steve004 said

It is likely, but logic is still speculation.  It reminds me of a M1886 I bought.  The seller said it lettered all the way (the letter does contain an R&R).  When I got it, I noted that all of the checkering had been removed.  His response – “yeah, that letters.”  I had the letter in my hands and asked how come I can’t see it?  He said, “it’s right there – return and repair.”  I said, “where do you get that?!”  He responded, “what else could it be? It’s the only thing that’s different from how it was originally shipped.”  He was using the 2 + 2 = 4 logic but I couldn’t completely get my head around the math.

  

Well, not really, because “removing checkering” was never something the factory would have done; restocking with a non-checkered stock (because it was cheaper) was entirely possible.

tionesta1 said
One thing I noticed is their is no proof mark on the receiver.

  

When rcvr was made, the proof wasn’t yet in use, but it was by the time the 2nd brl was ordered, after mid-1905.

tionesta1 saidI always thought that if a Winchester went back for an R&R for a barrel swap, or any reason that required a proof test after 1905 (I forget what month) when proof marks became standard, that they put the mark on both the receiver and top of the barrel. 

If my dates are correct, the proof began to be applied to rcvrs in mid-1908, so I’d guess that if the brl was replaced between 1905 & 1908, there’d have been no protocol in place to mark the rcvr also.  But even if it was replaced after 1908, it wouldn’t be shocking if a worker “forgot,” because can’t be assumed workers always followed official procedures, esp. when they really had no bearing on safety or function.  In collecting US military, you soon discover that markings that should have been applied when certain operations were performed just aren’t there, & the most plausible explanation is “human error.”

Chuck said
Weren’t proof marks added around 1905?

  

Yes, but at first on brls only, except .22RFs.  Then in 1908, both brls & rcvrs, inc. 22s.

Bert H. said

When Winchester began applying the superposed “WP” proof marking to the center fire guns, it was stamped on both the barrel and receiver frame ring beginning in July 1905.  The .22 rim fire rifles were not proof marked until 1908.  In all of the many hundreds of factory original Winchesters I have inspected that were manufactured in the years 1905 and later, they have proof mark stamps in both locations.

Thanks for the correction, but I was sure I copied down those dates from a post on this forum.  Not from any other forum, because I don’t belong to any others, nor from Madis, as I no longer have a copy of that book.  So now I will have to correct the notebook in which I record these kinds of details.