Winchester Model 64 worth $2000?

GuiltySpark

GuiltySpark

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I meant to post this a couple months ago.

While at the hunting cabin a friend of a friend that was visiting seen my grandfathers old Winchester Model 64 30-30 and offered to buy it for $2000. I thought he was just dicking around but he was ready to drive into down and take the cash out of the bank. It's not very pretty but it's probably the most solid rifle I've ever held. I think I remember my father saying it was bought in 1926.

Is this rifle really worth that much or is he just a little odd?


Interestingly if you unscrew the metal butt plate there's a rolled up piece of paper from pre-ww2 when Canadians apparently had to register firearms to the RCMP. The piece of paper among other things asks for the owners race.



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I am sure there will be some one along here shortly that can give you an accurate opinion on your rifle as there are many here on CGN who are very knowledgeable on Winchester lever actions.
But I can tell you this I bought a brand new M64 in 1973 for $98.00 used it for many deer hunts but kept it in great shape, sold it in the early 90's for $400. and thought I made a killing, maybe the joke was on me I will never know I guess. So there maybe indeed something specific about your particular rifle that does give it unusual value.
 
That is roughly three times what the gun is worth. The gun is by no means in high condition being well hunted, nothing wrong with that but regarding old Winchesters one pays for condition. The rear sight is not original and that tang sight was not standard though the early 64's were drilled and tapped for one, the later 64's were drilled and tapped for a receiver sight. He didn't buy it in 1926 because it wasn't introduced until 1933 and made until 1957. The sling swivels are aftermarket as well. If the rifle were in mint condition with no alterations you might get $2000 for it. In my opinion that is a $650 rifle or in that neighbourhood, my 2 cents.
 
The M-64 was also made for one year in 1972-73 and labeled a 64-A (check your old Winchester catologues and you will see it listed) and had factory detachable sling swivels on it. Mine had nicely done plain wood and the metal was above average polish and a good deep blue. I was saving up to by my wife an engagement ring and spent some of the money on the rifle. Bought the rifle, case and box of shells at a sporting goods store in Toronto for $98.00 all in. Shot a deer with it that year, and managed to resave the money for the ring and get married the following spring.

From the comments your receiving from the other fellas the $2K offer was rather generous to say the least.
 
Two ways of looking at it.

In the first view, it's almost worthless - it doesn't do anything (and probably less) than a modern cheap mass produced rifle will do.

In the second view, anything is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it. It's apparently worth $2K to the fellow who wants it. Value is a relative thing. You and I might work all week for $2K. This guy might earn $2K by coffee time, and he prefers to trade it for that rifle.

If you choose to keep it, that means it's worth MORE than $2K to you. Everything has it's price.
 
As a collector of Winchester levers, and having a couple of 64s I would have to say sell it, as the condition as shown in the photos would make it a 500-600 buck rifle, as Mike Webb said, only I think he was being a tad generous. All the things he pointed out detract from the value, plus the fact it is not a deluxe with checkering and it is well used. It takes a very high condition deluxe 64 to get to the 2K level of value, they just aren't that rare or that valuable.
 
mrgoat said:
The M-64 was also made for one year in 1972-73 and labeled a 64-A (check your old Winchester catologues and you will see it listed) and had factory detachable sling swivels on it. Mine had nicely done plain wood and the metal was above average polish and a good deep blue. I was saving up to by my wife an engagement ring and spent some of the money on the rifle. Bought the rifle, case and box of shells at a sporting goods store in Toronto for $98.00 all in. Shot a deer with it that year, and managed to resave the money for the ring and get married the following spring.

From the comments your receiving from the other fellas the $2K offer was rather generous to say the least.
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Your 64 was a 64A, different animal from the pre 64 models. It was reintroduced in 1972 for a brief time but sales were slow and it was discontinued. The original being phased out around 1957 due to slow sales. The two look very similar but the older model was much higher quality. That being said if you had a 64A now in mint condition with box and hangtags it would surprise you what you might get for it, production was limited.
 
Hey Guys,

I appreciate the feed back very much thank you.

I wouldn't sell the gun if it was worth $10'000, being a family heirloom of sorts, but I was really curious why someone would offer $2000 for it.

I'm going to inspect the rifle closer to see if I can find some kind of date stamp. Maybe take a picture of the pre-WW2 registration and look for a date on there too. It actually looks a lot nicer (less rough) in person, guessing the flash brought out a lot of imperfections in the metal.
 
Considering the model 64 wasn't catalogued till 1933 yours is very rare being a 1926 version . Standard 64's can be bought at any gun show for $400-700 depending on condition . Unless it is a carbine or a deluxe version it's not worth 2k and even if it a rare configuration it would have to be mint for 2k
 
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