Michigan State Police Winchester Model 97 Shotgun Serial Numbers

[dalbert]

All,

 

"Sig" on this board has been doing research on Michigan State Police Colt Thompsons for a while, and recently, he located some archives that listed 77 different serial numbers for Winchester Model 97 shotguns that were issued to the various detachments in the 1930's-1940's. The list even indicates in which car each shotgun was mounted. Sig made the list available to me, and I'm posting it here for reference. Listed below are the serial numbers, and the detachments they were issued to. The list also detailed Thompsons and Tear Gas Guns, but I have only posted the shotgun list here.

 

The undated list from the Michigan Archives is titled "Record of Gun Rack Installlations and Guns Branded." Based on the serial number range, I assume these are Winchester Model 97's. I suppose it is possible that they are Winchester Model 12's, but they were used less frequently by police departments, and it would also mean that most of them were manufactured in 1941 or later, which would be inconsistent with the other documents accompanying this list.

 

Number Detachment

855802 East Lansing

860685 East Lansing

861625 East Lansing

857675 East Lansing

811612 East Lansing

857892 Brighton

855743 Brighton

855745 Detroit

855806 Detroit

855782 Detroit

855812 Rockwood

855699 Rockwood

811787 St. Clair

861179 St. Clair

855758 St. Clair

861348 Ypsilanti

812095 Ypsilanti

812227 Ypsilanti

862580 Romeo

811889 Romeo

898711 Bay City

855804 Bay City

855731 Bay City

811636 Flint

840162 Flint

855744 Flint

899960 West Branch

862645 West Branch

899958 Bad Axe

858455 Bad Axe

858295 East Tawas

857622 East Tawas

855795 Jackson

855778 Jackson

855827 Jonesville

855730 Jonesville

855709 Blissfield

855800 Blissfield

862575 Blissfield

857922 Erie

899909 Erie

858458 Erie

862635 Clinton

861971 Paw Paw

855792 Paw Paw

811611 Paw Paw

860787 White Pigeon

855767 White Pigeon

855702 White Pigeon

900486 South Haven

900054 South Haven

811635 New Buffalo

858788 New Buffalo

858266 Niles

811613 Niles

857670 Rockford

858268 Rockford

860930 Rockford

855706 Grand Haven

900578 Mount Pleasant

855805 Mount Pleasant

858438 Reed City

862622 Reed City

855815 Traverse City

855822 Traverse City

855740 Manistee

855738 Manistee

858554 Cheboygan

855796 Cheboygan

860683 Alpena

862784 Alpena

811812 Houghton Lake

811621 Houghton Lake

900542 Cadillac

900512 Cadillac

900577 Gaylord

900051 Gaylord

 

It would be really cool if anyone was able to determine provenance of their shotgun(s) from this list. The shotguns may already be marked in some manner to indicate use by the Michigan State Police.

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com