Originally Posted by jk16
I have owned a few 320s. Decent gun, but certaily no better than the average walnut stocked Marlin or Rem boltgun of the era. Certainly no better of a rifle than a m69 Winny.

The reason why they are collectable is first they say "Winchester" on the barrel ..;)
Second they were only made for a few years.

As far as the Winchester 320 being a " direct decendant" of the Kimber m82 ? In terms of design, thats not really true. The m320 barrelled action WAS made in Australia for Winchester by SPORTCO which was managed by Jack Warne , who about ten years later emmigrated to the USA with his son Greg and founded Kimber of Oregon.

The little M320 s a very different gun than the Kimber m82 ( think Winchester m69 vs M 52) Really the only parts they share are the magazine and mag/well catch- which are the origional SPORTCO tooling.

Everything else about the Kimber m82 design is heavier,larger and different .

The biggest issue I have with the m320 is the difficulty of finding spare magazines. I once got a Winchester m320 for $75 in a Pawn Shop simply because it had no magazine and the shop. owner had no idea where to buy a replacement. I had an orphan Kimber m82 magazine at home..so that 320 went home with me that day smile

I surely would NOT pay more for a Winchester m320 than a m69 sporter in the same condition.



I disagree, again.

The 320 and 310 triggers are better and the actions lock tighter than the average Marlin of the era, but not as good as the Remington 541/580/581/582 series. I would rather have a 320/310 than a 69, as they are physically larger, more "man size", and the triggers are better. I wouldn't think twice about rebarreling a 320 to 17HM2 or a 310 to 17HM2 or 17HMR, but don't feel that the 69 is strong enough for a 17HM2 conversion. I bought the 320 to rebarrel to 17HM2, but have subsequently traded for a Miroku 52 Sporter to use as a donor for that project.

Different folks, different strokes.