Hi,
I recently ran across a 69A with a Lyman 57EW peep, globe front sight, blank in rear sight. supposedly a “heavy” barrel.. what caught my eye was the Winchester Checkering on the stock. Was told it was special ordered from the factory. No serial number and no documentation. I will try to get pictures and would like any expert advice. Asking price is $900.00
Thanks,
Mitch
Hi Mitchell,
You can send them to me at Abendshien at AOL dot com and I can post them here for you.
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
Michael…. I’m sure Jeff will be able to verify every aspect of the rifle… down to the if the screws are correct. If you live in the Spokane, Wa. area, I can tell you there has been a couple of these show up recently…. both have had the checkering added by a lady in Montana. The seller is very vague regarding their authenticity. I sold him a nice 69A that a few months later was back on his table with the checkering done. When asked about it, he said he didn’t know what I was referring to…. As with many things in life, focus on buying the item and not the story. Caveat emptor is truer today than ever before. cheers.
Hi Mitchell,
No pictures have come through yet, check the spelling of my last name to make sure it went to the right place.
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
Ben said
Michael…. I’m sure Jeff will be able to verify every aspect of the rifle… down to the if the screws are correct. If you live in the Spokane, Wa. area, I can tell you there has been a couple of these show up recently…. both have had the checkering added by a lady in Montana. The seller is very vague regarding their authenticity. I sold him a nice 69A that a few months later was back on his table with the checkering done. When asked about it, he said he didn’t know what I was referring to…. As with many things in life, focus on buying the item and not the story. Caveat emptor is truer today than ever before. cheers.
Thanks Ben,
I’m certainly no expert (that’s why I’m here!) The gun is currently on consignment at a shop. Checkering to me looks legit to me but was unsure if this could be a special order or not. Hopefully JWA can post the pictures I just re-sent. I appreciate your input and advice!
Hi Mitch,
Here are your pictures –
They depict a Winchester Model G6903R 69A “Junior Target Shooter’s Special”. This particular rifle has had a rear sling swivel added (not by Winchester) and has had the checkering added (again, not by Winchester). The front sight should be a 93B “shark fin” sight but the Lyman 17A was offered as an option for the G6903R so it could have come from Winchester with it.
There are no surviving records (yet found) for any special order model 69 rifles so any rifle with what appears to be special features cannot be proven but they CAN be disproven as the case here. Your instincts are good in that it is the Winchester pattern used on the Model 75 so it would be appropriate for the Model 69 but there are a number of red flags which indicate it is not original to the rifle. I will not go into those details in public because it just enables the fakers to improve their craft.
Sadly, the G6903R Junior Target Shooter’s Special is a hard to find variant and was actually worth more to a collector ($500-$600) before the post-sale checkering and rear sling swivel was added which detract from the overall collector value.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
JWA said
Hi Mitch,Here are your pictures –
They depict a Winchester Model G6903R 69A “Junior Target Shooter’s Special”. This particular rifle has had a rear sling swivel added (not by Winchester) and has had the checkering added (again, not by Winchester). The front sight should be a 93B “shark fin” sight but the Lyman 17A was offered as an option for the G6903R so it could have come from Winchester with it.
There are no surviving records (yet found) for any special order model 69 rifles so any rifle with what appears to be special features cannot be proven but they CAN be disproven as the case here. Your instincts are good in that it is the Winchester pattern used on the Model 75 so it would be appropriate for the Model 69 but there are a number of red flags which indicate it is not original to the rifle. I will not go into those details in public because it just enables the fakers to improve their craft.
Sadly, the G6903R Junior Target Shooter’s Special is a hard to find variant and was actually worth more to a collector ($500-$600) before the post-sale checkering and rear sling swivel was added which detract from the overall collector value.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Best Regards,
Jeff,
I can’t thank you enough for the information. The checking looks (to me) exactly like Winchesters, but the checkering indeed seemed too sharp for the age of the gun. Always best to seek out the experts! Thanks again!
Mitch
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