Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Pre-64 300 Win Mag

I saw a 300 Win Mag today that has a S/N of 560XXX. Both the BBGV and Rule show that S/N as a late 1962 manufacture.

Can that be possible?

Thanks. donsm70

Yes sir, it is indeed possible. The 300 win mag cartridge made its debut in 1962. Rifles were being made in 1962 and released on or after Feb. 1 1963....Also, since the 300 win mag was being made on the short magnum action, you may even see some receivers stamped before 1962. That's the anomaly when dealing with pre 64 Winchester model 70's...

Exactly...(without consulting Rule but we get BSA so who needs Rule? )

But those receivers were available from the time the 458 Win Mag,338, and 264 WM were introduced in the 50's....the 300 Win Mag was the last of the 30/06-length belted mags so those receivers were being made well before the 300 WM was introduced.

Just the guys I was hoping to hear from and thank you very much for the replies.

I may just get me another one.

donsm70

bsa: Date of the production of the rifle does not always coincide with the date of manufacture of the receiver,as indicated by the serial number.....generally it does but not always...that's part of the wildcard aspect of buying pre 64's.

I had several members refer me to Perry County Fireams in Central PA, and I gave them a call. They actually had several to pick from and I chose a 1955 with a raised comb and in 95 to 97% condition.


















donsm70

I'm not model 70 expert, but I'm pretty sure Winchester only used one action length. The .300 WM would use same action as I have seen on old .264WM which was standard .30-06/.270 length w/o rear bridge cutout seen in .300H&H/.375H&H rifles. The only action mismatch existed in Winchester 21 lineup where receivers were forged well before rest of the gun was produced. I suspect there were some Model 70s made in 1940s with pre-WWII receivers and post war components because production was suspended to make war time clunkers for the military like the .30 cal carbine. If you find some anomalies in .300WM gun it will most likely be parts bin gun made to fool some buyer into thinking it was factory original. Remember rare and factory original Model 70 means big bucks just like 28ga Model 12 therefore there is plenty of incentive there to use "spare parts".

Obviously CRF Winchester made well after 1964 (I think production started in early 90s ) can be had with short action.

Slavek, Winchester made 2 action lengths in the pre 64.

standard (long) action and H&H action.

All cartridges that are NOW assembled in a short action ( .308, .243 etc) that were available back then, were built using the standard action, and they had different magazines, bolt stops, ejectors, in any number of configurations to meet the cartridge specs.

Don, is it going to be as nice as your 300 H&H? I drool over this one of yours:



That sure is a clean 300 H&H..