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All I know for sure is that the pre-war SGs didn’t, but we have a 70 expert who can lay out the complete timeline. Since jeweling would have obscured the serial no inscribed on the bolt, I’d guess it was introduced when serializing bolts was discontinued.
clarence said
All I know for sure is that the pre-war SGs didn’t, but we have a 70 expert who can lay out the complete timeline. Since jeweling would have obscured the serial no inscribed on the bolt, I’d guess it was introduced when serializing bolts was discontinued.
The rifle I have is a 257 Robert’s 1951 no jewel on the bolt.
I do have a 220 swift that has a jeweled bolt and that one is from 1958. You can still see the serial number on it.
Jlk;
The short answer is that not all SG have jeweled bolts. In fact most Winchester Model 70 SG are NOT jeweled. Only the post 1955-1959 are jeweled.
Louis Luttrell will be along shortly with an expert comment on this.
I have seven super grades and only the two made in 1957 and one in 1958 are jeweled. Two featherweight and one standard. The serial number is applied after the jeweling.
RR
Win61 is correct. The super Grades with the factory jeweled bolts, and followers were cataloged from 1955-1959. I don’t think they were made much after 1958 with these features. If anyone has a 1959 Super Grade with a steel butt plate, jeweled bolt, follower, and rust blued barrel I would be interested in seeing it. Wayne Miller has a very late Super Grade that is pictured in the Rule Book that does not have a jeweled bolt or follower, and was made with a plastic butt plate. A rare interesting example.
November 5, 2014
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Hi Jlk-
Everything said so far is correct except for Dick’s comment that I’m an “expert”… 
Seewin is the expert!!!
Anyway, when it comes to regular production M70 Super Grades, the thing to remember is that prior to 1955 the barreled action was identical to what was being used on the Standard rifles of the time. Pre-war M70s (Standard and Super Grade) had rust blued barrels, post-war M70s (Standard and Super Grade) had Du-Lite blued barrels (prior to 1955). In that year, Winchester instated rust blued barrels and engine turning of action components on the Super Grades (Super Grade, African, and SG Featherweight).
As a result, Super Grades made before 1955 are NOT generally stamped “SUPER” under the barrel and do NOT have the “backwards S” stamp on the bottom of the recoil lug. 1955 and later Supers usually have both stamps. There are exceptions, naturally. Rule said (and I cannot contradict) that for a time during the “transition” period (1947-48-ish), Super Grade barrels (at least some of them) were stamped “SUPER” b/c they got hand lapped barrels (but still the same blue).
Also engine turning was an option before it was a standard feature. Of course, factory bolt jeweling was always applied BEFORE the rifle was proofed and the S/N electropenciled onto the bolt body. So if there’s no bolt serial number, the jeweling was done outside the factory…
Here’s a well documented example of an early jeweled bolt. This is S/N 87160, a type II-2 300 MAGNUM Super Grade made for Dr. Russell C Smith and pictured in both Rule and Whitaker. Provenance on this one is impeccable (four owners all known).
Bo Rich makes some excellent points… Although the Super Grades were in the catalog through 1959, the survey to date suggests that very few (excepting Africans) were made after 1958. By the end (parts clean-up) they were just getting rid of spare parts and jeweling became hit-or-miss. Wayne’s gun (also pictured in Rule’s book) is a good example…
Hope this ramble helps…
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
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