Just my WAG (I was an infant at the time, too & don't remember
), but I would think that Winchester probably wouldn't have even made that many Model 97's if the need for them hadn't been driven by WWII.
I do remember that, in the 1950's, pretty much nobody was into hammerguns (shotguns), and CAS was likely only the dream of some 4-year-old watching Howdy Doody on the boob tube.
.