Polytech Winchester 1897 Shotgun

Shown here with my 1875 Remington replica.

This is the gun that started it all, and how I got it is a bit of a story. I had been looking for a reliable 12 gauge shotgun suited for home defense. The rest of my family and I had arrived at a reunion several hours away from our home an hour early, so we started driving around town to pass the time. We came across a gun store, a big one, quite by accident, and of course we went in. They didn’t have the shotgun I had been looking to buy (an Ithaca 37) but they did have a selection of Winchester 97 replicas.

Being a gun nut, I had long known about the Winchester 97, its history, variants, and even that it was legal for use in Cowboy Action Shooting, but had never seen one in a store, let alone one that was on sale. I immediately forgot about the Ithaca. Needless to say, when we finally arrived to the reunion, the trunk of the car was one shotgun heavier than it had been an hour previously. With it was borne the possibility and practicability to start Cowboy Action Shooting.

Enough chatter. The review:

Specifications

• Name: Winchester 1897
• Manufacturer: Polytech, imported by Cimarron Firearms
• Type: Slide-action shotgun
• Caliber: 12 gauge
• Barrel Length: 20 inches
• Capacity: 6+1
• Stock: Walnut
• Finish: Blued

Quality of Materials

For a Chinese made gun, I was pleasantly surprised how good the metal on this shotgun was (as opposed to another one of the 97s they had in the store, a Norinco, which was awful). Very hard, and the action was quite stiff at first. A couple of boxes of shells run through it loosened the action up nicely. The walnut stock is of decently quality, pretty good for what I paid. All in all excellent quality for a Chinese made gun. I’m sure this is in part due to the high standards its importer, Cimarron Firearms, imparts on its guns.

Performance

Like I said, early on the action was tight, but I’m not complaining: it should be tight brand new. This shotgun feeds very well now, and will accept most any 12 gauge shells I feed it. It works just as smoothly with cheap game loads as it does AA trap loads. One nice feature of this shotgun is it comes complete with a choke tube, and a very tight one, too. I’ve busted clays at similar ranges to the longer barreled field gun I use for shooting trap, and this shotgun only has a 20 inch barrel! Granted, I’ve only had this gun around six months, and thanks to the fact that I live halfway across the country from where I am currently enrolled in college I’ve only shot a couple of boxes worth of shells through it in the time I’ve had it. But, so far and knock on wood, I haven’t had any hiccups.

Overall Impression

I love this shotgun, what can I say. It hasn’t given me trouble yet, it’s of good quality, and I got it on sale! What more could you ask a gun? Time will tell (I hear 97s in general are notorious for breaking), but I think that with care this gun will last a good long while. Overall impression: a good gun for a good price.