For those of you that are interested I have one of the guns that Winchester used to develop the Model 100. The gun was built by Al Ljutic and was with other guns tested by the Army as a replacement for the M1 in 1944. Here are the test results on the Ljutic rifle:

Slideshow « US Ljutic rifle « Forgotten Weapons

No rifle was chosen to replace the M1 but Ljutic after the war continued to refine his rifle. The history is very foggy on just what happened between Winchester and Ljutic but many of the ideas from the Ljutic rifle were used in the new Winchester 100 when it came out. There was a big lawsuit and after an out of court settlement Winchester introduced the Model 100.

The rifle I have is chambered in .30 Remington and was most likely built in the early 50's. The rifle shoots and operates flawlessly but you would expect that from a hand built firearm.

Ljutic survived as a company though it was bought out just before Al Ljutic's death a few years ago. Ljutic is thought by many Trap shooters as one of the premier shotgun builders ever.

Here are a few clips of what was to become the Winchester 100.

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