The source of the above ‘When Was Your Winchester Made’ screenshot is derived from the original Winchester Factory Polishing Room Records that are housed in Cody WY, which were donated by the Olin Corporation in 1980-81 at the time of the Olin buyout. If they are incorrect then Winchester’s own corporate records are wrong. If more accurate information exists the source should be posted here so we could all learn.
It is TRUE that the PRR date relates to the date the s/n was applied to the receiver, not the date the receiver was used to assemble a finished rifle. Odds are that many (if not most) of the 1942 PRR dated receivers were not used to complete rifles until 1945-46 when Winchester was converting back to manufacturing products for the civilian market at the end of WW11. However, assembly of a pre-war pattern rifle immediately after the end of WW11 does not make it a ‘transition’ rifle. The accepted distinction between pre-war and transition rifles is the change in receiver design (undrilled, roll marked clip slot bridge) and squared shoulder on the bolt handle for the pre-war rifle vs. the factory d&t smooth bridge and shoulder-less bolt for the transition rifle.
Rule’s Table 2-1 (PR date table) indicates S/N 51480 was applied in Sept. 1942. Rules Table 2-2 indicates that the rifle with S/N 51480 would have been built in 1946. Is this a problem? not really as the dates in Table 2-1 are derived from existing records while the production numbers in Table 2-2 are derived from a few surviving summary reports provided to Winchester executives of total numbers of M70’s, NOT actual, individual s/n’s. Unfortunately receivers were not used in consecutive order and the individual S/N cards were destroyed, so S/N 51480 might have been assembled in 1942/45/46. No way to know.
The earliest recorded ‘transition’ receivers (as defined above) were a small batch of possibly a couple hundred in the 55,XXX S/N range (this information comes from the current, ongoing WACA M70 survey, not the Bible so the reader must decide its veracity), Winchester then completed another 5,000 pre-war guns with the transition guns beginning to dominate around S/N 60,500 (as the Bible indicates).
Hope this helps
A good tell tale sign that the rifle was probably made in '42, as Rule states on page 50, I believe, is the barrel that is stamped "41".
