Authentic World War One 1897 trench guns will have:
Serial number between E613,000 and E705,000
High quality rust blue finish
Solid frame
20-inch cylinder bore barrel (with no bead)
Muzzle in lone with bayonet lug
Handguard with six rows of holes
Bayonet lug with a bead sight and either “PAT APPY FOR” on the right or patent dates on the right
Stock with a thin wrist, high comb, no fluting, and no stamps
Hard plastic commercial buttplate
Sling swivel on stock
Authentic World War Two 1897 trench guns will have:
Serial number between 921,300 and 986,300 (but most between 930,000 and 953,000)
High quality commercial blue finish
Takedown frame with “U.S.” and (usually) flaming bomb stamp
20-inch cylinder bore barrel (with no bead) with flaming bomb stamp on top of chamber
Muzzle extending approximately 1/4″ beyond bayonet lug
Handguard with four rows of holes (except some very early ones with WW1-type heat shields)
Bayonet lug with a bead sight and patent dates on the right
Stock with a thick wrist, low comb, flutes, and inspection stamp (either WB or GHD) with crossed cannons
Hard plastic commercial buttplate
Sling swivel on stock
The Winchester 1897 takedown shotgun does not have square teeth at the bottom of the receiver. That is the Stevens 520. The Winchester takedown uses interrupted threads to retain the barrel and magazine tube.
It looked like there was a faint stamp just to the right of the GHD marking. Am I wrong?
The fact that they left SO MUCH OPEN SPACE on the right side of the action just boggles the mind!
That could have been oh, so much tighter.