There may have been a Treasury Department directive to manufacturers regarding serial numbering with alphanumeric conventions or prefixed numbers (like Ruger), but there's nothing within the '68 GCA stating this. The Winchester 94 and 101 didn't use letters in their serial numbering conventions nor did Ruger. The G came about as a result of the Gun Control Act of 1968 all manufacturers were given a letter to be included in their serial number.Not true.

Just so happens that is the exact same time quality fell off the ledge.įive digit Classic's went till about late '94, six digits through 2002 Don't know what but one of the things that changed was Classic's went from around G380000 to seven digits overnight. They continued their progression until beginning of 2003 when something big happened. When Classic's started in '91 they started at G1 or G1000 somewhere around there. You'd have to check with BACO to see what they were after 2009. Now the new ones (BACO) started with 35AMP.(2008 models). 6 digits were built from about 94-99, 7 digits were 2000-2006 etc. The classics started with a 5 digit serial # in 1992.

As you can see, that is a 7 digit serial #. The last serial numbers listed in the Winchester DOM documents goes to 1992, and that is 'G2037985'. The following is a cut and paste, don't recall the source, but it agrees with the SNs on my M70s:: According to Rule, the G prefix was added as a result of a government requirement.

Winchester model 64 serial numbers