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November 7, 2015
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Anyone else a sucker for rifles built in your birth year? I was on a shotgun shell quest (didn’t find any!) at my local Cabela’s and a nice enough 80%+ 94 caught my eye. Was about to put it back in the rack when the serial number got me thinking. A quick check of the WACA site revealed SN 2410935 was built in 1960, same year I was born! Further, I was born in February, quite possibly the same month this rifle was built.
I’m trying really hard 😉 not to buy any rifles these days but this one was destined to come home with me. Please tell me I’m not the only one here who will buy a rifle based on when it was built and little else. I have a few very nice 94’s built in the mid-late 1950’s so it wasn’t like I needed an example of this period.
Mike
Mike,
Which caliber is it?
Bert
p.s. I too am partial to a 1960 vintage Winchester
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
How about parents birthdates, too? 1920 and 1921 for mine. And of course 1943 production for myself, which means “war time” production.
You are NOT alone. RDB
November 7, 2015
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30-30, Bert.
My shooting buddy is a 42 model so he has some mil ammo and a couple of firearms built that year. Hadn’t considered my parents’ birthdates but that would be a reasonable quest. The only rifle I have built in the 1930’s is a 57 built in 1937, my parents were born in 1933 and 1936. I think I’m doing a bit better with my grandparents’ birth years, will have to check & report later. My maternal grandparents were born in early 1900’s and I have that era pretty well covered.
Mike
November 7, 2015
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Forgot to add, some of you may recall I stumbled across a very nice 61 Magnum last month built in 1960. In that case the build date was just icing on the cake. I’d pretty much given up on a nice 94 built that year. Most guns I buy from that era are in very good condition and I passed on a couple of rougher specimens over the years.
Mike
I’ll play devil’s advocate here…but I have a HUGE problem with “birth year” guns.
The problem is it might cause you to pass on a firearm that is not the right year that might have condition and/or be very fairly priced. Conversely, one might purchase a firearm of lesser condition or overpriced, or both, that one might otherwise not give a second glance to if it wasn’t produced a certain year.
Additionly, the highest quality firearms were certainly pre 64, so, unless one was born prior to 1964, purchasing a birth year gun is a waste of one’s resources.
Also, not to say that some pre- war production wasn’t good or great, and even some just after the war (WWII), in my opinion, quality was at its best until about 1920, so, unless I was pushing my 98th birthday, this is something I would not likely actively pursue
November 5, 2014
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Dear TX-
Funny you bring this up, as I currently have nine M70s with 1957 PR dates. One of which was actually purchased by my Dad in that year (a .243 WIN Standard rifle that I’d like to think he bought with the idea his first baby would grow up to use it – which along with my younger Brother I did).
Not too long ago I also picked up a nice 1927 vintage (my Dad’s birth year) M54 standard rifle in .30 GOV’T’06. Also found an unopened 1927 (label date) box of .30 GOV’T’06 ammo for not much money to go with it.
While I’d agree with mrcvs that I’m not inclined to buy a beat up Winchester solely b/c of the PR date (in that it adds no value on resale unless one specializes in selling to people exactly your age) it still adds a level of personal interest. And this is supposed to be fun, right???
It’s all good!!!
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
November 7, 2015
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I’ll admit that my 1957 and 1961 vintage 94’s are better rifles but this latest addition is no slouch. I’ll also admit that I paid a bit more for the 61 than I wanted to but I do that sometimes. Price was fair on the 94 at $750. Some guns are worth more to me than the average buyer. I try not to let the seller know that, of course. I could have settled for a lesser 94 a few years back but didn’t. Nice feature on this one is an older Williams receiver sight. That would have turned some folks off but since this one’s a keeper and likely a shooter I’ll make good use of it. I’ll locate and stash a rear sight and hood for the front sight so that someday I can restore it to it’s original conformation. I like the old low-profile sight blanks these older guns often have, much nicer than the ones currently available.
One of my shooting buddy’s 1942 vintage rifles is a 69 purchased by his father, Louis. Without a serial number it’s hard to say, of course, but he’s had it all these years and he’s relying on what his father told him long ago.
Turns out my maternal grandmother was born in 1904. The 1894 in 38-55 that I used to fill my freezer a little while back was built in 1904. Pretty sure that I had a rifle that was built the following year (when my maternal grandfather was born) but it seems I’m mistaken.
Mike
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