Winchester 1897 Trench

About the Winchester 1897 Trench

The Winchester 1897 Trench is the militarized combat version of John Browning's Model 1897 pump-action shotgun, chambered in 12 gauge with a shortened 20-inch cylinder-bore barrel. Fitted with a perforated steel heat shield over the barrel, a bayonet lug accepting the Model 1917 Enfield bayonet, and sling swivels, it was procured by the U.S. Ordnance Department for trench warfare during World War I. Its exposed-hammer pump action lacks a trigger disconnect, allowing 'slam fire' so the gun discharges each time the action is closed with the trigger held, giving a devastating volume of buckshot at close quarters. Loaded with six rounds of 00 buckshot, it earned the nicknames 'Trench Broom' and 'Trench Sweeper' and prompted a formal German diplomatic protest in 1918.

Doughboys wielded the Model 1897 to such effect clearing German trenches that Germany lodged a formal diplomatic protest in 1918, claiming the buckshot shotgun violated the laws of war and threatening to execute captured shotgun-armed troops. The United States rejected the protest. Marines reportedly used the gun to shoot down enemy hand grenades in mid-air and to knock carrier pigeons from the sky.

Winchester 1897 Trench specifications

WWI heat shields had six rows of perforations; the WWII-era handguard used four rows. Standard combat load was 2.5-inch paper or solid-brass shells with 00 buckshot. Roughly 20,000 WWI trench guns and 25,000 WWII trench guns saw service.