I have two (new-to-me) 1897s.  At the recent Texas WB State Championships I had problems with both of them feeding ammo.  At the end of the 1st day I inspected both and found that the "flag" was not coming up ahead of the lifter to keep the round guided into the chamber.  Several times during a run, the round would hit the edge of the chamber, not going straight in.  I found that there's a screw that holds the flag from following the lifter all the way down, and allowing it to come up ahead of the lifter.

 

The screws in both guns were buggered up and did not have enough length to hold the flag.  A couple of new screws later, one works, but the other no holds the round against the flag, not allowing it to fully exit the magazine tube. 

 

It appears that the flag may be too thick on this one gun.  I have a new flag ordered for the 12 gauge and hope this solves the issue.  My question is: as it appears the flag is "riveted" into the carrier, how does one go about changing the flag?

Real Winchester or IAC?

 

I've had a sticky flag on a new IAC a few years back, and was about to try flag replacement, but was told I'd have to rivet the new flag with a new rivet and it was "tricky" to do.  So, I  worked a little lube between flag and carrier, and every time I clean it, it gets a very thin smear of Mobil 1 synthetic grease and a smidge of Rem Oil spray.  Has loosened up and run fine ever since.

 

Good luck, GJ