Bert & others---Win 53

laxcoach

I'm assisting a widow evaluate her husband's estate and have a question not referenced in the BB (the only Winchester reference I have). The gun in question is a 53 Takedown in 25-20, SN 10735. On the barrel it reads "Stainless Steel", and the barrel and frame show little or no evidence of ever being blued. The BB makes no mention of stainless steel as an option-- is it possible that the gun left the factory with no blue on the barrels or frame?

Bert H.

Stainless steel barrels were an extra $$ special oprder option starting in 1926. By 1930, Winchester was offering them as a no cost option because they were not selling very well. In 1931, Winchester began installing them (on various models) to use up all of the remaining stock on hand.

All original Stainless Steel barrels were painted with a black enamel as originally manufactured. One of the reasons they were so unpopular (and hard to sell) was the fact that the black paint chipped badly, and it disolved when cleaning solvents touched it. Today, most factory original stainless steel barreled Winchesters are found with very little of the black paint still on then (only the protected areas may have some traces left on them). Have you tried removing the magazine tube and forend stock? If not, please give it a try, and verify that it has a "27" stamped on the bottom of the barrel inside the take down extension ring. Based on the PR records, it was serialized June 15th, 1927.

The receivers were always factory blued. If the rifle in question does not have any bluing on it, somebody intentionally removed it after the fact.

If you can, please post (or send me) some pictures of the rifle.

laxcoach

Bert,
I did as you requested, and the stampings on the underside of the barrel are as follows;
25-20 WCF WP ST G2(in larger letters)
If you'll email me your address so as not to use excessive bandwidth on GB, I'll send you pics. Thanks for your help.