winchester 70 pre 64 carbine

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782bird

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Winchester guys out there is there any way to make sure a carbine winchester 70 is true and not cut down
Thanks
 
Yes, there are ways to determine if a carbine fits into the years when the carbine was actually made by Winchester as follows:
1. The serial number on the receiver should be no greater than 58382. (production 1936-1946) (does not include special ordered carbines)
2. The receiver should have a clover leaf tang. (not a straight tang)
3. The stock should have a straight comb. (not a monte carlo comb)
4. A barrel that was cut down would not have an integral front sight ramp. The ramp would be brazed onto the cut barrel.
5. I have seen several carbine barrels come up for sale on eBay and they could be installed on a later production rifle without anyone knowing the difference. Tolerances on the rifles were so close that a barrel could be installed by a competent gunsmith with little work.
6. It would be difficult to determine an original rifle with a serial number lower than 58382 with a carbine barrel installed later. All the aspects of the rifle would look to be original.
7. Winchester had a stock of carbine barrels that lasted for several years and a carbine could have been special ordered is a later year. A special order carbine with a serial number 204950 was built. The stock of carbine barrels ended in the mid 1950's. Special order carbines built in the 1950's would have a straight tang.
8. Somewhere in the past I read that Winchester cleaned up their supply of stock carbine barrels and may have assembled a few rifles in a later year but I can't remember the year. It could have been 1953.
9. Only 7,197 carbines were built so they are desired by collectors.
 
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