Which to buy for using?

[willy]

In the market for a 97,,,To be "used",, not as an "investment",,Which would you chose,,An original Winchester,,or a new repro?..I'm thinking an affordable original will have lot o f use,,and being over 50 years old,, might have some pretty worn parts that would be hard to get replacements for...BUT,,,it would have the WINCHESTER quality....Or the repro that would be stiff(I heard they were),, and might not have the quality of an original...Sooo,,for you all that know more about originals and the repros,,,which would you chose,,and why?..

[Major 2]

I wasn't in the market for a 97.... but ( and this is a slight drift )

An IAC Trench gun, from a FFL employee collector....new in box, he'd bought and never shot....

@ $350 NIB out the door "consignment" ....it had to come home....

I've heard of issues that Norinco's had , but this IAC made trench gun, however was from the last year of production and has been flawless , I did install the 6 rounds SS magazine spring & follower....

I know the Trench is not CAS legal ( it is for WB I believe )  ,
but you will not find a Winchester 97 that's not beat or worn-out for $400 , so if  "$"  is a concern, look for an IAC

I think the IAC COWBOY models are still available ( https://www.tombstonetactical.com/catalog/cimarron/1897shot-1897-pump-shotgun-12ga-20in-3rd-blued-wood/ ) ( http://www.iacshotguns.com/97w.html )  ...the Trench guns were discontinued some years ago.  

[willy]

Thanks for your input Major.

[Baltimore Ed]

I've got a Norinco trench gun which from the start ran just fine. Don't know about their standard 97. I did loose the shell stop screw and had to hunt really hard to find a replacement screw. Original Winchester screw was too small- Norinco is metric. I did get an original bayonet for it. I will say that the short bbl Norinco shoots tighter than my cut bbl winny. My very first pump sg was an old m21 Marlin which was replaced with a M24 but when sass outlawed Marlins I found a mismatched, cut down, reblued Winchester 97 which I didn't give too much for. I replaced the wood, made it into a 6 shooter and it runs good. Personally, I'd vote for a real Winchester as the imports may be difficult to get parts for. Look around lgs/pawn and see what you can find. Cas shooters are always selling, trading up or just getting out of CAS for medical reasons, aging or being burned out. What have you got to trade? Talk to the guys in your club, see what they're shooting. Most of the shooters in my club run real Winchester 97s, there's only one other guy who occasionally uses a Norinco trench.

[Coffinmaker]

Several Lustrum ago, whilst still chasing the Brass Ring and all of "THE" fast guys were shooting '97s, I also shot '97s.  Had several.  Tried a Norinco which was apparently of the wrong #range and it went Tango Uniform.  Tried one other Chinese copy and it went under as well so I went to "Real" Winchesters.  Had several for myself and one for my sweetie.  Other than an occasional ejector spring and an occasional extractor, the Winchester guns ran just fine.

Then, I realized '97s just weren't Cowboy.  Not Cowboy at all.  So I sold off all the Trombone Guns and switched to Hammer Doubles but that is an entirely new and different thread, not related to '97s actually but sort of but not quite in an oblique sort of way.

Most of the time Ex CAS '97s you see up for grabs are close to clapped out.  I'd suggest browsing your local LGS, Local or Close Gun Shows, the odd Reputable Pawn and Loan (Sure .. Reputable and Pawn in the same sentence  )   If you should run into a "re-finish" run like hell in the other direction.

[willy]

I think I'll check out the Winchester auctions,,,thanks guys.