Scarce First Year Winchester Model 1897 12 Gauge

A very scarce first year of production (1898) solid-frame Winchester Model 1897 12 gauge shotgun. Has a special-order (or retrofitted?) reddish walnut Winchester-made wide ribbed three-screw forend with a lacquer finish. The metal finish is mostly a nice even patina. There is very little original bluing remaining. (See photos.) The barrel is 25-1/2″ barrel with no choke (cylinder bore) and no choke marking. It has a standard Winchester bead front sight, so I suspect that this may have been a special-order barrel length. Buttstock is in an oiled smooth walnut finish, and appears to have been sanded. The forend finish is original. Both are smooth, with just minor handling dings. Has a black gutta percha Winchester logo checked buttplate that is in quite nice condition. The action functions fine. (Hammer does not follow or “push off”, and it holds half-cock safety position properly.) The action feels nice and smooth, yet it locks up tight.  No noticeable dents in the magazine tube or the barrel. Serial # 4238X. This gun would be fine to use “as is”, or would be a good candidate for shortening to a riotgun, and/or refinishing.  There were more than one million Winchester Model 1897 shotguns made, but only the first 63,633 were made in 1898. (Just six-tenths of one percent — making them very scarce!) Even when in rough condition, pre-1899 production Winchester Model 1897s have been selling for well over $3,300 in the past year. (PEIU-1897)