Win 56 .22 short, stainless bbl ?'s

B

bamaranger

New member
I posted this on the Rifle Forum and got limited response, so I thought I'd try here.

I have a Winchester bolt model 56, .22 SHORT, in very good shape. One of the peculiarities of the little rifle is that the bbl is marked "stainless". It has a blue/black, I suppose anodized finish.

The magazine follower is marked from 1921 or possibly 1927. I am curious as to any comments or history a Win or .22 collector might have, or anybody else for that matter. The stainless bbl is quite a surprise.
 
Bamaranger--

I have the same rifle. According to info I have come upon over at RimfireCentral, existing records suggest 8,297 Model 56s (in both long and short) were made between 1926-30.

The .22 short version was produced for only the first two or three years of the run, apparently. The estimate is that 1,171 short-only versions were manufactured. What makes our rifles even more rare is the stainless steel barrel. There is a VERY small number of these around. The Win aficionados on the RimfireCentral forum have never seen one. So it is highly sought-after by Winchester .22 collectors in its original condition. Mine is in 85-90% condition, and it is worth (in 2011) at least $2,000 and maybe a lot more. The original Winchester magazines alone go for $100 each. I have both a 5-shot and a 10-shot mag.

Here's a link to an excellent writeup on the 56:

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=357927
 
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Sent you an email just now, Bamaranger--with the PDF attached. There is more info--and lots of interesting comments--over at the Rimfire site. Just click on that link.
 
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