The model 97 Winchester pump a straight shooter?????

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

   My favorite shotguns are pump guns...I would like to have a collection of all the major models...so far I have a few, but some are lacking...the 97 is one...about 8 years ago, I had and excellent chance to get a mid 1950's model 97, chambered for 2 3/4 inch shells..in excellent condition....I had one in the 1960's and shot some small game with it, but it was traded off....Anyway, I have this nearly new 97 in my hot little hands, and a friend offered it to me for the price he paid...not a steal, but a good buy...I had the money out, when I said lets try it behind the barn...to make a long story short, we shot half a box of different shells at paper and boxes...the beautiful 97 shot the entire pattern below the line of sight at 30 yards.....maybe I ask this before, but if you have used a 97 did you ever run into this problem?? is it common...I remember and article years ago, where a guy put a peep sight on his 97 because he found the gun shot the pattern low... if I have one I want to hunt with it, what have you found??

[jpred1]

Mine shoots low left for me, may shoot different for others. The 87 and 12s are great turkey match guns for holding some of the best stock gun patterns known to man shooting 2-2-10s shells. I just aim 5" high and 3" right and it looks like a beer can went through center of the card.Now for 8 shot it spreads fine at a distance for wing shooting, not really noticable at all.Bust a crow at 40 yds and smile with 8s.

[spruce]

I've only shot a 97 a couple of times so I can't help you in regards to anything specific with that model.

However, I've found most guns designed in that period were stocked for the then-current style of wingshooting with the head erect - unlike more modern guns with stock dimensions suited for a firm cheek weld.  To me the old style stocks are uncomfortable/awkward to shoot.

To me it seems that if the barrel is straight (not bent) then the shot will exit the muzzle in a straight line with the bore and there is nothing inherent in the design of the barrel/action of the 97 (or any other model) that would cause it to shoot low.

Stock dimensions are usually the preferred method of altering point of impact, however shotgun barrels can also be bent by a competent gunsmith to also alter point of impact.

[jpred1]

Yep, its all about the way each looks down the pipe.

[jlchucker]

Spruce is right about the stock.  With shotguns, stock fit has a HUGE impact on where the shot goes after you pull the trigger. There's a whole science to shotgun stockmaking as practiced by those who make custom shotguns almost by hand. Shotgun experts (and I'm not one) pay a great deal of attention to how a gunstock fits an individual.  I shoot trap, usually scoring in the low 20's.  I shoot with a Baikal side-by-side.  A gunstock maker reworked the stock on that 12 to make it fit me, a lefty better.  Before that, I'd have sworn I knew where I was pointing, but my scores were a lot lower. Those club guys who shoot in competition really get some pretty expensive guns tweaked (usually involving some stock carving) after they buy a new gun. It makes a bigger difference than you think--up, down, sideways, or both--and sometimes it's only involving fractions of an inch of wood removal.

[Savage .250]

I`ve had an old Win 97 for many years and one thing I can say about it is , that old timer could beat you up.  I`m talking recoil here.  A pad would have helped but didn`t want to change/modify anything.
  Never noticed any  unusual  aim/hit problems. 

[dukkillr]

I've never shot one that was inaccurate or had a strange fit to the stock, but I've only shot a handful.  Make sure to work on your form before you shoot one or you'll run the skin off the back of your hand.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Duckkillr,,,by form, do you mean the right hand due to the breech block coming  back over the pistol grip???
Glad to hear the ones you shot were ok...it really bummed me to have such a fine gun shoot soo out of line....

[jpred1]

The grip will/can slip and the hammer will punish you.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

 ;)Ok, I shot a 97 for a couple years when I was about 16 or 17...as I recall I never had any problems, but  I can see where it could easily happen.

[dukkillr]

Duckkillr,,,by form, do you mean the right hand due to the breech block coming  back over the pistol grip???
Glad to hear the ones you shot were ok...it really bummed me to have such a fine gun shoot soo out of line....

That's exactly what I mean.  I've rubbed the skin off the back of my hand more than once.  For me I think it's a factor of shooting "novelty" guns.  I shoot a lot each year, almost exclusively pump shotguns, but not 97s.  When I pick up a 97 my brain just doesn't register that I need to keep my trigger hand flat and my wrist down.  I'm sure it's not an issue if you shoot one regularly.

[Gun Runner]

When I was a kid (60 yrs ago) my step dad had a 97. One day while out hunting he tripped and fell with it and landed across a log. BBL wound up with a slight bend in it. He found 2 small tree's close to gather and bent it back to as stright as he could get it and hunted with it for a lot of years afterwards, with out missing a bird.

Gun Runner

[pastorp]

The one's I've owned and my current one all shoot great for me, better than the model 12s I've owned at least as far as shooting where I'm looking. But then I shoot the older guns, stocked with more drop in the stack better than the newer ones.   

Regards,

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Thanks for all the replys...i must have just handled a bad one or some one may have bent the barrel by accident...I have shot pumps all my life as well as doubles, and some autos...this 97 was the poorest one for not shooting to the point of aim...certainly there must have been something wrong with it...I will be looking for another one soon. will get some tax $ back from the crook in the whitehouse, must spend it in a proper way....

[sk330lc]

  I grew up Hunting with a Model 97 12ga.   It was my Old mans (still have it).   love that Shotgun. I couldn't tell you how many Rabbits, Squirrel, Grouse, Crow, Coons and Groundhogs  That gun has taken.  I can say,  it has taken two Deer (By the old Man).
 Learned My lesson about making sure it was shouldered Tight. When I was about 11.  was hunting bushy tails leaned out from behind a tree to take the shot and didn't have it tight.  Liked to broke my nose and did my pride.  
 I always used low brass #6 gameloads in it..  Still don't like to shoot High brass through it.  That steel on the shoulder gets old.

[huntswithdogs]

Wyo.
I've got an 1100 that I bought new and it's what I learned to shoot skeet with it. I've shot numerous straights with it, but usually stay at 23 or 24 when on the skeet or trap field. I've shot a bunch of rabbits, quail and grouse with it, plus the odd squirrel now and again. I told all this to tell ya this...I decided I wanted to shoot a turkey with it, so I went and picked up 4 boxes of different brands "turkey loads" to try out on some copied turkey head targets. From a solid rest, on sand bags, this shotgun shoots about 9-12 inches LOW! I got all shook because I thought somehow the barrel had been bent(maybe in the back of my car during transportation?). I packed all my stuff back in the car and went up to the skeet field. Shot 2 straights back to back! First time too! Went back down to our rifle range, reset my turkey target and got the same results, LOW. Don't know why, it just works out that way.

If ya can get this shotgun at a good price, go for it. Shoot JUST IT, when ya need a shotgun, for a while and you'll "get to know it".


HWD

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  hunts, that is an interesting tail...you must have learned the proper hold with that smooth bore...the only trouble is, like rifles, I like different shotguns...I have most 870's, with a model 12, bps, and model 31, for variety...the first thing I do is pattern them to make certain they hit where they are pointing....haven't shot the 31 much, but it shoulders nicely, and the bit I shot it shoots well....with all of these I can do fairly well at trap and on game...so I would need my 97 to shot close also....BUT I might stop in some time and get you to show me how to shoot skeet.....my first try many years ago when I was shooting a bunch with my 870 field and mod. choke gave me a 21....nothing great, but I have NEVER been able to beat it....came close with my 870 S Field with a 21 " barrel, but no better...I am a lousy skeet shot..trap is ok but skeet is tough..I may be tooo old to learn...