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May 26, 2017
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afternoon all, stumbled across this listing and noticed the proof mark and caliber are on top of one another. Was wondering if this is something ordinary or out of the ordinary. I have never seen it( not that I have seen a lot) but I just found it interesting.
April 15, 2005
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Bill,
It is neither ordinary or out of the ordinary. Winchester’s employees never intentionally defaced a factory marking. Further, the date of manufacture on that Winchester is too early for it to have proof mark stamps on it (Winchester did not begin stamping the superposed “WP” proof marks until July 1905). Based on the factory letter it was not returned to Winchester for any type of rework, and that tells me that it was a B.E.M. who whacked fake proof mark stamps on it after the fact. Based on the fact that the bluing is evenly consistent across the fake proof mark stamps, they were stamped after it was polished, but before it was reblued. Due to the rarity of a “semi-deluxe” SRC, somebody tried to “help” its sale value, but instead, permanently ruined it.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
