Winchester Model 1897

About the Winchester Model 1897

The Winchester Model 1897 is an external-hammer, pump-action shotgun chambered primarily in 12 gauge and fed from a tubular magazine. Refined by John Browning from his earlier Model 1893, it was the first truly successful pump-action shotgun and remained in production for 60 years. Its lack of a trigger disconnector allowed slam-firing, discharging a fresh shell each time the slide was racked forward with the trigger held down. The militarized Trench Gun variant, fitted with a 20-inch barrel, ventilated heat shield, and M1917 bayonet lug, became infamous in the trenches of World War I as a devastating close-quarters weapon.

American Doughboys nicknamed the Model 1897 Trench Gun the 'trench sweeper' for its ability to clear enemy trenches in seconds. The slam-fire feature let a soldier empty the magazine almost as fast as he could work the slide, raining buckshot at close range.

Winchester Model 1897 specifications

The Trench Gun variant prompted a formal German diplomatic protest in 1918, claiming the shotgun violated the Hague Convention by causing unnecessary suffering; the United States rejected the complaint. Slam-fire capability made the Model 1897 distinctively fast for a manually operated repeater.