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December 25, 2022
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This is the only picture I have for now. It’s a pre-war 71. Does the bluing look original?
April 15, 2005
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Dave,
Based on the single picture you posted, I do not believe that it is factory original bluing. Do you have additional pictures you can post (or send me)?
Is it is Standard Rifle, or a Special?
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
January 20, 2023
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Bert H. said
Dave,
Based on the single picture you posted, I do not believe that it is factory original bluing. Do you have additional pictures you can post (or send me)?
Is it is Standard Rifle, or a Special?
Bert
Bert, based on your Model 71 articles in the Collector, wouldn’t a closeup of the proof marks be strong evidence?
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
April 15, 2005
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Zebulon said
Bert H. said
Dave,
Based on the single picture you posted, I do not believe that it is factory original bluing. Do you have additional pictures you can post (or send me)?
Is it is Standard Rifle, or a Special?
Bert
Bert, based on your Model 71 articles in the Collector, wouldn’t a closeup of the proof marks be strong evidence?
Yes, it would certainly help.
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
December 25, 2022
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Additional Pictures
April 15, 2005
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The proof mark stamp on the frame ring is partially “washed” out, indicating it was lightly buffed and then reblued. On an original early production Model 71, the barrel should have a flat (uncrowned) muzzle face that is in the white (not blued).
This is what the proof mark stamps should look like. Note the slightly raised perimeter edges and the “graying” of the raised edges.
Also of note, the barrel mounted rear sight is not original. Winchester never installed a sporting rear (open) sight with a No. 98A bolt peep sight.
Whoever it was that refinished did a very professional job of it. Overall, the rifle looks really good, and it would be difficult for most people to ID it as being refinished.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
April 30, 2023
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Bert H. said
Whoever it was that refinished did a very professional job of it. Overall, the rifle looks really good, and it would be difficult for most people to ID it as being refinished.
I was about to say the same, they did a good job refinishing it at least.
January 20, 2023
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I would pull the barrel mounted rear sight and install a blank, which would bring it closer to original condition. The existence of the “extra” sight is (to me) a jarring note.
However, as our knowledgeable members have already confirmed, the re-blue job is a very good one and many of us happily own and use such Winchesters.
The normal course of ownership and use of an expensive rifle like the Model 71 often includes an eventual “freshening up” for its satisfied owner. The owner who cares enough about the rifle to spend the money to keep it in good condition usually does not abuse or allow the bore and complicated mechanism of his gun to deteriorate.
Therefore, despite its lack of merit in the eyes of fastidious collectors, as a great rifle perfectly suited to hunting and shooting, an excellent reblued Model 71 is hard to beat. Particularly one displaying prewar quality of construction that also has the hard to get 98A bolt peep.
If you paid the price of a reblued prewar Model 71, you got a fine bargain.
If you paid the price of an all original prewar Model 71, you still got a fine rifle and the excess cost will serve you as tuition for the valuable lesson of what to look for next time. Most of us have been to this school.
Either way, your Model.71 is one of the best rifles Winchester ever made. Built at a time when Winchester employed the most skilled and meticulous craftsman of any in America. I would treat it accordingly.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
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