Hi all
 
I just bought a hiwall from an old friend with s.n. in 11xxxx range.
My question was what is the cut off s.n. from getting letter from
Cody Museum?  Thanks in advance
 
Charlie

You state the serial number is 11xxxx (which would be 110,000 or greater).

But according to the records at Cody the last 1885 Winchester was 109999.

Did you mean 11xxx?

Laurie,

Thanks for the correction.  I wonder why WRA stopped keeping the records after 110,000 ?

Of course like with Marlin and the records for the Ballards, who knows.......

Thanks for the info, the rifle is what it is.
Thanks again

Sorry Fitz, but that is not the true story concerning Winchester's records keeping, nor is it even close.

Let me start out by stating this... I work at the Cody Firearms Musuem (downstairs in the research department office) as an official volunteer for several weeks each summer. I help Jessica and Connie research Winchester, Marlin, and L.C. Smith records for all members requesting a serial number search, or those people wishing to purchase a factory letter.

Now, with that out of the way, let me clear the air so to speak concerning the Winchester Single Shot (a.k.a. Model 1885) records.

Winchester maintained thorough records for all models that were serialized from the 1860s all the way thorugh the time they stopped making firearms in early 1980. There was no change in policy concerning records keeping. The records currently held by the CFM are not "Shipping" records, as they do not contain any information concerning where the guns were shipped. It would be more accurate to describe them as "receiving records", as the first column in the ledger contains the date that it was received in the warehouse from the assembly room, then the next eight columns list all of the specific details (configuration), and the last two columns list the date that it left the warehouse and the order number (see the picture below). The original factory warehouse ledger books are intact for serial numbers 1 through 109,999. There are a few small gaps in the records, with the largest one being in the 74459 - 74559 serial range. Based on my survey of the warehouse ledger records, there are nearly 1,500 total serial numbers for which the ledgers are blank.  The Polishing Room Serialization Records Books are intact for serials 1 through 115,308 (5-26-1914).

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Bert H.

Quote:


They did not stop keeping records at 110,000, but they did switch to a new style of record keeping. From the 1860s through 1907, the records were maintained in old style ledger books. The ledger books are rather large (24" x 16" x 2") and bulky. Circa mid year 1907, Winchester began making the switch to individual index cards for each Model and gun, but it was not until late 1910 that the switch was complete for all models. The Model 1885 made the switch at the end of 1910. For a small number of models, some of the index cards survived (the Models 1873 and 1886 to name a few), and that is why we have the records all the way up into the late 1920s for those models. Unfortunately, most of the old index card records were destroyed in the early 1960s.

Bert