Winchester Model 57 serial numbers by year
The Winchester Model 57 is a bolt-action .22 caliber target rifle introduced in 1926, with regular production through 1936; the Madis/ProofHouse table also allocates 37 parts-cleanup assemblies to 1937 and 468 to 1938.
- Produced:
- 1926–1936 (parts cleanup 1937–1938)
- Action:
- bolt-action
What year was your Model 57 made?
Where the serial number is
On the receiver.
Where these dates come from
Winchester's original factory records do not cover every model. For the Model 57, the dates come from one published source, Madis's tables (Proofhouse / oldguns.net reprint). It was typed up long after production, so treat any year as a close estimate rather than a factory record.
Source for this model: Madis/ProofHouse shared-series assembly-year allocations
Winchester Model 57 serial numbers by year
The full Model 57 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 “approximate” comes from a table whose figures are estimates rather than factory records.
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 shared-series assembly-year allocations
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1926approximate | 1 – 3,193 |
| 1927approximate | 3,194 – 9,001 |
| 1928approximate | 9,002 – 13,739 |
| 1929approximate | 13,740 – 17,065 |
| 1930approximate | 17,066 – 21,468 |
| 1931approximate | 21,469 – 24,299 |
| 1932approximate | 24,300 – 25,435 |
| 1933approximate | 25,436 – 25,828 |
| 1934approximate | 25,829 – 26,489 |
| 1935approximate | 26,490 – 26,830 |
| 1936approximate | 26,831 – 27,401 |
| 1937approximate | 27,402 – 27,439 |
| 1938approximate | from 27,440 |
- 1926–1928, 1930–1931: The totals and the year-by-year dating for the shared sequence come from the published tables of George Madis. These rows show how the shared sequence was split up by year of assembly. They are not the dates the receivers were numbered.
- 1929: The totals and the year-by-year dating for the shared sequence come from the published tables of George Madis. No receivers are reported to have been newly numbered in 1929. Receivers numbered in 1928 were still being built into guns later.
- 1932–1937: The totals and the year-by-year dating for the shared sequence come from the published tables of George Madis. Rows after 1931 are Model 57 only. These are years of assembly, not the dates the receivers were numbered.
- 1938: The totals and the year-by-year dating for the shared sequence come from the published tables of George Madis. Rows after 1931 are Model 57 only. No final serial is given. Madis's tables spread Model 57 production through 1938, but the year a receiver was numbered can be earlier than the year the rifle was finished or shipped.
What to know about Model 57 serial numbers
- The Model 56 and the Model 57 share one receiver serial sequence that starts at 1, so the number alone does not tell you which model you have.
- These rows show how the shared sequence was split up by year of assembly. They are not the dates the receivers were numbered.
- No receivers are reported to have been newly numbered in 1929. Receivers numbered in 1928 were still being built into guns later.
- George Madis's tables spread Model 57 production through 1938. The year a receiver was numbered can be earlier than the year the rifle was finished or shipped.
- The totals and the year-by-year dating for the shared sequence come from the published tables of George Madis.
- Research in the original records puts the end of the shared sequence above the 27,878 given in George Madis's tables. It does not publish a number precise enough to use as the final serial.
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 57
The Cody Firearms Museum, which holds Winchester’s surviving factory records and issues factory letters, does not list the Model 57 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 →