Winchester Model 54 serial numbers by year
Winchester’s first successful centerfire bolt action, a Mauser-type sporter that introduced the .270 Winchester and led directly to the Model 70.
- Produced:
- 1925–1936
- Action:
- bolt-action
What year was your Model 54 made?
Where the serial number is
Right side of the receiver ring, forward of the loading port — the same place as on the Model 70 that succeeded it.
Why the sources give different years
Nobody kept one official list of which Winchester Model 54 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: Madis/legacy milestone table · Madis table as transcribed by WACA · Winchester customer-service list (2012)
Winchester Model 54 serial numbers by year
The full Model 54 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.
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/legacy milestone table
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1925 | through 3,140 |
| 1926–1927 | 3,141 – 14,178 |
| 1928–1930 | 14,179 – 32,504 |
| 1931 | 32,505 – 36,737 |
| 1932 | 36,738 – 38,550 |
| 1933–1936 | 38,551 – 49,938 |
- 1925, 1931–1932: These are the last serial number of each year taken from George Madis's tables. They are not figures from the factory records at the Cody Firearms Museum, and they are not counts of finished rifles.
- 1926–1927: This source gives only a few checkpoints, so it cannot narrow the date past 1926–1927.
- 1928–1930: This source gives only a few checkpoints, so it cannot narrow the date past 1928–1930.
- 1933–1936: This source gives only a few checkpoints, so it cannot narrow the date past 1933–1936. The changeover to the Model 70 begins here.
Madis's tables, as reprinted by the Winchester collectors' association
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 table as transcribed by WACA
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1925approximate | through 3,140 |
| 1926approximate | 3,141 – 8,052 |
| 1927approximate | 8,053 – 14,178 |
| 1928approximate | 14,179 – 19,590 |
| 1929approximate | 19,591 – 29,108 |
| 1930approximate | 29,109 – 32,504 |
| 1931approximate | 32,505 – 36,737 |
| 1932approximate | 36,738 – 38,550 |
| 1933approximate | 38,551 – 40,780 |
| 1934approximate | 40,781 – 43,475 |
| 1935approximate | 43,476 – 47,134 |
| 1936approximate | 47,135 – 49,938 |
| 1937sources differ | 49,939 – 50,025 |
| 1938sources differ | 50,026 – 50,075 |
| 1939sources differ | 50,076 – 50,100 |
- 1925–1936: Every figure in this table is approximate. It is George Madis's estimate of the last serial number of the year as reprinted by the Winchester collectors' association, not a factory record.
- 1937: These are leftover parts assembled in 1937 after regular production ended.
- 1938: These are leftover parts assembled in 1938 after regular production ended.
- 1939: These are leftover parts assembled in 1939 after regular production ended. OldGuns covers numbers through 50,127. Winchester's older compilation ends at 50,145. Proofhouse reports total production of 50,161.
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 |
|---|---|
| 1925 | through 3,140 |
| 1926 | 3,141 – 8,051 |
| 1927 | 8,052 – 14,176 |
| 1928 | 14,177 – 19,587 |
| 1929 | 19,588 – 29,104 |
| 1930 | 29,105 – 32,499 |
| 1931 | 32,500 – 36,731 |
| 1932 | 36,732 – 38,543 |
| 1933 | 38,544 – 40,722 |
| 1934 | 40,723 – 43,466 |
| 1935 | 43,467 – 47,125 |
| 1936 | 47,126 – 50,145 |
What to know about Model 54 serial numbers
- These are the last serial number of each year taken from George Madis's tables. They are not figures from the factory records at the Cody Firearms Museum, and they are not counts of finished rifles.
- The Cody Firearms Museum has no factory records for the Model 54, so a factory letter is not available for this model.
- Model 70 serial numbers started over at 1, so a Model 70 number cannot be looked up on this page.
- With no factory record to check, the two-digit date stamped on the barrel under the stock is usually better evidence for one particular rifle than a year estimated from George Madis's tables. Remember that it dates the barrel, not necessarily final assembly or shipment.
- Numbers dated 1939 to 1941 do not mean regular production continued that long. They are leftover parts assembled after it ended.
- Every figure in this table is approximate. It is George Madis's estimate of the last serial number of the year as reprinted by the Winchester collectors' association, not a factory record.
- The older published tables end anywhere from 50,100 to 50,161. No official exact total exists.
- 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.
Related models, and why
Shared serial sequences, successors, and look-alikes — each link says why it is here, straight from the record notes.
Other Winchester bolt-action rifles
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.
No factory letter is available for the Model 54
The Cody Firearms Museum, which holds Winchester’s surviving factory records and issues factory letters, does not list the Model 54 among the models it can search. The published tables on this page are the best evidence available for dating one.
Which Winchester models can be lettered, and what a letter shows →