Winchester Model 101 serial numbers by year
Winchester Model 101: over/under, break-open shotgun, produced 1963–1987.
- Produced:
- 1963–1987
- Action:
- break-action
What year was your Model 101 made?
Where the serial number is
Top tang of the receiver, under the top lever.
Where these dates come from
Winchester's original factory records do not cover every model. For the Model 101, the dates come from one published source, Pre-1968 (No K Prefix) — 12 Gauge. It was typed up long after production, so treat any year as a close estimate rather than a factory record.
Sources for this model: Pre-1968 (No K Prefix) — 12 Gauge · Late 1968 onward (ordinary Model 101 K prefix)
Winchester Model 101 serial numbers by year
The full Model 101 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.
The tables agree with each other for every serial range.
Pre-1968 (No K Prefix) — 12 Gauge
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1959 | 50,000 – 50,499 |
| 1960 | 50,500 – 51,999 |
| 1961 | 52,000 – 52,499 |
| 1962 | 52,500 – 55,999 |
| 1963 | 56,000 – 63,499 |
| 1964 | 63,500 – 75,499 |
| 1965 | 75,500 – 91,499 |
| 1966 | 91,500 – 102,999 |
| 1967 | 103,000 – 110,499 |
Late 1968 onward (ordinary Model 101 K prefix)
| Year | Serial numbers |
|---|---|
| 1968 | K110,500 – K117,999 |
| 1969 | K118,000 – K129,499 |
| 1970 | K129,500 – K140,499 |
| 1971 | K140,500 – K145,500 |
- 1971: This row runs up to the published May 1971 checkpoint.
What to know about Model 101 serial numbers
- The Blue Book chart for 12-gauge guns ends at K145,500 in May 1971.
- You cannot date a 12-gauge gun numbered above that published checkpoint with any certainty.
- That checkpoint does not apply to the 20-gauge, 28-gauge and .410 guns. They have their own separate, higher-numbered serial sequences.
- Production carried on through 1987, so the full serial range runs well beyond 200,000.
- Pigeon Grade guns have a separate PK in front of the serial number. Do not look them up in this table, which is for ordinary Model 101s.
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 101
The Cody Firearms Museum, which holds Winchester’s surviving factory records and issues factory letters, does not list the Model 101 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 →