World War II Database

Country of Origin	United States
Type	Shotgun
Caliber	18.530 mm
Capacity	5 rounds
Length	1.000 m
Barrel Length	510.000 mm
Weight	3.600 kg
Range	20.000 m

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseWinchester Model 1897 slide action pump shotguns were designed by John Browning and were manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company starting in 1897. A large number was procured by the United States Army during WW1 as these shotguns provided the close-range firepower that trench warfare demanded. A small number of sharpshooters were also trained to use these shotguns to intercept incoming enemy grenades in mid air. They remained popular in the civilian market through the inter-war years, and when the US entered WW2 in Dec 1941, the US Army and US Marine Corps continued to use them on the front lines, alongside of shotguns of the updated Model 1912 design. The Winchester Model 1897 design would remain in production until 1957; by which time, about 1,024,700 examples had been produced.

Source: Wikipedia ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Jan 2014

Photographs

Winchester Model 1897 Timeline

19 Sep 1918

The German government issued a diplomatic protest against the American use of shotguns against German soldiers in the trenches, noting that they caused "unnecessary suffering".

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