I believe Bro. Houchins' got ahead of himself, but could be wrong.
Unfortunately, the shipping records in that period did not include the barrel composition so Dr. Jim can't settle the issue.
He has an image on p. 18 of his "Production Records" showing an A-1 with a 1897 or 98' price of $175; with "our
New Nitro Steel barrels.
Dr Jim could confirm the date of the Pigeon Gun listing on p. 24 with "Our new Pigeon Nitro Steels..."
This image is from the 1898 catalog