Winchester .22 Short And Long Single shot bolt action rifle with no serial number

[fighter31]

My mom has a Winchester .22 Short & Long Single shot bolt action rifle with no serial number. The orginal owner of this gun was her grandpa my great grandpa he use to hunt with it. He got it around the late 1800's early 1900's I was woundering is this gun legal without a serial number Note this gun has never had a serial number

 

[03protege]

My mom has a Winchester .22 Short & Long Single shot bolt action rifle with no serial number. The orginal owner of this gun was her grandpa my great grandpa he use to hunt with it. He got it around the late 1800's early 1900's I was woundering is this gun legal without a serial number Note this gun has never had a serial number

It wasn't till sometime in the 20's or later that it was required to put serial numbers on newly manufactured guns. Not all guns before that had them and if it came without one it is legal today. You may want to lookup the date in which serial numbers became required but if your gun is from the turn of the century you should be ok.

 

[sandman7925]

Might be worth more than a few bucks too, sounds like a cool rifle

 

[Pale Horse]

It wasn't till sometime in the 20's or later that it was required to put serial numbers on newly manufactured guns. Not all guns before that had them and if it came without one it is legal today. You may want to lookup the date in which serial numbers became required but if your gun is from the turn of the century you should be ok.

I was under the impression that it wasn't required until the passing of the 1968 gun control act. Dad's old Marlin .22 never had one, and it was bought new in the 50s.

 

[deadidunn]

My moms win 67 doesn't have any serial numbers on it either!

 

[buttanic]

The GCA of 1968 made serial numbers mandatory on all firearms manufactured after that date. Before 1968 manufactures decided whether to put the numbers on or not.

 

[03protege]

I was under the impression that it wasn't required until the passing of the 1968 gun control act. Dad's old Marlin .22 never had one, and it was bought new in the 50s.

That defiantly could be it, I haven't looked it up in a long time and may be confusing it with something else.

 

[03protege]

The GCA of 1968 made serial numbers mandatory on all firearms manufactured after that date. Before 1968 manufactures decided whether to put the numbers on or not.

Thanks, guess I was confusing it with something else.

 

[SSaltz]

As long as it did not come with a serial number you are fine. If it had a serial number even if it was made before 68 it is illegal to obliterate the number. If it came with one it has to be there if it didn't start out with one its fine.

 

[mrmojo32]

I have a JC Higgins my Grandfather gave me with no serial numbers on it. Man that thing has killed some stuff in it's time!

 

[Isaac-1]

It sounds like this may be a Winchester model 1902 or 1904 (built from their respective years until the 1930's), these were considered boy's guns, and were often bought for boy's to learn to shot with much like the modern BB and pellet guns are now. If marked with just .22 short or long it was probably built before 1914, later guns added Extra long which was then replaced with the modern .22 Long Rifle. Note do not try to fire .22 Long Rifle in a gun built for .22 Long as they will not fit.

Ike