Winchester Model 88 serial numbers by year
The Winchester Model 88 is a lever-action rifle produced regularly from 1955 to 1973, with reported parts-cleanup assembly through 1976 and approximately 284,000 manufactured.
- Produced:
- 1955–1973 (parts cleanup to 1976)
- Action:
- lever-action
What year was your Model 88 made?
Where the serial number is
On the receiver; reported on the underside or side depending on production.
Where these dates come from
Winchester's original factory records do not cover every model. For the Model 88, the dates come from one published source, Winchester's own customer-service list (2012). It was typed up long after production, so treat any year as a close estimate rather than a factory record.
Source for this model: Winchester customer-service list (2012)
Winchester Model 88 serial numbers by year
The full Model 88 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.
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 |
|---|---|
| 1955 | 1 – 18,378 |
| 1956 | 18,379 – 36,756 |
| 1957 | 36,757 – 55,134 |
| 1958 | 55,135 – 73,512 |
| 1959 | 73,513 – 91,890 |
| 1960 | 91,891 – 110,268 |
| 1961 | 110,269 – 128,651 |
| 1962 | 128,652 – 139,838 |
| 1963 | 139,839 – 148,858 |
| 1964 | 148,859 – 160,307 |
| 1965 | 160,308 – 162,699 |
| 1966 | 162,700 – 192,595 |
| 1967 | 192,596 – 212,416 |
| 1968 | 212,417 – 230,199 |
| 1969 | through H239,899 |
| 1970 | H239,900 – H258,229 |
| 1971 | H258,230 – H266,784 |
| 1972 | H266,785 – H279,014 |
| 1973 | H279,015 – H283,718 |
What to know about Model 88 serial numbers
- 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.
No factory letter is available for the Model 88
The Cody Firearms Museum, which holds Winchester’s surviving factory records and issues factory letters, does not list the Model 88 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 →