Winchester Model 1897 - Military Use

Military Use

The Model 1897 was popular before World War I, but it was after the war broke out that sales of the Model 1897 picked up. This was because many were produced to meet the demands of the Military. When the United States entered World War I, there was a need for more service weapons to be issued to the troops. It became clear to the United States just how brutal trench warfare was, and how great the need was for a large amount of close-range firepower while fighting in a trench, after they had observed the war for the first three years. The Model 1897 Trench grade was an evolution of this idea. The pre-existing Winchester Model 1897 was modified by adding a perforated steel heat shield over the barrel which protected the hand of the user from the barrel when it became over-heated, and an adapter with bayonet lug for affixing an M1917 bayonet.

This model was ideal for close combat and was efficient in trench warfare due to its 20 inch cylinder bore barrel. Buckshot ammunition was issued with the trench grade during the war. Each round of this ammunition contained 9 buckshot pellets that were of the size 00. This gave considerable firepower to the individual soldier by each round that was fired. This shorter barrel and large amount of firepower is what made this grade ideal for trench warfare. The Model 1897 was used by American troops for other purposes in World War I other than a force multiplier. American soldiers who were skilled at trap shooting were armed with these guns and stationed where they could fire at enemy hand grenades in midair. This would deflect the grenades from falling into the American trenches and therefore protect American soldiers.

Unlike most modern pump-action shotguns, the Winchester Model 1897 (versions of which were type classified as the Model 97 or M97 for short) fired each time the action closed with the trigger depressed (that is, it lacks a trigger disconnector and is capable of slamfire). Coupled with its six-shot capacity made it effective for close combat, such that troops referred to it as a "trench sweeper". The slamfire allowed troops to empty the whole magazine tube into enemies with great speed. The spread of the buckshot allowed the weapon to hit many targets with minimal aiming. The Model 1897 was so effective, and feared, that the German government protested (in vain) to have it outlawed in combat. The Model 1897 was used in limited numbers during World War II by the United States Army and Marine Corps, although it was largely superseded by the similarly militarized version of the hammerless Model 1912 (still slamfire-capable).

Other military uses of the shotgun included "the execution of security/interior guard operations, rear area security operations, guarding prisoners of war, raids, ambushes, military operations in urban terrain, and selected special operations."