I have been caught talking off the top of my head again. OK, here it is. I just inspected an early Trap Gun and it appears I was mistaken about the logo on the breech bolt. It appears to be very nicely engraved, as it also is on the Pigeon Gun. In addition, the stippling or matting on the top of the receiver is not identical on all guns, some appearing to be chased or engraved side to side, some appear to be somewhat matted, and parts of some do, in fact, appear to be stippled, especially in the concave area at the very front of the receiver. I have one that is done by one method in the convex area and by another method in the concave area. Whatever method they used, it is beautiful work. Robert Harris describes the Pigeon Gun well. Mine, which I sold to a fellow collector, was in the 342,000 series, was in the odd standard catalog configuration of 28" full choke matted top barrel. Some barrels are matted in a continuous pattern that follows the contour of the round barrel. Some are matted in a faceted or three semi-flat pattern. Again, whatever they did, it was beautiful. The engraving on the Pigeon Gun cannot be appreciated without a glass. In the far background of the pigeon shooting scene, there are figures of spectators that no one would notice without the use of a magnifier. The quail hunting scene is a tribute to the Model 1897's relatively new found capability of taking more than two birds on a covey rise.
