My Lucky Winchester M1 Find

[mbarrad]

Well, I bought this rifle from a gentleman off of gunbroker about 6 months ago, and knew I had a keeper when it arrived. I finally had some time to really tear her apart and reference the drawing numbers with Scott Duff's data sheets. I am really surprised at how correct this rifle is. The stock looks original, and so do the parts. If y'all see something out of place, let me know. Anyway, here are the pics (and there are a bunch).

Information

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[Schuetzenman]

Any cartouch on the stock under the lock bar sight? If you got the rife for uner $1,000 you did really well!

[RCS]

Also been collecting the '41 Winchesters too - note how the word TRADEMARK and TRADE MARK are stamped on the receivers. Interesting to see a hammer with the hole ?

[mbarrad]

Any cartouch on the stock under the lock bar sight? If you got the rife for uner $1,000 you did really well!

There are no inspection stamps under the lockbar sight. If I can remember where I read it, some early stocks were not inspection stamped. I could be wrong though. Got it for $, which I am happy with.

[mbarrad]

Also been collecting the '41 Winchesters too - note how the word TRADEMARK and TRADE MARK are stamped on the receivers. Interesting to see a hammer with the hole ?

Mine says Trade Mark (with a space seperating the 2 words) Did not notice the hole in the hammer until you mentioned it. I looks purposefully done. Thanks for pointing that out.

[dbarn]

Very nice find. Congratulations. Nice correct Winchesters are very hard to find. Can you take a picture of top of the rear sight to include the cover plate? Does it have the Winchester punch mark?

[mbarrad]

Very nice find. Congratulations. Nice correct Winchesters are very hard to find. Can you take a picture of top of the rear sight to include the cover plate? Does it have the Winchester punch mark?

It is hard to tell if the coverplate has a punch mark or not. I'll try and get some pics up later today. If it is not punched, I am fine with it. Were all early WRA parts punched?

[mbarrad]

The gas tube looks very white, like all the bluing was stripped off. My VZ-24s looked like this too due to cleaning solutions that stripped the finish off. Is the color of my gas tube due to the type of metal used and the cleaning solution used? The part looks new, but I do not want to re-blue it, if it is historically supposed to look that way. Let me know what you guys think.

[RCS]

On your s/n 103704, the stock is not likely to be a WRA RS as 98% of these stocks had the trigger guard recess cut just like the SA SPG. Your lower band looks like a SA, the safety should be top marked. ALL early stocks were cartouched if the rifle was issued, if there is no cartouche - then it is worn-off. You need a no-trap WRA buttplate too.

[mbarrad]

On your s/n 103704, the stock is not likely to be a WRA RS as 98% of these stocks had the trigger guard recess cut just like the SA SPG. Your lower band looks like a SA, the safety should be top marked. ALL early stocks were cartouched if the rifle was issued, if there is no cartouche - then it is worn-off. You need a no-trap WRA buttplate too.

Thanks for the helpful info. What do you mean by a WRA RS stock? Is it common for the cartouche to simply wear off? Do you have a good example of a WRA lower band so I can compare it to mine? Do you have a good parts resource I can use to hunt down the parts to make mine correct? Thanks again. Y'all are a very helpful bunch.