Winchester 1897 "Trench Gun" - How to know what they got!

Yes yes... shooting starts at the 20:00 mark. Feel free to skip ahead if you aren't interested in the nuances of military shotgun collecting and just want to see gun go bang. For everyone else... The Winchester 1897 "trench gun" is a much vaunted piece of US military surplus, but finding original and correct guns can be a challenge. They were never a high volume weapon, and their immediate rarity and desirability in the collector's market has always made them quite valuable. As such, there tend to be far more reproductions, clones, homemade homages, and outright fakes than genuine articles. The bulk of this video therefore runs through a number of unique elements to review in order to determine if a trench gun is legitimate, but it is by no means an exhaustive or authoritative list. The literature referenced in the making of this video comes highly recommended: Bruce N. Canfield's "Complete Guide to United States Military Combat Shotguns" Joe Poyer's "US Winchester Trench and Riot Guns and other US Combat Shotguns" Additionally, the gun shown was refreshed by Simmon's Gun Repair: https://simmonsguns.com/ Finally, for much much more history on this gun (and many others) go subscribe to C&Rsenal! https://utreon.com/v/SylJsFKfYEU    • History of WWI Primer 107: US Winchester 1...