More Winchester Magazine Info
 

Here is the FINAL DRAFT matrix I put together for pre-64 Winchester .22 magazines applicable to the 52/56/57/69/75. If you downloaded a previous version you can scrap it and copy this corrected revision. I am sure I made a few more errors and omissions and I am looking for feedback from you guys to help me finalize this for posting. Thanks to XLIV for getting the ball rolling.

I took certain liberties as you will note;

- Late 52B's and 52C's were supplied with a solid body SS adapter while concurrently the sheet metal adaptor was available as an extra so I lumped the 69/75 into the sheet metal SS usage since they did not normally come with a SS adapter except for the 69A Match and Target.

- The 69 magazines produced from 1935-circa 1945 should have been specifically marked for the 69 however since I have seen some NIB 69's of that era with 52 style magazine floorplate markings (no "69") I added the 69 to both columns.

- I grouped the rifles by vintage, NOT by sub-model (A,B,C, Target, Sporter etc.) since there is some overlap of production. Basically, if the rifle was produced within the date window it should have the magazine indicated in most cases, regardless of variation or sub-model. To avoid confusion I purposely omitted the sub-model designations from the Winchester model number on the list.

Also, you will note that the Model 69 was chambered for .22 Short, Long and Long Rifle and the magazines formerly dedicated to .22 Long Rifle were also used for the .22 Long commencing with the production of the Model 69 in 1935. All other models continued to utilize the .22 Long Rifle magazine for .22 LR only.

And a final note, the magazines detailed below are functionally interchangeable with ALL of the rifle models listed. The primary purpose of the matrix is to match the correct era and type of magazine to a rifle as originally supplied from Winchester.

Best Regards,

.

Great stuff, I have never seen any of this info before!

This is good stuff. The kind of information that will be used for reference for many years to come.

Perhaps new light will be shed on our beloved blue steel and walnut.

One particular observation I made was the floorplate markings on the later mags are turned around. Early mags read front to back and later mags read back to front.

44

http://i52.tinypic.com/343q35c.jpg

I show a beginning date for the 22 LR follower marking of 8/4/25, and discontinued 8/6/30. Keep in mind these are revision dates to the dwgs. Actual implementation would have been some time after that depending on stock on hand.
steve

Excellent info, thanks Steve! My notes indicated that Winchester implemented the follower marking just prior to the introduction of the 56 and 57 chambered for .22 short. Internal discussion at Winchester indicated a potential feeding problem if .22 shorts were loaded into a .22 LR magazine so to differentiate when the new models were introduced they began marking the followers. The end date I used was the discontinuation of the model 57 in .22 short. I will revise the chart to indicate your 1930 date which seems more likely.

Thanks for the input!

Regards,

Here are some of my observations:
1-The patent date was removed from base (revised on drawing) on 7/1/44.
2-I show no markings listed for the follower on the 10 round 22 Long Rifle magazines...ever. Does anyone have a magazine with a "22 Long Rifle" marked follower?
3-The later cast single shot adaptors were made of 2 types of material. From inception until mid 1955 they were diecast zinc. From that date forward they were diecast aluminum.
4-I feel the marked 22 long rifle followers shoud only be listed as used up to late 30 or early 31, since they were revised in August of 1930.
5-The sheet metal followers were introduced mid 1935(A models), not from the beginning of 52 production.
I will be interested to see other's comments concerning the above.
JWA, Thanks for putting all this together. That is one heck of a bunch of work!
Steve

JWA,
Your info could be correct for the 22 short. I do not have blueprints for the short magazine. At least I have not found them yet.
Steve

Steve, I have the 1922 patent for the short magazine but not the drawings either. I was just basing it on some old notes I have.

I posted the 1922 "short magazine" patent at the begining of the thread for reference;

Regards,

JWA,
Proof reading is not my forte as you can tell. #5 should read " the sheet metal single shot adaptors were not available until mid 1935(A model).
Also, I found a drawing for the 56-57 22 short follower. It is dated 10-18-20, and is titled as "follower for 5 & 10 capacity", so maybe there were short 10 round mags made with the stamped followers! It shows an inscription stamped into the follower that reads "22 SHORT, PAT FEB 21-22". This was never revised on the drawing. So My assumption is that the 22 short mags were originally intended for the 56-57, not the 52. I had never considered this before. It may be a common assumption to everyone else. I don't know a whole lot or delve into the the 56-57 to the same degree as I do the 52's.
Steve

Got it! After thinking about it I figured that is what you meant. It is the margarita hour out here for me now also....

I am making that change now for upload.

Again, thanks for your help!

Regards,

44,

You have excellent powers of observation! I have also noted the 180 deg turning of the Winchester marking when the change was made from the 1919 patent date to the non-patent date style and also wondered about it but have no clue why it was done.

Regards,

I want to extend my thanks to you all for taking some of these topics to the next level. I am awed by the knowledge available from your combined input on these fine old rifles.

I'm not going to try to name all of the valuable contributors, but special thanks have to go to JWA, .22AGS and Seewin.

When I first started to accumulate some of the more obscure Winchester models there wasn't much information to be found, but now with sites like these on the internet, there's so much more.

Again, many thanks
wundudnee

Thanks wundudnee, but my contribution to this particular subject is almost nil. I'll say it again about this magazine thread, I've never seen such a wealth of data. I agree fully with XLIV, "This is good stuff. The kind of information that will be used for reference for many years to come."

This is probably a great time to continue the momentum with other seldom-researched Winchester guns and gear, while we have the resources of so many knowledgeable willing and able contributors. Almost a public service!

22AGS is too modest! 22AGS is the "glue" that holds us all together and pushes us to continue our education and share with the group. Without his lively postings I would never have joined RFC and met this group of fine people.

Regards,