Lever Action Shottie

Noah Zark

Noah Zark

Joined
May 12, 2005
Messages
523
Many Forumites are also into firearms, so I thought I'd share about a recent acquisition: A Model 87 imported by Interstate Arms Corp of Billerica, MA:

IAC87.jpg


It's a Chinese copy of the Winchester 1887 shottie, in 12 ga 2-3/4" chambering. 20" cylinder bore. Holds five in the tubular mag, one in the chamber. Works slick as all get out, and it's a hoot to shoot.

Noah
 
Nice! Thanks for posting the pic Noah:)

Man that would be a fun gun to "chase" a can around with:thumbup:
 
Nice! Gotta keep an eye out at the local gun shows.
 
Hi NZ:

I wondered about those Chinese replica shotguns. They make a copy of the sought after Winchester pump gun with a hammer.

Glad to hear they are decent. Thanks for telling about it.
 
Hey, Noah.

Nice aquisition. Interesting... probably a little slower than a pump, but a different breed of cat. Stage-coachy. Thanks for sharing.

I'd probably be trying to slide back the forend if I shot it... :D Glad the quality is good.


Mike
 
I was just handling one of those at the gunshop yesterday.

That thing felt good!

I was not crazy about having to load through the top bypassing the chamber, but I can make allowances when a shotty lines up that well.

Have you shot it yet? Pics of it being shot?

Thanks.
 
IIRC, the used one was 489, but franklin runs on the higher side.
 
In these parts they are right around $400.

I was going to get a Win 97 pump clone from a local store for $349 and tax, but he pulled his stock and is sending them back because of some wear issues that two customers had with theirs. Something about parts being soft and wearing fast, and being mis-machined. He showed me one that had a rib darned near gone, either worn away or not there in the first place. I'll pass on the Chinese 97.

Having owned a real Win 97 "US"-marked stockade gun many years ago I'm familiar with their workings. The 97 is wicked complicated compared to the lever-action rolling block 1887. Faster, true, but the 87 is MUCH simpler.

Movie fans will recognize that Ahnold used an pistol-gripped 1887 in T2, and it is widely reported/believed that the exact same gun that Ahnold used was also carried and fired by Brendan Fraser in The Mummy Returns.

Noah
 
I must admit that trying out a lever action shotgun would be a treat . I wonder how it feels to cycle that big a round . Hearing the plastic casing go up the ramp proabably isn,t as loud as a 30-30 even though a twelve guage is much larger . Different actions in shotguns have intrigued me since seeing a revolver action on a shotgun in one of the John Wayne movies . I would imagine tolerances would have to be tight or a revolver shotgun would get dirty fast .
 
Heck Noah,

Get a real '97 instead of the clone.

I have my first shotgun, bought in 1962, a Win '97 30in full, made in the 1930's, and the only thing I have ever had done to it was re-blueing a few years ago.

It and the 20 double sxs are the only two I want my kids to keep after I go.

Old guns are good guns.:D

As for speed of shooting, wasn't it a 1987 Win that was used in THE MUMMY RETURNS? Fun movie. Lots of shooting and fighting and bad guys and bugs and nubile wimmens and stuff.

It replaced the '97 used in THE MUMMY.
 
Noah,

Looks really slick to me! Please let us know how it holds up after a few rounds have been run through it.

My first shotgun was an 1897 Winchester pump. Long since gone. Got another one at a gun show, a good one. No serial number which tells me that it was made previous to 1900.

I love the exposed hammer and the way the action seems to come apart when you cycle it.

But the lever action "Shotties" have always looked so neat. I want one.
 
Bill Marsh said:
Noah,

Looks really slick to me! Please let us know how it holds up after a few rounds have been run through it.

My first shotgun was an 1897 Winchester pump. Long since gone. Got another one at a gun show, a good one. No serial number which tells me that it was made previous to 1900.

I love the exposed hammer and the way the action seems to come apart when you cycle it.

But the lever action "Shotties" have always looked so neat. I want one.
Click to expand...

The first and only time I had a chance to handle a Marlin Lever Action .410 I was blown away. I'm one of the few people who love the lowly little .410 and I had the one my old man gave to me.
I've seen him shoot rabbits with it and walk over 75 steps to pick it up!!!!
It was an Iver Johnson Full Choke and it had to be aimed like a rifle in order to hit anything.
I'm still bummed that it was stolen from me when I was just a kid.:(

A friend and myself was out hunting with a bunch of other guys and my friend's brother was using a Winchester Model 97 with the exposed hammer.
Seems they have a weakness when they get old and worn...
If you pump a round into the chamber too hard it can fire without pulling the trigger!!!! :eek:
Dan actually did that and thought it was a fluke, fortunately there was no one in the line of fire but it scared the crap outta all of us. Dan turned around to where it was safe if the gun went off and racked two more shells into the chamber hard and they both fired.
Something y'all that have one might want to be aware of.
 
Yvsa said:
(Regarding the Winchestrer M97 Pump) . . . Seems they have a weakness when they get old and worn...
If you pump a round into the chamber too hard it can fire without pulling the trigger!!!! :eek:
Dan actually did that and thought it was a fluke, fortunately there was no one in the line of fire but it scared the crap outta all of us. Dan turned around to where it was safe if the gun went off and racked two more shells into the chamber hard and they both fired.
Something y'all that have one might want to be aware of.
Click to expand...


Not a weakness, Yvsa, but a design feature. The M97 does not have a disconnector, so holding back the trigger and working the pump handle will repeatedly fire the weapon until empty. Early Winchester M12s, and the Ithaca M37 (my favorite pump shotgun design) also do not have a disconnector and work the same way, except for a small run of Ithacas made in the late 80s and into the 90s.


UPDATE ON THE IAC M1887:

The first one that I bought now has just over 10 boxes of Federal "Topgun" target loads and Winchester AA loads through it without a hiccup. I liked it so much that I bought a second, which has 50 rounds through it with no issues as yet. A friend bought one that would not extract a shell from the chamber, but a few minutes with a file on the left extractor claw fixed that one.

Noah
 
Originally Posted by Yvsa
(Regarding the Winchestrer M97 Pump) . . . Seems they have a weakness when they get old and worn...
If you pump a round into the chamber too hard it can fire without pulling the trigger!!!! :eek:

Noah Zark said:
Not a weakness, Yvsa, but a design feature. The M97 does not have a disconnector, so holding back the trigger and working the pump handle will repeatedly fire the weapon until empty. Early Winchester M12s, and the Ithaca M37 (my favorite pump shotgun design) also do not have a disconnector and work the same way, except for a small run of Ithacas made in the late 80s and into the 90s.

Noah
Click to expand...

Noah I can understand a design feature where the trigger is held back, but this old Model 97 would fire just by racking a shell into the chamber if done too hard with nary a finger near the trigger!!!!:eek:
Too me that is a weakness and what I was warning about. It may have been a fluke with this particular shottie since it's the only one I've ever been around.
I would dearly love to own a Model 97 in spite of it might doing that.
I have one of those cheap Marlin semi auto .22 rifles that shotguns a load out the side of the chamber now and then.
I've hunted with it like that but was extremely careful to not let anyone be on my right side.
I oughta wrap the barrel around a tree to keep it from being used anymore but my grandson Bo wants it as a keepsake when I walk west. He is very much aware of the problem and has promised not to shoot it.
Bo is now in his 20's and very responsible so I trust him with it.
 
Yvsa? I've seen rifles do that -- or worse, fire more than once with a single pull of a trigger, and not all of them were bad designs. Off the top of my head I've personally witnessed M1A's/M14's, AR-15's, and Winchester 1894's do this kind of stuff, none of which I consider to be poorly designed. It's simply worn parts in the trigger group...usually, anyway.

But the Marlin? Get that looked at by a pro. That scares me a little. :) Worst case scenario, the chamber's hosed and it'll need a new barrel. Did it do this when it was new?
 
Yvsa said:
Originally Posted by Yvsa
(Regarding the Winchestrer M97 Pump) . . . Seems they have a weakness when they get old and worn...
If you pump a round into the chamber too hard it can fire without pulling the trigger!!!! :eek:



Noah I can understand a design feature where the trigger is held back, but this old Model 97 would fire just by racking a shell into the chamber if done too hard with nary a finger near the trigger!!!!:eek:
Click to expand...

Yvsa: I misread your earlier post, I apologize. If it's firing when working the action without a finger on the trigger, it's either a sticking firing pin or a problem with the lockwork tripping due to wear or damage.

Noah
 
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