Hi everyone,

New member – first post. Go easy!

I recently picked up a first model year (1936) Winchester Model 71 deluxe 24″ (Serial number 11XX). I’ve done some digging around on what options were available from the factory for sights. I know that there was an option available to have a receiver mounted Winchester 98A bolt peep sight and an option to special order the receiver D&T’d for a side mounted peep sight like a Lyman 66 or similar, but I have a few other questions that I would hope someone could answer about my rifle specifically. I have uploaded a few pictures that will help.

1.  Is the rear buckhorn sight (see picture “Top_View_Rear_Sight”) stock? I don’t believe it is, but I’m looking for confirmation. It sits in what appears to be a factory dovetail, but it is a Marbles Gladstone make. A couple other images that might help are those that show the barrel markings.
2.  I’m having a hard time reconciling the OEM receiver D&T holes with those on my rifle. In the picture “Left_Side_Receiver”, there are two apparently identical sets of holes drilled and tapped. Those towards the rear of the firearm (right side of the picture), I believe to be factory original or machined to match factory original. The other set, however, I believe are non-standard, but appear to have the same size, threads, and distance between them as the rear set. Can someone confirm or deny my suspicions? 
3.  There are two holes in the top of the receiver (picture “Top_View_Receiver”), but these appear to be aftermarket because the front one is oblong like someone milled the hole wider or drilled twice slightly off center. Can someone tell me if the front hole was oblong on purpose for some reason? I doubt it, but I’m hoping against the odds that someone didn’t tank the value of this rifle just because they wanted to play shop.
4. Last but not least, given the answers to all of the above, does someone have an estimated range of value for this rifle? I know premium variants with good bluing and a good bore go for multiple thousands and I don’t think this is that, but I’m just hoping it’s not basically a junk rifle because someone decided to machine it for no reason. The bluing on this example is in good, but not great, shape and the bore looks great. Obviously, I’m not asking for offers to buy it and I’m not holding anyone to the value, just curious!

Apologies for the diatribe – like I said, I’m new to this forum and don’t know much about the 71 other than what I’ve mostly read here.

Pat

Top_View_Rear_Sight:

Left_Side_Barrel_Markings:

Right_Side_Barrel_Markings

Left_Side_Receiver:

Top_View_Receiver: