Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Pre 64 Winchester Model 70 Magnums

I have bought online, but not off Gun Broker. I prefer to buy locally where I can handle the gun, but Gun Shows in my area sell t-shirts, and jerky. They have become really disappointing.

Did Winchester ever D&T the rear bridge(barring a custom request) of the cloverleaf magnum receivers? Is the serial # known when magnum receivers were 1st D&T by Winchester on the rear bridge of either style receiver? I think the answers to these questions would be most helpful in determining originality, and I can't find this info on the web.

Thanks

Type 2 H&H Magnum transition receivers (cloverleaf tang and smooth bridge) were not routinely d&t at the factory. This continued well into Type 3 (oval tang and smooth bridge) production. The Jan 1950 Winchester catalog specifically stated that the bridge of 300 and 375 H&H Magnums were NOT d&t (the change did take place sometime later in 1950). As far as S/N’s, prior to S/N 139,000 most, if not all H&H receivers were NOT d&t. Between approx S/N 139,000 and 170,000 both drilled (presumably factory) and undrilled receivers can be found mixed together.
If one is concerned about ‘originality’ and wants a H&H with a factory d&t bridge it’s best to stick with guns made in 1951 or later. Anything earlier and the buyer should know what factory holes look and feel like.
Hope this helps.

Much better reply than my poor effort.

A big help! Thank You!

To account for the discrepancy with serial numbered receivers not assembled in an exact numerical order.... were the serial numbers assigned after the receivers were made, but before the rifle build was started? So that the rifle began it's assembly with the receiver already serialized? Is that known? That could help explain why some slightly earlier serialized magnum rifles have later features, and vise-a-versa, especially pertaining to the magnums which were made in far fewer numbers than the standard length calibers, but were still in the same serial # sequence as all calibers, making the number spread between magnum rifles off even farther.

To know that all regular production cloverleaf receivers were not D&T is very important when evaluating originality of those examples.

Do you mean people are actually looking for these old clubs?

I learned my mistakes the hard way on in person guns. Luckily not too hard though. I just started off by buying one posted pictures and got peoples feedback on here. First one 61 270fw didnt cost a lot and had several issues which I learned later but I still have it because it has real potential as a shooter. second one 243 fw also had some issues but sold it for what I paid for it no harm no foul. Bought a rule book and just looked at and handled as many as I could get my hands on. Third one 243 FW I bought still had an issue I didn’t see when I bought it a hairline crack in the stock. The next 3 I bought have all been amazing 270fw, 49 30-06 std and a 54 30-06 std. I will say once you have handled quite a few the nice ones just stand out.

I prefer those old clubs to anything new.

Here is what you are looking for in an H&H Transition model for a reference:

375 Magnum SN ~80k







In contrast, here is a very original Pre-War rifle, 30-06 in this case, but still useful to compare receivers, safety, etc.:







Note the lack of holes in the rear bridge of both rifles! "Original" and getting harder and harder to find. Keep looking and be ready when you find what you want.

Sorry for the dark pictures.

The photos are overly dark because you chose a very light background and did not compensate the exposure for it.

Nice transition.

Thanks for the pictures. Both rifles look very desirable.