The design differed from most other slide-action shotguns as the shells were loaded and ejected from the bottom of the receiver rather than the bottom-loading and side-port ejection configuration found on most of the competing designs. The gun was an improved version of the John Browning-designed Model 17 that had been a popular seller for the Remington Arms Co. In 1937, Ithaca introduced its first repeating shotgun, the Model 37. sought a gun of this type to keep pace with its two major competitors. After the Armistice, civilian gunmakers concentrated on rifles and shotguns for the civilian sporting/hunting market.ĭue to the growing popularity of the Winchester and Remington slide-action shotguns, Ithaca Gun Co. military between the wars, but no new combat shotguns were manufactured after cancellation of the 1918 contracts. Dubbed “trench guns,” these arms produced during World War I remained in service with the U.S.
During World War I, a version of the Model 1897 fitted with a ventilated metal handguard and bayonet adapter was issued for combat use, along with a smaller number of similarly modified Remington Model 10 shotguns. While never a large part of our military small arms arsenal, increasing numbers of shotguns saw service in all subsequent U.S. military procured shotguns specifically for combat purposes when a couple hundred commercial Winchester Model 1897 slide-action “riot” shotguns (20' barrel) were issued to American soldiers fighting Moro tribesmen in the Philippines.
In the immediate aftermath of the Spanish-American War of 1898, the U.S. A few shotguns were acquired by the military during this period for “foraging” use, such as hunting birds and other small game to supplement the typical salt pork and hardtack fare. Likewise, shotguns accompanied troops during the Western Expansion from the late 1860s through the 1880s. Shotguns were often employed, particularly by Confederate cavalrymen, during the American Civil War. Even before the Revolutionary War, smoothbore flintlock “fowling pieces” were frequently pressed into service in the hands of militia and other irregular troops. Shotguns have had a long, but often unheralded, tenure of service with America’s armed forces.