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Hello everyone and thanks for the help! I have been a Winchester admirer for a long time and have a small collection that includes several several M70 Super Grades. The last one I found and brought home is a very nice Super Grade in 338 Win Mag. When I got it home I tried to check the date of manufacture but it somehow does not show up on any chart? So I was hoping someone here might have the knowledge as to when it was made or where I could maybe find our.
The M70 has a Ser# of G18XXX
Thank you for any help you all might have!
Your Model 70 rifle was manufactured by the U.S. Repeating Arms Company (USRACo) after the GCA (Gun Control Act) of 1968 was enacted (in November of that year) which is why it does not show up on the Winchester DOM charts. Based on the fact that it has just five numerals in the serial number, that indicates that it was manufactured after FN Herstal acquired the USRACo in 1992.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Thank you Bert! Just to be clear are you saying it was built in 1992 or at some point after 1992? I have a USRAC M70 Super Grade in 264 Win Mag that I bought new in 99 or 2000 that has a G and six numerals and seeing some of the USRAC charts this seems the norm as all of them only list GXXXXXX rifles.
The 338 Super Grade I’m trying to date does have some nice touches such as a highly figured stock, nicely jeweled bolt and follower, and bluing that is deeper and much nicer than on standard M70s. Now this is probably because even in the early 90s they just took a little more time and pride in their craftsmanship or with the five numeral ser# could it have come out of the custom shop perhaps?
Yes, I am saying that it was made sometime in the 1990s, but after FN Herstal bought and took control of the USRACo.
When the USRACo took over production of the Model 70 in 1981, they continued the Winchester serialization sequence and process. All receivers were numbered sequentially, and used in random order to assemble and build each of the different variations. That process continued from 1981 through the early 1990s. When FN Herstal took control (ownership) of the New Haven factory, the serialization process was changed, and each variation was apparently assigned its own block of numbers in the 5-digit range. There is no published information that provided the details on exactly when & how the change was implemented.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
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