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December 13, 2006
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Did some of the immediate Post War M70 stocks receive 20-line checkering?
My 1946-era stock/rifle seems to have 20-line, but I’m now wondering if an 18-line stock could be correct!
Or . . . .could BOTH checkering patterns be CORRECT?
Many Thanks, Gents!
January 20, 2023
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I think the answet is yes, there are some postwar Model 70 stocks with the finer line checkering. Lou?
- 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.
November 5, 2014
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Hi Jim-
My opinion/observation is that 20 lpi on a 1946 gun would not be out of place. The change from 20 lpi to 18 lpi was authorized sometime in 1941, but there’s a lot of variability in the checkering found on M70s into about 1947.
It’s probable that the change was implemented on the production line around the time it was authorized. The checkering pattern also got a little (not much) smaller and the borders a little wider. But IIRC checkerers got paid based on the number of stocks they finished, not by the hour. So if the company wants to authorize a change that lets you complete more stocks in a day, why not take advantage of it? Hence, stocks made in 1942 and beyond were probably checkered 18 lpi.
But I suspect there were a large number of finished/checkered stocks still in inventory when commercial production was halted in August 1942, and these got used (probably somewhat randomly) when production resumed late in 1945.
Just my opinion. I wouldn’t sweat it… 
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
January 20, 2023
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I can add one small bit from personal experience that supports there having been an existing supply of prewar stocks checkered to a finer per line standard.
Unlike the Model 70, for which there was a large pent up demand, the demand for the Winchester Model 21 shotgun was only a trickle, particularly in the specialty styles. My Model 21 Skeet Gun’s Cody letter says it was made in 1947 but it has 26″ barrels and larger 20 LPI checkering patterns than specified in a 1946 production change order. That CO changed barrel length of the Skeet Gun to 28″ and called for smaller patterns cut to 18 LPI.
As an aside, the postwar catalogue description of the Skeet Gun makes no mention of a higher grade wood finish than the Standard/Field Grade gun. But my letter mentions the wood finish as “Skeet Finish” and in fact the Walnut is better than chair leg and has a high luster finish.
Winchester seemingly was not over its in- house Independent Contractor culture and production supervisors were more concerned with getting guns to the warehouse than placating future collectors. Combine this with the company’s policy of never throwing any useable part away and it’s enough to make a confused collector echo Oliver Hardy’s “a fine mess you’ve got us in!”
- 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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