Help Identifying Firearms

[chekmate]

Hi Everyone. My dad just showed me two firearms that he had in the house and he wanted some help identifying what they are.

Remington - my guess is a shotgun but I'm not sure. The side of the barrel includes the following, "Patented October 30, 1894; June 16, 1903; June 28, 1904"

Winchester - This rifle includes a serial number and "Model of 1917 Winchester"

How would you check if these guns are still in working condition? If they are in working condition, would they be safe to use? Would you have to register these guns?

Thank you for your help.

[davidb]

the winchester is like it says on the gun, a model 1917

the other seems to be a single shot remington 1893 shotgun

id probably have a gunsmith check them out if you are really unsure, and look for gauge size markings on the remington or ask the gunsmith to tell if you're unsure about that as well...i think the most common for that model would probably be 12 or 16 gauge