Winchester Model 71 serial numbers by year
The Winchester Model 71 is a lever-action rifle produced from 1935 to 1958 whose only regular/cataloged chambering was .348 Winchester, accounting for more than 99.5% of production.
- Produced:
- 1935–1958; Browning reissue 1987; Miroku reissue 2011–2013
- Action:
- lever-action
What year was your Model 71 made?
Where the serial number is
Bottom of the receiver, next to the forearm.
Why the sources give different years
Nobody kept one official list of which Winchester Model 71 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: Overall accepted serial range · Madis Year-End Serials · CFM/Polishing Room Year-End Serials · Winchester customer-service list (2012)
Winchester Model 71 serial numbers by year
The full Model 71 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. For the Model 71 that is true of most of the run, so treat any single year as an estimate and read the notes below the tables.
Overall accepted serial range
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1935–1958 | 1 – 47,254 |
- 1935–1958: Serial numbers start at 1 on October 18, 1935 and run to about 47,254 in 1958.
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 Year-End Serials
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1935 | 1 – 4 |
| 1936 | 5 – 7,816 |
| 1937sources differ | 7,817 – 12,985 |
| 1938sources differ | 12,986 – 14,688 |
| 1939sources differ | 14,689 – 16,154 |
| 1940sources differ | 16,155 – 18,268 |
| 1941sources differ | 18,269 – 20,811 |
| 1942sources differ | 20,812 – 21,961 |
| 1943sources differ | through 21,051 |
| 1944sources differ | 21,052 – 22,051 |
| 1945sources differ | 22,052 – 22,224 |
- 1943: This row has no start number. George Madis's printed figure falls from 21,961 in 1942 to 21,051 in 1943, so the usual start of 21,962 would be higher than the year's own last number. The 1943 figure is shown exactly as the Winchester collectors' association printed it in its comparison. It is a known reported oddity, not a correction.
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 Year-End Serials
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1935sources differ | 1 – 477 |
| 1936 | 478 – 9,749 |
| 1937sources differ | 9,750 – 14,700 |
| 1938sources differ | 14,701 – 16,325 |
| 1939sources differ | 16,326 – 17,845 |
| 1940sources differ | 17,846 – 19,838 |
| 1941sources differ | 19,839 – 21,402 |
| 1942sources differ | 21,403 – 22,945 |
| 1943sources differ | 22,946 – 22,956 |
| 1945sources differ | 22,957 – 23,010 |
- 1943: The last serial number is given as 22,956 for both 1943 and 1944. No serial numbers were recorded in 1944.
- 1945: The factory records at the Cody Firearms Museum stop at serial 23,010 in December 1945. Across 1943 to 1945 only 65 more numbers were stamped.
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 |
|---|---|
| 1935 | 1 – 4 |
| 1936 | 5 – 7,821 |
| 1937sources differ | 7,822 – 12,988 |
| 1938sources differ | 12,989 – 14,690 |
| 1939sources differ | 14,691 – 16,155 |
| 1940sources differ | 16,156 – 18,267 |
| 1941sources differ | 18,268 – 20,810 |
| 1942sources differ | 20,811 – 21,959 |
| 1943sources differ | 21,960 – 22,048 |
| 1944sources differ | 22,049 – 22,051 |
| 1945sources differ | 22,052 – 22,224 |
| 1946sources differ | 22,225 – 23,534 |
| 1947 | 23,535 – 25,758 |
| 1948 | 25,759 – 27,900 |
| 1949 | 27,901 – 29,675 |
| 1950 | 29,676 – 31,450 |
| 1951 | 31,451 – 33,225 |
| 1952 | 33,226 – 35,000 |
| 1953 | 35,001 – 37,500 |
| 1954 | 37,501 – 40,770 |
| 1955 | 40,771 – 43,306 |
| 1956 | 43,307 – 45,843 |
| 1957 | 45,844 – 47,254 |
What to know about Model 71 serial numbers
- These records give the date the serial number was stamped. They do not give the date the rifle was finished or shipped.
- Serial 48,262 turned up in an auction description. The Winchester collectors' association could not confirm the marking from photographs and believes it was a misread 43,262. Do not treat it as extending the accepted serial range.
- The 1943 figure in George Madis's tables goes down instead of up. It is shown here exactly as the Winchester collectors' association printed it, and it has not been quietly corrected.
- George Madis's tables and the factory records at the Cody Firearms Museum give quite different last serial numbers for each year, even though both agree the total was 47,254.
- The Cody Firearms Museum holds factory records of the date the serial number was stamped for serial numbers 1–23,010, through December 1945. The original records after that are in private hands.
- The pre-1899 antique cutoff does not apply here. Production began in 1935.
- 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 lever-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.
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 71 serial numbers: 1–23,010. 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 →