Looking for Winchester 97 help

B

bernie

New member
I have a Winchester 97 that a friend of mine inherited from his dad, and I want to do him a favor and get it fixed for him. This is an old family gun, but my buddy has never really gotten to enjoy it due to a problem that it developed years ago. I do not know the terminology, but will do my best to describe the problem as told to me. There is a "collar" in front of the receiver that goes around the magazine tube and barrel and it has a screw in it. As it is fired, the screw in it loosens up and the barrel gets loose. Does anyone know how I can fix this, or someone that I can send it to to get it fixed?

I am going to try to fire it this weekend to confirm that this is the problem.

The gun itself is interesting. The owner had it reblued, so it has less collector value. The receiver has an ordnance bomb under a stamped "US" in front of the ejection port. It also has a commercial full choked barrel on it. The guys dad told me years ago that he suspected someone had absconded with it from the army, ditched the original barrel (what a shame) and put the commercial barrel on it.
 
I am NOT a gunsmith and hopefully someone with more knowledge can confirm my thought or offer a better fix. If it is a screw loosening as you describe, I would try some blue loctite on it.

My grandfather has one of these fine weapons and it rattled like a train when pumped but shot consistently for years and years. By the time Grandpa passed, almost all the blue was worn off but it had killed many a squirrel, rabbit, and other game. Still :mad: that one of my cousins wound up with it but he was always GrandMA's favorite.
 
With Ordnance markings odds are that the gun was a riot gun, originally. There were a number of "commercial" shotguns used to train pilots in deflection shooting as well, but I don't know if any were Win97s or what markings they got.

The Riot guns / Trench guns are high dollar items today (IF in original condition). Yours is just a "shooter" Very popular with the Cowboy Action crowd, today, being one of the very few "period correct" pump guns.

The "collar" is the receiver extension, which the barrel and magazine mount to. The design allows for taking down the gun into a much shorter package for transport or storage.

its been a long time since I looked at a 97, so, not familiar with the screw(s) you are talking about. I have a couple model 12s, which were developed from the 97, and do not have screws in the receiver extension.

There are many (dozens) of Locktite products, identified by color (red, blue, green, purple, etc) and by numbers. Some are made to keep screws from loosening but allow removal with proper tools, some are made to keep screws from loosening EVER!!!

I would recommend a product called "Guntite" (I think its Loctite "green" but don't quote me on that). You can get it lots of places, maybe even at Walmart, but for sure any good sporting goods store should have it. A small tube lasts a long time, and it is the "right stuff" to hold screws in, but let you take them out when needed. One drop on degreased threads is all you need.
(and repeat when reinstalling the screw)
 
if you do not know what you are doing, take it to a good gunsmith and let him look at it. it will save you a head ache. eastbank.
 
Well i'm not familiar with this gun but I know google. Are you talking about the screw that is holding the barrel band on at the right of the screen?

Parts can be found here.
http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Manufac...03/97TakedownSolidFrame-43818.htm?results=All

But it looks like it's two screws and a bushing. I would take the screws out and inspect the thread. If they're good put some version of loctite on the and screw them back in. If you don't want to take it apart again red would work great. And if you do need to get the red apart take a soldering iron and place it on the screw head for a while and the heat will let you unscrew it out.

97brokendown.jpg
 
There are solid frame and takedown 97's.The one shown as a whole gun in two assemblies is obviously a takedown.
The one with the pic of the receiver and the screw is a solid frame.

I sold my 97 in the 90's.I never was an expert.

Your description is rather vague.First,be patient.I suggest,if you do not know what you are doing,don't!!

I know a 97 sort of a guy.Take pictures.Show me the screw,etc in clear fashion.
Frankly,from your description,I'm imagining the takedown pin at the end of the mag tube is simply in the wrong position.I could be wrong.
After the full disassembly for a reblue,ANYTHING is possible.
With all due respect for your smith,its not unheard of for a screw to get lost in the bluing tank.
You COULD have some cigar box screw that went in the hole.
I'd hold off on the Loctite.Let your smith or 97 guru decide on that.
There is a reason gunsmiths get cranky.
Going to see him after the Loctite tube burps a shot of Loctite through the screw hole into the works will give him tight jaws.So will goobering up a screw head.It would be very bad for Loctite to get inside that figure 8 shaped barrel/mag tube clamp.
FWIW,the mag tube is designed to rotate freely inside the figure 8 shaped barrel/mag tube clamp.At the muzzle end of the mag tube is an approx. 1/4 dia pin across the mag tube.IIRC,when assembled for use,the pin is pushed in as far as it will go from the right hand,or ejection,side.To take it down,the pin is pushed in from the left side,so it sticks out the other side of the mag tube.Then that pin protruding is used to rotate the mag tube in an unscrew direction.IIRC,It is done with the bolt open,so the extractors will not be engaged with the barrel.In the very nice pic in post 5,you can see the pin through the mag tube,near the muzzle,sticking out.It happens to be pointing at the ejection port of the receiver.
I forget exactly how the action bar disengages the slide,but that done,the slide and mag tube draw forward,and with a twist,the shotgun breaks in half.
But don't do that till you find someone to show you.
 
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The screw the OP is talking about is the adjusting sleeve lock screw. The hole could be stripped, the screw could be stripped, it's hard to say without having it in hand. Parts are available. Take it to someone who knows Winchesters, don't screw it up trying to fix it yourself. In good shape, a 97 is worth about $300ish. Five + years ago, they were worth $500-$600 easily, but the Chinese copies sell for $350ish and have driven the prices down.
 
From what you guys have said so far, it is a take down version. Sometime in the next few days I will play with it some and see if I can get more information put together.
 
You'll need a special "dog-bone" wrench that ..

adjust both the Win 19897 & Model 12's, that use a similar set-up.

Brownells used to carry this wrench, but unsure if they stil do??

Best is to use a gunsmith that has done this before. not try and use 'channel-locs ".

Post some pictures, sound like a nice shotgun.
 
if you do not know what you are doing, take it to a good gunsmith
Click to expand...
Where's the fun in that?
Everyone knows the only time we take stuff to the gunsmith is when the gun is locked up solid and there's extra parts still laying on the work bench.
Where's your sense of adventure?
 
Yeah, I know. I am a gunsmith. I get the guns in that the brother/son/friend tried to fix and totally buggered it. I always think it's strange that the people who bring me these joys can never screw one up themselves, they have to get someone else to help them do it. :rolleyes: It's always easier and cheaper to fix things that someone has not totally buggered.
 
I finally pulled it out and messed with it some. I still have not fired it. The pin at the end of the mag may be the problem. Like I said, I am going off of what I remember from a my dead friend telling me about the problem. This is a take down model, but I can push the pin at the end of the mag tube in all the way from right to left, and the mag tube still wants to come out. The only way to lock the mag tube in place is to push the pin all the way in from left to right and then rotate the mag tube 90 degrees so the pin is now pointing down. From what HiBC described, this does not sound right. Any input?

Thanks.
 
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