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Winchester factory letter question

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  • austinsgunsaustinsguns Member Posts: 143 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have an early Winchester 1906 with a 860 serial number. It has a later replacement s,l,lr barrel and carrier. However the receiver has Winchester factory proof marks on it Which would not have been original to the rifle when it was made in 1906. So I am speculating that the rifle was originally short only, then later shipped back to winchester and converted to s,l,lr. Where they then stamped proof marks on the barrel and receiver. Note that this receiver is original to the rifle w/matching numbers.

    My question is, If this was a factory modification will a letter from the museum reflect this?
    img2699q.jpg

    img1067y.jpg
  • austinsgunsaustinsguns Member Posts: 143 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    It also has these markings below on the receiver. What do they mean?
    img1065m.jpg
  • Bert H.Bert H. Member Posts: 11,279 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If it was sent back to Winchester for the new barrel, it should have an "R & R" entry in the Remarks section of the ledger page. The "R & R" entry will include a date and an order number at a minimum. If there is no "R & R" entry, then it will be very difficult to prove that it was a factory alteration.

    Bert H.
  • tsr1965tsr1965 Member Posts: 8,682 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    That proof mark on your reciever, could have been oririginal. That is about the time, or shortly before they started proof stamping.

    To proof stamp, the barrel must be proof tested. Which means it must be attatched to a reciever. I think possibly, your reciever was proof stamped, at the same time when te s,l,lr barrel wasinstalld,if done at te factory.
    Best
  • austinsgunsaustinsguns Member Posts: 143 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by tsr1965
    That proof mark on your reciever, could have been oririginal. That is about the time, or shortly before they started proof stamping.

    To proof stamp, the barrel must be proof tested. Which means it must be attatched to a reciever. I think possibly, your reciever was proof stamped, at the same time when te s,l,lr barrel wasinstalld,if done at te factory.
    Best


    My 17,548 and 90,113 1906's do not have proof marks on them.
  • Bert H.Bert H. Member Posts: 11,279 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Winchester did not begin proof marking the .22 caliber rifles until 1908.
  • CJS10CJS10 Member Posts: 51 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Snap, You are correct, it was sent back to Winchester, re-barreled and then proofed at that time. The factory letter will likely Not say anything about the re-barrel. The letter is a report on Winchester's shipping room document, not a history of the gun. Sure some early Winchester high end guns do have "returned to the factory on a certain later date for repair" notations. Yours may have an entry like that to, but unlikely on a common gun. None the less, the work on your gun was factory.
  • austinsgunsaustinsguns Member Posts: 143 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    So, I have probably the earliest serial Model 1906 factory chambered in s,l,lr? Very neat.
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