My buddy has a Winchester 43 in 25-20 with an old weaver 6x scope he is wanting to trade me. I see a lot of these in 218 bee and 22 hornet but don't see them much in 25-20. What is the going price for one in decent condition.

I have only encountered one Winchester M43 in 25-20 and that was probably 10 years ago, if not more. If I remember correctly it was priced $650. But Im sure they are higher than that now.

Would love to know the serial # of the gun .

I have collected 43's for years and you don't see many in this caliber that where setup for a scope from the factory . Hence reason for asking for the serial # .

Any pictures would be great also .

The 25-20 and 32-20 are the hard ones to find and if it happened to be a "Deluxe" even better !

Beware there are allot of fake deluxe models out there . I see them all the time on Gunbroker .

If the gun is correct you are in the $2000 - $3000 range .

Anyhow just my 2 cents worth .

The easiest way to determine if a M43 is factory d&t for a scope is to examine the front face of the rear receiver ring. On early rifles that were not factory d&t the front face of the rear receiver ring has a milled 45-degree bevel. This bevel was eliminated on later production guns that were factory d&t for scope use....

THIS ^^^^^^^ kind of knowledge is what makes this place such a resource!

If the gun was sent back to the factory for D&T the factory would add proof marks show they did the work .

What proof mark would they add? What does it look like?

^^^^ And where do they put it?

This one isn't the deluxe model as it doesn't have the checkering. I will try to get some pics up. I need to check that receiver ring to see if it was factory drilled and tapped or not. Keep the info coming.

Check the serial number.....if it is under 31,000, it almost certainly is not factory drilled and tapped. The transition occurs between 31,000 and 32,000.

I have 3 Winchester model 43s. The first one is in 25-20 ser # 65xx.(1949) The second one is in 218 Bee ser # 31xxxA.(1950) The third one is in 22 Hornet ser # 14xxx.(1950) None of these are drilled. I firmly believe Pocono Jack is correct.

He is absolutely right and that change occurs between serial number 31,000 and 32,000

Would the factory marking be an "A" at the end of the serial number? The reason is this one has a serial number of 255xxA. The x's are actually numbers. I just didn't want to give the full serial number out. I actually think this one is factory drilled and tapped. But the serial number is before the 31k range as listed above. But I read elsewhere that an A on the end denotes a change and in this case a swooped bolt handle And drilled and tapped.

The front face of the rear receiver ring will definitively indicate if the gun is factory d&t.
How about posting pics?

Look at picture #9 in this auction. You can see the beveled bridge and the serial number is 27XXXA. This gun was not factory drilled and tapped. Why do you think 255XXA is factory drilled?

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/785905363

A few years back I had an early Deluxe model in .25-20 that had been drilled and tapped. Whoever mounted the scope drilled thru the serial number. What a shame. It was a nice looking gun.