwood dowel wedged at the right spot and light taps on the outside.

Anyway's, these will be the last shotguns I ever do...unless someone wants to pay me to do it again. I appreciate their history and usability in the grand scheme of things...but really don't care for the designs.

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