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August 23, 2026
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I know… I know… Before you mention it…. My birthday is coming up, and my wife is getting me JWA’s Winchester 75 and 69 Books, but I got impatient jumping on this Winchester 69A Match when I saw it come up for sale. I have been piecing together forum posts and comments from JWA on other’s 69a Match identification. I really want a 1941-1942 Winchester 69a Match, but when I saw this one, I knew I had to get it. I am thinking it is post war as it has a 6 groove barrel but no 6 pointed star at the crown / muzzle. 1.25-inch-wide sling, and it looks to be original. Lyman 57EW rear site and shark fin front site. It has a 3 line magazine that looks original. Thoughts on year for this one?
July 17, 2012
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Congrats, that is a nice looking original 69A Match rifle. Based on the sight marking and sling width your 69A Match was made sommtime between 1948-1952.
Hope you enjoy the books!
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
December 9, 2002
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Congrats on you’re find!
Thanks for sharing!
Tony
August 23, 2026
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JWA said
Congrats, that is a nice looking original 69A Match rifle. Based on the sight marking and sling width your 69A Match was made sommtime between 1948-1952.
Hope you enjoy the books!
Best Regards,
Awesome! Thank you for identifying this rifle’s timeline. One point of clarification and I forgot to mention this or put this in my photos. I thought I read somewhere that Winchester stopped making the 6-groove Match Barrels in April of 1948? Mine also has a smooth trigger without serrations/grooves. I thought that would have placed it in the 1946-1948 timeline, but again I am just basing that on previous comments. So much to learn!
November 7, 2015
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Awesome! Thank you for identifying this rifle’s timeline. One point of clarification and I forgot to mention this or put this in my photos. I thought I read somewhere that Winchester stopped making the 6-groove Match Barrels in April of 1948? Mine also has a smooth trigger without serrations/grooves. I thought that would have placed it in the 1946-1948 timeline, but again I am just basing that on previous comments. So much to learn!- upnorthairgunner
Nice! Keep your new treasure handy while you enjoy Jeff’s 69 book. Maybe a nice 75 will follow you home before you start enjoying the 75 book your thoughtful wife has coming for you. Even with Jeff’s awesome photos I like to keep an example handy to fondle while reading these reference books.
Mike
August 23, 2026
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TXGunNut said
Awesome! Thank you for identifying this rifle’s timeline. One point of clarification and I forgot to mention this or put this in my photos. I thought I read somewhere that Winchester stopped making the 6-groove Match Barrels in April of 1948? Mine also has a smooth trigger without serrations/grooves. I thought that would have placed it in the 1946-1948 timeline, but again I am just basing that on previous comments. So much to learn!- upnorthairgunner
Nice! Keep your new treasure handy while you enjoy Jeff’s 69 book. Maybe a nice 75 will follow you home before you start enjoying the 75 book your thoughtful wife has coming for you. Even with Jeff’s awesome photos I like to keep an example handy to fondle while reading these reference books.
Mike
100% agree. My collection has grown quite large and I have quit calling it my gun room. It is now a training rifle reference library. I do wish I wish I had bought JWA’s books before I got into this hobby of collecting, as there have been a few mis-steps on the Winchester collecting front. I really didn’t know what I was looking for when I was looking to acquire a proper Winchester 75 to fulfill the WWII training rifle space on my wall. I bought a pretty bubba’d up civilian version at a gun show and then I found a proper arsenal’d Winchester 75 with all the proper markings and arsenal rework. I ended up selling that other one at a loss.
I have made a few impatient impulse buys on this collector’s journey (as we all have). To be fully transparent, this 69a Match kind of falls into that category. I am really looking for a 1941-1942 G6941R 69a Match to fill a specific niche in my collection, but I saw this one and had to jump on it.
I do want to get clarification, though, from JWA on my follow-up question, as I had read in one of his previous comments that a 6-groove 69a Match with a smooth trigger (non-serrated) would put it in that 1946-1948 timeframe. This comment here: https://winchestercollector.org/forum/winchester-22-rim-fire/69a/#p65407
July 17, 2012
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Hi Upnorthairgunner,
You are correct, the 6-groove barrel was changed to a 4-groove in 1948 and the trigger was serrated commencing in May of 1949 on the common 69A models such as the 6901 and 6902. However, the Model 69A Match (G6941R) was a slow seller after WWII and the component changes tended to lag on it compared to the other 69A models. An example of that is the straight, down-turned bolt handles, all of the other 69A catalog models got the upgraded swept bolt handles in September of 1948 whereas the Model 69A Match and 69A Target continued to be supplied with the leftover straight handles until 1952 when both those models were discontinued.
So, to be safe, I stated 1948-1952 as your date range but with all of your early features combined you are correct in that it is very likely a late 1947 or early 1948 rifle, but the slim possibility exists that it could have been slightly later so I hedged my statement. I should also explain that I excluded 1946-1947 from the date range because your Lyman sight has the later block style “57EW” marking, the post-war 1946 and early 1947 Lyman sights were marked differently.
Sorry for the confusion.
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
December 9, 2002
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Great explanation on you’re welcomed information. In reading you’re book I am amazed at the many variations of the model itself. Such a crazy time period with the War going on, and Winchester shifting operations to the War effort as many companies did. Then to be able to pick up and continue in it’s manufacture of the different models, it’s not surprising that the many changes occurred.
Tony
August 23, 2026
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JWA said
Hi Upnorthairgunner,
You are correct, the 6-groove barrel was changed to a 4-groove in 1948 and the trigger was serrated commencing in May of 1949 on the common 69A models such as the 6901 and 6902. However, the Model 69A Match (G6941R) was a slow seller after WWII and the component changes tended to lag on it compared to the other 69A models. An example of that is the straight, down-turned bolt handles, all of the other 69A catalog models got the upgraded swept bolt handles in September of 1948 whereas the Model 69A Match and 69A Target continued to be supplied with the leftover straight handles until 1952 when both those models were discontinued.
So, to be safe, I stated 1948-1952 as your date range but with all of your early features combined you are correct in that it is very likely a late 1947 or early 1948 rifle, but the slim possibility exists that it could have been slightly later so I hedged my statement. I should also explain that I excluded 1946-1947 from the date range because your Lyman sight has the later block style “57EW” marking, the post-war 1946 and early 1947 Lyman sights were marked differently.
Sorry for the confusion.
Best Regards,
Thank you so much for that detailed analysis! I can’t wait for your books to arrive!
December 9, 2002
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Chris,
JWA‘s detailed analysis is a tiny example of his work he’s put together in his books. You will be amazed at his work as those books will be a lifelong reference material that can be gone back to over and over again! Enjoy!
Tony
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