How to tell a pre 64 winchester

[Meanea]

Post

Can a pre-64 Win serial number have the "G" prefix at the beginning of the number? ie: G######X
The reason I ask is that I was looking at a bolt gun with a G serial number advertised as a pre-64. But then this came to mind:
After the 1968 Federal gun control law, (put thru congress after JF Kennedy was assassinated), all the Post 64 guns then carried a "G" s/n prefix starting at near 874,000. This was also the time the "Anti-Bind" bolt was initiated. This new bolt used a lip on the lower edge of the RH locking lug. The lip rode under a part of the receiver rail that help prevent bolt binding.

So why does a pre-64 serial number have the "G"?
Very confused.

Your gun is a POST 64. MODEL 70 I assume

The new post 64's began at the end of 1964. Serial #'s were skipped so production in 1964 began at # 700,000. After 1968 prefix "G" is found in front of the numbers. Record for 1975 and 1976 are incomplete and were rounded off.

The last serial for 1963 should be about #581,471
The first new style post 64 was serial #700'000

1971 On August 25 at serial # 1,028,977 the serial # sequence was given a "G" prefix. This was implemented in compliance with new Federal regulations reqiuring a letter-coded serial # as an expedient means to Manufacturer identification.

The Rifleman's rifle by Roger Rule

Hope this helps
Meanea

 

[kell2784]

Your gun is a POST 64. MODEL 70 I assume

The last serial for 1963 should be about #581,471
The first new style post 64 was serial #700'000

Hope this helps
Meanea

Thanks, that clears a few things up. Yes it's a m70. My other questions is that many people prefer the pre-64's for a rifle base, yet many 'smiths and shooters say a post action can be made into a great rifle. Sure a 'pre' action would be nice, but they seem hard to find. Would a Remington action be preferred to build from instead of a 'post' action?

 

[Claven2]

Remington, Winchester, potato, potato. If your'e building it from a stripped action, the onyl question you need to ask is if you need CRF or not. If you do, get a pre-64 model 70 or a post-95 model 70 or any other CRF action like a ruger M77MkII or something.