Our local gun shop has a custom Model 61 that's caught my eye and I'd like some advice about whether it's worth the asking price. The rifle was excellently restocked with a high grade piece of marble cake walnut, and both the forend and the butt have a well executed ribbon checkering pattern with 24 lines per inch. The gun had been drilled and tapped for a side mounted scope at one point, but those holes were filled and are only detectable if the receiver is held at the right angle under a strong light. It's a 24 inch round barrel, marked Short, Long and Long Rifle, round top receiver. Clearly it's been reblued, but it's a high quality rust blue job with crisp markings. Gunsmith is unknown. I don't think the gun has been shot since it was redone, as there is no sign of wear on any of the moving parts at all.

Asking price is $1095 and out the door price (tax, transfer fee, etc.) is probably $1000.

I don't know much about these and probably wouldn't have looked twice were it not for the high grade stock work.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

I bought this with my paper route money and have owned it nearly 70 years and it still looks and shoots fine.

Grandson shooting my M61. The scope was added long ago to win turkey shoots - it worked.

I would not sell mine for $1000.

I’m a sucker for high grade wood.
Depending on how “custom “ the furniture was,
I would be all over it!
Figure a shooter grade with extra holes would bring 500..

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.

collector value is pretty much gone on that gun....but if you can get over that, it sure sounds nice! A lot of misrepresented 61s out there. There is a guy on rimfire central that has cataloged over 5k model 61s, he could tell you exactly what it is/was and what it is worth.

I recently picked up a completely restored model 63. 400 bucks if that tells you anything as far as collectors value diminished from a restore job.

Thanks to all of you for your responses. What I'm getting from this is "If I like it well enough to pay $1000 for it, buy it, but don't expect to have it appreciate or even to get my money out of it when it comes time to sell it." Am I reading you all correctly?

I am a sucker for fine woodwork, which is what drew me to this Model 61. I hardly can see iron sights anymore, so unless I can find a good peep sight, I'd probably not get much use out of it, but it would give me pleasure to own just for the quality of the stock work. I know I'd have a very hard time duplicating the work for several times what the rifle is priced. The blank would probably cover half the asking price.

Anyway, thanks again.

A lot of times we pay more than we should because we really like or appreciate something. Nothing wrong with that as long as you know that going in.

Seriously, contact twobit in the winchester section on rimfirecentral, he's very active there. That's a lot of money to drop to not do some more research.

The drill & tap kills it for me.

IMO, you're reading this exactly right. It's only worth what someone is willing to pay. Can you negotiate the price down some? Explain that it's a soft market for those kinda guns. And, the gun is still sitting there, he hasn't sold it. How bad does the seller want to move it. Wave around some cash...

I love pretty wood, too. To me, a lot would depend on the quality of the work, if it's really professional or a tad amateurish. Hard to tell without seeing it or looking at good quality photos. If it's a really professional job, probably worth the ask.

If you get it, please post photos.

DF

from what I've read the d&t drops the value almost in half on these things.

This one'e not a collector in the first place. It's evidently a really nice shooter and should be priced accordingly.

DF

Custom guns is where it's at.

But, it has to be very nice.

You would have to be the critic on the reblue job. The re-blue is in the polishing. Can you feel the proofs with your finger nail ? Are the sharp edges polished out?

If the side holes are done correctly ....one would not be able to see then at any angle in any light.

If you aren't gonna shoot irons ... I would have a gunsmith or maybe you know someone with a mill and cut grooves in the receiver for scope mount.. I would make an over ....as I walked. It will never be a collector , but those really nice collectors are hardly ever used..