jeepkid

Thats a pretty cool website . It says mine was made in 1979.

eldeguello

Of course, the serial numbers are the best guide! But you can pretty much tell at a glance at such parts as the loading gate, cartridge lifter, etc. On the pre-64's, these areobviouslymachined steel parts. On the later ones, these are obviouslycheap stamping.

In the original design, the lever pivots on a pin that goes all the way through with exposed heads on each side,held in place with a set-screw in the center. In the '64's and later, this is just a screw that is inserted from one side rather than a pin, and the center retaining screw is not there any more. The post-64's have alot of obvious stampings, and the fit and finish are substandard compared with the pre-64's.

Rebel Hog

1963 ended with number 2,586,000. This was the end of the classic Winchesters made with hand-finished cast parts.