Sources · where the dates come from

The records behind the dates

We use three main types of sources: original factory records, George Madis’s reference books, and lists prepared by Winchester. They can give different dates. Here is what each source can tell you and where its limits are.

The factory ledgers at Cody

Winchester kept record books, called ledgers, as it numbered and shipped guns. Its Polishing Room records track serial numbering, often by recording the last number reached each day. These original records are usually stronger evidence than estimates made years later.

The surviving books are held at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming. It is home to the Cody Firearms Museum (CFM) and the McCracken Research Library. Our tables may call these records “CFM,” “Cody,” or “Polishing Room records.” We also use date tables that the Winchester Arms Collectors Association (WACA) and other researchers have drawn from the books.

A numbering date tells you when a serial number was stamped. The gun could be finished or shipped later. In our sample of factory letters, the middle shipping wait was 45 days; half the waits were shorter and half longer. 13% took more than a year. Records do not survive for every model or serial number. Some models have only later estimates.

For a specific gun, the Cody Firearms Records Office can check whether it holds records for your serial number. If it does, you can order a factory letter that reports what those records say. It may include dates, barrel details, and other features. The information available varies by model and serial number.

George Madis

George Madis was a historian who researched Winchester using factory sources and interviews with former employees. He published The Winchester Book in the early 1960s, followed by The Winchester Handbook and The Winchester Model Twelve.

Collectors have used his books for decades. Many later guides and websites repeat his dates, so finding the same year in several places does not always mean several independent records support it.

His tables estimate where each year’s production ended. They are useful, especially where original records are missing, but sometimes differ from factory records by years. For the Model 1894, where Madis ends 1898 at serial 147,684 and the factory ledgers end it at 53,941 . That gap matters when checking whether a gun was made before 1899. See the pre-1899 cutoff page.

We label his figures separately from factory records. His books cover only certain models and years; they do not supply dates for every Winchester.

Winchester’s own lists

Winchester prepared year-by-year lists to answer owners’ questions. These lists combine records and estimates. Coming from the manufacturer does not make every entry an exact date. We call them “customer-service lists” and include their warnings about estimated figures.

How this site treats them

We show each available source separately and explain differences. Original records usually provide stronger evidence, but you still need to know whether a date means numbering, assembly, or shipping. The Model 1894 page shows how three sources can give different years for the same serial number.

For more examples, see Madis vs. factory dates . It lists the models whose tables disagree on this site and explains how to read the different answers.