Winchester Model 1903 serial numbers by year
Winchester’s first semi-automatic rifle, a T. C. Johnson design chambered only for the .22 Winchester Automatic cartridge. Receivers were serialed through 1932, with cleanup assembly reported to 1936.
- Produced:
- 1903–1932 (parts cleanup to 1936)
- Action:
- semi-automatic
What year was your Model 1903 made?
Where the serial number is
Underside of the receiver, forward of the trigger guard.
Why the sources give different years
Nobody kept one official list of which Winchester Model 1903 serial numbers were made in which year. The dates come from the original factory record books, now held by the Cody Firearms Museum, the tables in George Madis's Winchester books, compiled decades after the guns were made, a list typed up by Winchester's customer-service desk, which mixes real records with estimates, and other published compilations, each named above its table. For some serial numbers these sources are years apart, so this page shows what each one says instead of picking one.
Madis vs. factory dates lists every model where the sources part ways, with a real serial number from each.
Sources for this model: CFM/Polishing Room SNA coverage · Dated serial observations (published auction catalogs) · Madis/ProofHouse approximate serial milestones · Winchester customer-service chart year-end anchors · Winchester customer-service list (2012)
Winchester Model 1903 serial numbers by year
The full Model 1903 serial number chart, one table for each published source. Each row gives the serial numbers that source assigns to a year. Find the row your number falls in.
A row marked “sources differ” is a serial range that another table on this page dates to a different year. A row marked “approximate” comes from a table whose figures are estimates rather than factory records.
Factory records (Cody Firearms Museum)
The original Winchester factory ledgers, now held at the Cody Firearms Museum. They record the day each serial number was stamped, which is usually close to when the gun was finished.
Cited as: CFM/Polishing Room SNA coverage
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1903–1932 | 1 – 126,211 |
- 1903–1932: The factory records at the Cody Firearms Museum cover serials 1 to 126,211. The Winchester collectors' association identifies 126,211 as the last serial in those records, stamped in September 1932.
Dated examples from auction catalogs
Individual guns whose factory letters were published in auction catalogs. Real dates, but only for those serial numbers.
Cited as: Dated serial observations (published auction catalogs)
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1903sources differ | 6,291 |
| 1910sources differ | 60,645 |
| 1911 | 60,740 |
- 1903: Auction catalogs place serial 6,291 in the first year of production. The evidence supports first-year numbers reaching at least 6,291.
- 1910: This is an observed serial. Auction catalogs date serial 60,645 to 1910.
- 1911: Auction catalogs date serial 60,740 to 1911.
Madis's tables (Proofhouse / oldguns.net reprint)
From George Madis's Winchester books, a collector reference compiled decades after production. The figures are year-end estimates, not counts from the factory books.
Cited as: Madis/ProofHouse approximate serial milestones
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1903sources differ | 8,214 |
| 1910sources differ | 62,294 |
- 1903: The published serial figures are approximate. The table behind them lists 8,211 rifles starting at serial 3.
- 1910: The published serial figures are approximate. The table behind them lists 7,802 rifles starting at serial 54,492, and Winchester's chart gives a different last serial number for the year.
Winchester's own customer-service list
A year-by-year list Winchester's customer-service desk typed up to answer owners' letters. Partly real records and partly estimates, as the list itself says.
Cited as: Winchester customer-service chart year-end anchors
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1910sources differ | through 54,298 |
| 1911–1932approximate | 54,299 – 112,992 |
| 1933–1936sources differ | 112,993 – 114,962 |
- 1910: Sources disagree on the last serial number of this year. Auction catalogs date serial 60,645 to 1910, and the table from George Madis and ProofHouse gives about 62,294.
- 1911–1932: Winchester's chart ends regular production at 112,992 in 1932. That conflicts with the factory records at the Cody Firearms Museum, which run to 126,211.
- 1933–1936: This is the last serial for the leftover parts assembled after regular production ended. That later timeline conflicts with the factory records at the Cody Firearms Museum, where serial numbers stop being stamped in September 1932. The clean-up guns used parts that had already been numbered.
Winchester's own customer-service list (2012)
A year-by-year list Winchester's customer-service desk typed up to answer owners' letters. Partly real records and partly estimates, as the list itself says.
Cited as: Winchester customer-service list (2012)
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1903–1904sources differ | through 6,944 |
| 1905sources differ | 6,945 – 14,865 |
| 1906sources differ | 14,866 – 23,097 |
| 1907sources differ | 23,098 – 31,852 |
| 1908sources differ | 31,853 – 39,105 |
| 1909sources differ | 39,106 – 46,496 |
| 1910 | 46,497 – 54,298 |
| 1911 | 54,299 – 61,679 |
| 1912 | 61,680 – 69,586 |
| 1913 | 69,587 – 76,732 |
| 1914 | 76,733 – 81,776 |
| 1915 | 81,777 – 84,563 |
| 1916 | 84,564 – 87,148 |
| 1917 | 87,149 – 89,501 |
| 1918 | 89,502 – 92,617 |
| 1919 | 92,618 – 96,565 |
| 1920–1921 | 96,566 – 97,650 |
| 1922 | 97,651 – 99,011 |
| 1923 | 99,012 – 100,452 |
| 1924 | 100,453 – 101,688 |
| 1925 | 101,689 – 103,075 |
| 1926 | 103,076 – 104,230 |
| 1927 | 104,231 – 105,537 |
| 1928 | 105,538 – 107,157 |
| 1929 | 107,158 – 109,414 |
| 1930 | 109,415 – 111,276 |
| 1931 | 111,277 – 112,533 |
| 1932 | 112,534 – 112,992 |
- 1903–1904: Winchester's own customer-service list records no last serial for 1903. This row runs from there up to the next year the list does record.
- 1920–1921: Winchester's own customer-service list records no last serial for 1920. This row runs from there up to the next year the list does record.
What to know about Model 1903 serial numbers
- An A after the serial number marks a mechanical change to the receiver group. It does not mean the gun was repaired at the factory, and it is not an extra digit of the serial number.
- The sources disagree on where the serial numbers end. The factory records at the Cody Firearms Museum run to 126,211, the last number stamped, in September 1932, as read by the Winchester collectors' association. Numbers were skipped along the way, so George Madis's tables count 123,094 rifles actually made. Winchester's own customer-service list instead ends 1932 at 112,992 and says about 2,000 more guns were built from leftover parts, with production stopping at serial 114,962 in 1936. The factory record is the original. Winchester's list is a retyped compilation that says some of its figures are estimates. If your serial number is between 112,993 and 126,211, the factory record says it was stamped by September 1932. Winchester's list would place it in the 1933 to 1936 leftover-parts run, or above 114,962 not at all.
- Some guns were assembled or shipped later from parts that had already been numbered. Do not read that as the receiver being made later.
- The clean-up guns, meaning leftover parts assembled after regular production ended, used parts that had already been numbered.
- No year-by-year table from the factory records at the Cody Firearms Museum has been published for the Model 1903.
- Winchester's own customer-service list is a retyped compilation, not the original records. The list itself says that no complete original serial record from 1866 onward is known to exist, and that some of its figures are estimates.
Other Winchester semi-automatic rimfires
Winchester rifles that never had a serial number
These have no serial number to look up. Their pages explain why, and how to date one from its features.
Want proof on paper? Order a factory letter
The Cody Firearms Museum holds Winchester’s original records and, for a fee, will search them for your serial number and send you a letter with the recorded dates and details. It is the closest thing to the original factory entry you can own, and it is what auction houses and appraisers accept.
Its records cover Model 1903 serial numbers: 1–126,211. A number outside that coverage cannot be lettered.
Order a factory letter from the Cody Firearms Museum →What a factory letter shows, and when one is worth ordering →