Having grown up with the hammer version M62A, I always wanted a 61 for its smoother receiver and side ejection. I paid $500. for a really nice early one at a collector show and did top mount a 3-9x33 AO Leupold Rimfire scope to it. A nice enough piece, but the trigger pull is too hard even after having been to a gunsmith to rework it. A 61 is a nice rambling around .22, but a scope changes the easy one hand carry position. The extra holes and rework of that one would wreck it as a collector piece and honestly now that the new has worn off of mine, I'm not sure I'm keeping it long term. If I was going to pay four numbers for a .22, personally I'd probably be looking at a Cooper, not a Winchester slide action 61.
