The Great War of 1914-18 was a vast, industrial endeavor — in many ways the epitome of modernity. Yet there were elements that integrated Continuity & Persistence of Frontier Partisan warfare. Some of the greats of Frontier Partisan history were active participants: the hunter PJ Pretorius, whose epic stalking of a German battle cruiser was just one of many remarkable exploits as a scout in East Africa; the legendary Frederick Courteney Selous serving in his 60s until he fell in battle. The Legion of Frontiersmen was created specifically to exploit Frontier Partisan skills in the modern context.
Still fit and able at 64, the hunter Frederick Courteney Selous fought in World War I with the Legion of Frontiersmen. He was killed in battle by a German sniper.
Those men’s exploits were in the forests and savannah of East Africa, but even on the main battlefront, in the trenches that scarred Europe, Frontier Partisan skills came to the fore. Top snipers tended to have backgrounds as hunters and woodsmen. Men like the Metis-Cree sniper Henry Nor’west came out of the Canadian West to apply their background and skillset to the deadly trade. Trench raiding would have been a recognizable form of combat to any warrior who stalked an enemy in their own fortress throughout history.
I recently came across a YouTube Channel that takes on some of these topics in detail. It’s titled StormofSteel, riffing off of Ernst Junger’s outstanding memoir of the same title.
There’s an excellent treatise on hand-to-hand combat in the trenches, one on sniping, and another on the deployment of the pump-action shotgun (particularly the Winchester Model 1897) as an apex trench-raider weapon.
Matthew says
I need to read Junger’s book.
JimC says
Yes.
Andrew says
Yes, it’s a very good book and pairs well with All Quiet on the Western Front.
Clyde Dildine says
I happen to own an 1897 Winchester 12 gauge shotgun. It is not the trench version but rather a full choke, 30 in barrel hunting one. It was manufactured in 1907, belonged by my great grandfather and has been passed down through the generations. I killed my first deer with it. Its action is a bit stiff these days and I only recently learned of its war history. Haven’t tried live slam firing it and doubt I will but it is still full capable of doing so.
JimC says
Classic. Good duck gun back in the day, but probably doesn’t pattern steel too well. BTW, your old 10-22 got a good workout with Ceili on New Year’s Day.
Rich K. says
Steel is a bad idea in these older guns anyway. New guns meant for steel shot are made from modern alloys hard enough to stand up to steel shot. Old guns will bulge and even burst. Best to use bismuth shot for waterfowl hunting in older guns. It’s not cheap, but it’s non-toxic and nearly as dense as lead, as well as being soft like lead, so it will perform similarly.
JimC says
Ah, right — I’d forgotten about bismuth shot.
Clyde Dildine says
Yep, I saw the pictures. Glad she is enjoying it.
Quixotic Mainer says
I see 97’s fairly often in SASS shoots, in the civilian configuration, they’re very cool old rigs and many originals are still running well.
The next fray is on an indoor, and they’re requiring mini shells (or light handloads) for the scattergun engagements to cut down on blast and noise. Those of us running the repeaters will have to single feed. I’m planning a bizarre breech loading practice session with the 87 to prepare.
That’s a cool painting but I give the doughboy in the kettle hat very poor odds. His stalhelm wearing foe can swivel that Teutonic Han Solo pistol around pretty easy even with his forearm grabbed.
JimC says
Your SASS adventures sound like a whole lotta fun.
Quixotic Mainer says
I highly recommend cowboy action. You can take the competition seriously or just have fun and enjoy the vintage gunnery and props as you like. You should look up your local club!
The costuming can sometimes be jarring though. There’s something intellectually off putting about a guy whose equine experience ended at an allergic reaction to a petting zoo pony feeling the need to wear wooly chaps while dismounted on a 90 degree day.
JimC says
Good lord Lorrie…
I’ll see that dude’a woolies and raise him a buffler coat.
J.F. Bell says
I’m working through the ’97 video. So far I’ll say it’s…imaginative.
I’d like to see his research, given most of his visual are illustrations, reenactments, later images of non-trenchgun variants (one of which I’m decently certain is airsoft ) and much later collector photography.
At the risk of seeming needless contrary, this was argued in my circles in some detail back around the centennial of the First World War. The provable conclusion then was that the militarized 1897 existed on or around 1917, at least some went to France, and there resulted a handful of documented instances of use in combat. The lion’s share, it seems, went to guard supply depots and prisoners. There was one Medal of Honor citation (if I recall) with most references having more to do with the difficulties of paper-hulled ammunition in damp environments.
No question the riot gun is effective, or that adding seventeen inches of bayonet has certain deleterious psychological results on the intended…but as ever, one is always better off buying the gun than the story.
JimC says
That’s good, both as a turn of phrase and as advice.
The paper hulls are a problem in the wet for sure. We would sometimes get some through at Pachmayr that were who-knows-how-old and still functional. All depended on storage, of course.
J.F. Bell says
In the interest of disclosure, I’m a great fan of the shotgun. There are half a dozen 97s in the safe, a couple of Ithaca police guns and later Winchesters, and aside a galling horror at what Remington has become, I’ve had at least one or two 870s around since I was old enough to buy my own hardware.
Over the years, though, the mindset has shifted some away from a scattergun and a box of double-ought as the ultimate fighting setup. What the shotgun is good for – where it excels – is dumping kinetic energy at close range and situations were precision is probably not required or throwing light projectiles in volume at soft mobile targets of limited size; essentially, if you need to knock down birds or put a fist-sized hole in something across the room it’s a good choice. Once you step off the front porch, though, or your local jackals and gremlins learn to make friends or discover armor, it’s a rifle game.
Hence the problem with the World War I myth. The shotgun may do well in trench fighting – but there are significant concentrations of the Hun versus your 4+1 loadout of dubious buck, and you need to cross a hundred yards of bad ground before you’re close enough to make good. Pound for pound, a rifle – or a BAR, if you can get it – and a bag of grenades is likely the better hand. In this vein, the 128th Infantry’s experience (100% loss of their men armed with shotguns) would suggest the trench gun poorly suited for the nature of most combat against machine guns, dug-in infantry, or conventionally outfitted troops in quantity.
The other advantage is psychological. Shotgun wounds are ugly and, thanks largely to Hollywood, the function of ballistics tragically misunderstood. As one of my former coworkers once remarked, paraphrased:
“Well…you won’t knock a man out of his shoes, but you might need a new rug and some drywall.”
Is racking a shotgun one of the sounds most recognizable to the modern human ear? Sure. And from the front, that .73-caliber bore is dark and filled with terrors. But from what I gather, getting shot is pretty terrible and psychologically upsetting in general, and terminal ballistics are witchcraft, more or less. A charge of buckshot will do it…but so will most other options.
It’s an exceptional tool in a very narrow band. Given, that’s a band that interests me and one into which I’ve poured entirely too much time and money.
Still, if a man’s gotta know his limitations, he’d do well to know the same for hardware.
Meantime, this guy had a pretty decent write-up on the subject.
https://www.earnededges.com/p/your-shotgun-sucks
JimC says
I love the way you write. Thanks for the link.
I busted some clays with son-in-law on New Years Day. It had been a shamefully long time since I had done that. I love it and need to get back to it on the regular.
Quixotic Mainer says
My first 100,000 plus mile crown Vicky came with a Mossberg 590 Marine with peep sights. I loved that thing when things were getting spicy. What that outfit had for carbines were pretty clapped out and the battle tube was vastly more reliable with a decent operator. Scatterguns are pretty much a vanished species tactically, (at least in my arena) but every once in a while I still see one brought out.
J.F. Bell says
For what it’s worth, I’d take a shotgun over any kind of pistol, and the advent of less lethal munitions change the field somewhat. Still kick myself for passing on a case of rubber buckshot a few years ago. No idea what I’d have done with it, precisely.
A second point in reference to the video, missed earlier – I have to admit, I take a perverse kind of amusement in the internet crowd that circles around anytime trench guns get mentioned.
Specifically, the idea of slam-firing as an effective means of doing much past racing one’s way to a holding a finely-machined club or an inferior war pike. Seems the internet’s enamored of the practice, which is surest way of picking out anybody who’s never tried it.
Internet gun lore is a strange, stupid, fascinating place.
Quixotic Mainer says
To quote The Killer Angels; they’d rather lose the war than admit to the mistake!
Hammer says
“It’s an exceptional tool in a very narrow band.”
True. But that band actually represents a large part of what a civilian is realistically likely to have to deal with, making it a wide band, in context.
J.F. Bell says
Well, yes and no. Are we discussing the role of martial shotguns against the specific backdrop of World War I trench warfare and large-scale warfare in general?
The civil market (to include law enforcement) is a somewhat different animal.
I’d be open to that discussion, too…but there’s a reason the shotgun is most prevalent among militias, guerillas, and peasant armies vice being general-issue for grunts in larger state-backed forces with formal structures, training, and supply lines.
Hammer says
Sorry, I thought it was clear that I was not referring to “the role of martial shotguns against the specific backdrop of World War I trench warfare and large-scale warfare in general?” I was referring to how the shotgun translates to civilian use.
It has clearly fallen out of favor, but mostly due to trends that have little to due with practicality, imo. Again, for a civilian context. It is still a very viable and effective option for those who dedicate themselves to learning it (as one should with any option).
JimC says
I think that’s true — the GWOT got most civilians hooked into the AR platform; the shotgun just became less “sexy.” From a purely practical home-defense standpoint, I tend to recommend people look into a pistol-caliber carbine like the Ruger PC carbine because they are easier to shoot than a shotgun, especially for women and less-experienced shooters who might be sensitive to recoil. But the ol’ shotgun remains versatile and effective and I really think I need a Beretta 1301.
John M. says
In many ways the submachine gun is a better military shotgun: You get a lot of projectiles launched very quickly, none of which have a lot of ballistic stone on their own, but when put together by a trained user can often be very decisive at short range. You keep the limited range problem of the shotgun, but solve the reloading problem decisively. The logistics of ammo are easier too since your SMG isn’t the ONLY thing in-theater that feeds 12 gauge.
PCCs lose some of their benefits in a civilian context without a giggle switch, but “a little training” goes a longer way to getting someone to quick, accurate follow-up shots with a PCC than on a 12 gauge, especially those who are smaller.
PCCs are generally cheaper than ARs too, both up front and ongoing ammo costs.
Ugly Hombre says
I only have a 93/97 “Coyote Cap” Chicom 1897 clone I bought from my Pard Joes widow after he passed on. Sturdy fun thing but the heat treat of the internals may not be the best for longevity.. Coyote Cap went to Chicomland and helped them get it right back when Cowboy action was popular- Have a pretty full set of guns used in the great Wild Bunch movie..
It would work well to repel boarders but if touched off in the rude hut I would never hear Robert Johnson again or any tunes probly.. Never slam fired it aka Marvin in the Professionals who sure as hell had done it many times..
Old ways are the best ways..imo
J.F. Bell says
Fair enough. I don’t believe I made any remark on civil use in my longer posts. And like I said, I’m a great fan of shotguns, and own…probably too many, to include a Model 12 trench gun clone I built back in gunsmithing school.
In a pure sporting context, specifically birds, nothing else will suffice.
In a defensive context, it’s a viable choice, contingent on other factors. With police, as a general rule, the fewer projectiles dispatched the better. If somebody’s in my house at 0300 and I don’t know who or why, it’s among my first choices. If there’s an angry mob outside trying to set my car on fire, it’s probably not.
If I’m looking to arm somebody who doesn’t have my build, experience, or indifference to recoil…it’s definitely not the first choice.
Birds? Pests? Clays? You bet.
Expectation of trouble? Well, maybe.
It’s a tool that’s good at a lot of things and the best at comparatively few. I loved them (and still do) largely because old shotguns can usually be had on the cheap, and because many of them are mechanically interesting, and I can find ammunition anywhere. Now that the NFA tax is dead, I’m looking at shortening several. If anything, this makes them less effective, by and large – but the Ithaca stakeout is a dangerous kind cool, as is bobbed coach gun or a modern howdah in the form of a pistolized over/under.
Again, it’s the the user and the application and knowing what you expect.
Do people always use the best tool? No. Does the tool they use instead sometimes work? Sure. Does the fact that it worked make it the best? Not necessarily, but external constraints may dictate you roll what you’ve got.
The shotgun (single or double) is likely the gun that won most of the west, based on versatility alone, and it kept that distinction well into the 20th century. It could probably be argued that the AR/PCC is the modern equivalent – what gives you the most flex for your dollar, the fewest logistical problems, and which you want if you can only have one.
Joe says
My guess is Selous didn’t encounter the trench shotty since it probably wouldn’t have served much use for bush warfare. (I don’t think the Brits used it much if even at all, but they should have!)
I thought 1923 did a decent job of portraying it. This Storm of Steel video looks great.