Winchester Model 24 serial numbers by year
The Winchester Model 24 is a hammerless (striker-fired, true hammerless rather than concealed hammers), side-by-side, double-barrel shotgun produced from 1939 to 1958.
- Produced:
- 1939–1958
- Action:
- break-action
What year was your Model 24 made?
Where the serial number is
Underside of the frame; a matching number is stamped on the barrel locking lug.
Why the sources give different years
Nobody kept one official list of which Winchester Model 24 serial numbers were made in which year. The dates come from the tables in George Madis's Winchester books, compiled decades after the guns were made, and a list typed up by Winchester's customer-service desk, which mixes real records with estimates. 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: Winchester customer-service year end · Madis-implied year end · Published Madis table · Winchester customer-service list (2012)
Winchester Model 24 serial numbers by year
The full Model 24 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.
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 year end
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1939 | through 8,118 |
| 1940approximate | 8,119 – 21,382 |
| 1941approximate | 21,383 – 27,045 |
| 1942sources differ | 27,046 – 33,670 |
| 1944sources differ | 33,671 – 33,683 |
| 1945sources differ | 33,684 – 34,965 |
- 1940–1941: Winchester's own customer-service list and the year-end figures implied by George Madis's tables differ for 1940 to 1945. Do not combine the two.
- 1942, 1945: Winchester's own customer-service list and the year-end figures implied by George Madis's tables differ for 1940 to 1945. Do not combine the two.
- 1944: Winchester's own customer-service list has no entry for 1943. Its year-end figures and the ones implied by George Madis's tables differ for 1940 to 1945.
George Madis's published tables
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-implied year end
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1939 | 1 – 8,118 |
| 1940approximate | 8,119 – 18,750 |
| 1941sources differ | 18,751 – 30,832 |
| 1942sources differ | 30,833 – 39,710 |
| 1943sources differ | 39,711 – 39,975 |
| 1944sources differ | 39,976 – 41,679 |
| 1945sources differ | 41,680 – 43,840 |
| 1946 | 43,841 – 45,249 |
| 1947 | 45,250 – 58,939 |
| 1948 | 58,940 – 64,416 |
- 1940: Winchester's own customer-service list and the year-end figures implied by George Madis's tables differ for 1940 to 1945. Do not combine the two.
- 1941–1942, 1944–1945: Winchester's own customer-service list and the year-end figures implied by George Madis's tables differ for 1940 to 1945. Do not combine the two.
- 1943: George Madis's tables record 264 guns for 1943. Winchester's own customer-service list has no entry.
George Madis's published tables
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: Published Madis table
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1939 | 1 – 8,118 |
| 1940approximate | 8,119 – 18,750 |
| 1941sources differ | 18,751 – 30,832 |
| 1942sources differ | 30,833 – 39,710 |
| 1943sources differ | 39,711 – 39,975 |
| 1944sources differ | 39,976 – 41,679 |
| 1945sources differ | 41,680 – 43,840 |
| 1946 | 43,841 – 45,249 |
| 1947 | 45,250 – 58,939 |
| 1948 | 58,940 – 64,416 |
| 1949 | 64,417 – 77,258 |
| 1950 | 77,259 – 91,466 |
| 1951 | 91,467 – 100,773 |
| 1952 | 100,774 – 112,074 |
| 1953 | 112,075 – 115,265 |
| 1954 | 115,266 – 115,418 |
| 1955 | 115,419 – 116,416 |
| 1956 | from 116,417 |
- 1940: Winchester's own customer-service list and the year-end figures implied by George Madis's tables differ for 1940 to 1945. Do not combine the two.
- 1941–1942, 1944–1945: Winchester's own customer-service list and the year-end figures implied by George Madis's tables differ for 1940 to 1945. Do not combine the two.
- 1943: George Madis's tables record 264 guns for 1943. Winchester's own customer-service list has no entry.
- 1949–1955: The yearly figures after 1948 in George Madis's tables come from one source only. They are not dates from the factory records at the Cody Firearms Museum.
- 1956: The number made was not recorded.
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 |
|---|---|
| 1939 | 1 – 8,118 |
| 1940 | 8,119 – 21,382 |
| 1941 | 21,383 – 27,045 |
| 1942sources differ | 27,046 – 33,670 |
| 1943–1944sources differ | 33,671 – 33,683 |
| 1945sources differ | 33,684 – 34,965 |
| 1946sources differ | 34,966 – 45,250 |
| 1947 | 45,251 – 58,940 |
| 1948 | 58,941 – 64,417 |
- 1943–1944: The list shows no figure for 1943. This range covers those years up to the next year that has a recorded final serial.
What to know about Model 24 serial numbers
- Winchester's own customer-service list and George Madis's table are two record systems that conflict with each other. Do not combine them.
- For 1943, George Madis's tables record 264 guns. Winchester's own customer-service list has no entry at all.
- Winchester's own customer-service list prints 45,250, 58,940, and 64,417 beside 1946 to 1948. Those numbers match exactly the starting serials for 1947 to 1949 in George Madis's tables, and they are not given as factory year-end figures.
- The factory records at the Cody Firearms Museum give only the date the serial number was stamped. They do not say how the gun was configured.
- Winchester says no yearly Model 24 records were kept from 1949 until the model was dropped. The yearly figures after 1948 in George Madis's tables come from one source only, and they are not dates from the factory records at the Cody Firearms Museum.
- Regular production ended in 1957 or 1958, depending on whether you go by the catalog or by when guns were assembled. Leftover parts assembled after that stayed below serial 117,000.
- 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.
- Winchester's own customer-service list says that no records were kept for this model from 1949 until it was discontinued in 1958. Total production was approximately 116,280.
Other Winchester shotguns
Winchester shotguns 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 24 serial numbers: 5–47,962. 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 →