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WW1 1897 trench gun on GB


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According to Bruce's book this gun is well outside the WW1 sn range but the seller provides a piece of paper with a sn range that exactly matches the gun for sale. Its a great looking piece but idk about that 1920 serial number...hmmm

 

https://www.gunbroker.com/Item/884650107

Edited by Petroleum 1
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According to Bruce's book this gun is well outside the WW1 sn range but the seller provides a piece of paper with a sn range that exactly matches the gun for sale. Its a great looking piece but idk about that 1920 serial number...hmmm

 

https://www.gunbroker.com/Item/884650107

 

The flaming bomb stamp on the receiver and top of the barrel are not genuine either. Enough said.

Edited by Kilroy
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How about this one...same seller

 

 

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/884692847

 

markings on this one look fraudulent as well. I guess his disclaimer is here:

"This one appears to be commercial production 97 that was converted by the U.S. Government for the war effort…..the Joe Poyer book states that an unknown number of commercial 97’s may have been acquired and converted to trench and riot guns during the early part of WWII to fill the needs of our troops." Edited by Kilroy
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The markings on both guns are indeed fake. Although the earlier gun (sn 733016) is a 1920 gun, it is possible it was assembled as a trench gun, but not under government contract. I know of two other 1920 trench guns. One is in the 744xxx serial number range. The second gun is in the 720xxx serial number range and was part of the Pugsley Collection owned by Winchester. It is now owned by a private collector. Neither of these trench guns were martially marked.

 

And keep in mind that there were commercial Model 1897 trench guns that were made for law enforcement between the WWI and WWII. Many of these are in the 800,000 range.

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Yikes! Looks like both went for a pretty penny.

Yup...both clearly put together trench guns with faked markings and all. Uneducated buyers i guess.I did see a norinco trench with a Remington bayonet go for over 4K with some heavy bidding about 6 months ago. Edited by Petroleum 1
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I'm regularly seeing $1K asking prices for the Norinco 97 trench guns. I just cannot wrap my head around that one. There seems to be a whole universe of counterfeits, clones, scams and stupid buyers out there.

I cant understand the made in China norinco thing either. There are plenty of real New Haven Conn made model 97 guns out there that can be converted to trench models instead of having the made in China stamping on it. Ugh

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About the worst thing I can say about the Norinco M97s is that they work well. I bought two new when they came out. Can't remember what I paid for them, but they were very inexpensive. Both are still in their original boxes. Looks like now would be a good time to sell!

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That is crazy money but i have been watching the norinco IAI sales on GB for months and i have seen anywhere from slightly over $1,000 up to $1700 for both nib and used. I have no experience with these but i believe some will slam fire and others will not. The norinco reg riot guns go for $650-$950. Edited by Petroleum 1
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About the worst thing I can say about the Norinco M97s is that they work well. I bought two new when they came out. Can't remember what I paid for them, but they were very inexpensive. Both are still in their original boxes. Looks like now would be a good time to sell!

 

I had one years ago when they were new. It worked great and was a decent place holder until I bought a real trench gun. Once I had a real one I saw no point in having a replica. I sold it I think for about $700, I bought it for $475. Mine would slam fire.

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