Original Pre 64 Win in .338 Win Mag?

[ngoforth]

I have come across a Pre 64winchester in .338 win mag. I believe it is an Alaskan model. The serial number the best I can tell puts it at a 1956 possible 1957 production. Serial number 393xxx but .338 win mag didn't come out until 1958. I have no reason to believe it was re-barreled, but that seems to be the case. Its a family members and they have owned it since new and say its all original.

 

[bpd459]

Greetings,
Pull the barreled action from the stock and look for the year stamp at 6oclock, on chamber area of barrel. Should answer your questions.
John

 

[KY_Windage]

Don't you think your family member knows whether they rebarreled it or bought it that way?

 

[ebb]

Can you get the Winchester letter?

 

[ngoforth]

Don't you think your family member knows whether they rebarreled it or bought it that way?

They should but something that happened 60+ years ago is hard for someone in their 80's to recall sometimes.

Can you get the Winchester letter?

I could but I really don't want to spend money on my curiosity at the moment.

 

[FNSafari]

Greetings,
Pull the barreled action from the stock and look for the year stamp at 6oclock, on chamber area of barrel. Should answer your questions.
John

Ditto on this suggestion. A 1956 date based on the serial number on the action means the ACTION was produced then, but may have sat in a bin until it was assembled as a 338 in 1958. Model 70 actions were all the same length, from the action face to the end of the tang. The parts that differed, based on the OAL of a loaded round, was the action cutout length and width, magazine blocking and the bolt face if a magnum cartridge. The 338 win mag, along with the other members of the mag family win introduced like the .264 and the .458 are all 30-06 length cartridges. So the action comes out of the bin in 1958, gets a .338 wm barrel and that's what you have, perhaps. Take the barreled action out of the stock and look at the date stamped on the underside of the barrel just in front of where it meets the action face. That will give you the assembly date.

 

[biggun2869]

That happened quite a bit back then. I would bet its original. Gary

 

[FNSafari]

That happened quite a bit back then. I would bet its original. Gary

Me too.

 

[rjtfroggy]

There was 5-6 older guys that used to shoot at the range where I go they all worked for Winchester in New Haven as gunsmiths ( they were tool makers). They always said they worked 9 hours a day and half day Sat.
They couldn't under stand how Winchester closed down because they said there was always a couple of years worth of stuff on the shelf just waiting to be built.
Probably the reason for the closure slow sales and an over abundance of stock.
Savage does the same, produces stuff then makes stuff with the over stock, that is why some things don't fit the discription.

 

[rardoin]

Nice! My father has his father's .338 Win mag purchased in 1958 for a Yukon moose hunt. It was used for the second time about 12 years ago for an memorable elk hunt with my father in Montana. He still has the original box of WW ammunition with most of the rounds unfired. It is the only item in his estate that I specifically said I want when he passes. It happens to be one of the most accurate/precise factory rifle I have shot next to, oddly enough, a Ruger M77 V/T in .22-250 that was a gift to me by a patient.