Winchester Model 59 serial number range — what the records say
The Winchester Model 59 is a semi-automatic shotgun produced from 1959 to 1965, with approximately 82,085 manufactured.
- Produced:
- 1959–1965
- Action:
- semi-automatic
Which years could your Model 59 be from?
Where these dates come from
No year-by-year serial number table has been published for the Winchester Model 59. The references give one serial range for the whole run (Proofhouse / oldguns.net table), so a serial number can be placed within those years but not to a single year.
Source for this model: Published production range (oldguns.net / Blue Book)
Winchester Model 59 serial number range
The published serial range for the Model 59. Each row gives the serial numbers that source assigns to a year. Find the row your number falls in.
Proofhouse / oldguns.net table
An online compilation of approximate figures, most of them traced back to Madis.
Cited as: Published production range (oldguns.net / Blue Book)
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1959–1965 | through 82,085 |
- 1959–1965: This row covers the whole run. oldguns.net reports serial numbers passing 82,085, and the Blue Book gives 82,085 made. No year-by-year breakdown has been published.
What to know about Model 59 serial numbers
- No table has been published that turns a Model 59 serial number into a year. Winchester's own serial number reference has no usable table and points owners to the Winchester Arms Collectors Association, which lists a dating resource for this model. The lookup here can only tell you that a number falls inside the run.
- About 82,085 were made. Winchester's timeline introduces the Model 59 in 1959, when about 5,000 were test marketed from September onward. oldguns.net and the Blue Book date regular manufacture from 1960 to 1965. Most references give 1965 as the end, but one American Rifleman article says 1967.
- Versalite interchangeable choke tubes became available in 1961. Earlier guns have fixed-choke barrels. The Pigeon Grade dates from 1962.
- Receiver hunting scenes appear on Standard Grade guns too and do not identify a Pigeon Grade. The Win-Lite glass-wrapped barrel was colored to resemble blued steel, so appearance alone is not a reliable test.
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.
No factory letter is available for the Model 59
The Cody Firearms Museum, which holds Winchester’s surviving factory records and issues factory letters, does not list the Model 59 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 →