The M61 in 22Magnum cal is getting up there in price.
The $2K mark is not unusual for a very pristine 22mag rifle.
Same for one in 22WRF.
Single caliber rifles, those made AND marked for use as '.22LR Only' or '.22Short only' bring a premium.
Usually with octagon bbl, but IIRC, some 22LR Only models were made w/round bbl also.
Early features,,late features,,,all guns in production seem to have them. It takes some homework to figure what a certain era/yr mfg should look like.
Stock shape changed, butt plates went from checkered steel to black plastic.
Earliest guns were rust blued, then they were Du-Lite blued starting in about 1939/40.
BBl address markings,,there's probably 6 or 7 different roll mark changes just for that,,maybe more. It's good way to tell if the bbl has been replaced, or suspect it has.
Earlier bbls were dated on the bottom as most all Winchesters were, but you can't see the bbl date unless you pull the magazine tube.
..and the bbl date is just that,,the yr the bbl itself was made. Not necessarily the yr the rifle was made.
Early slide latch was very finely checkered. Later it was grooved.
Same with the safety button.
Early guns D&T on the top rear of the trigger group extension for a tang sight. Feature later dropped.
Carrier modified at some point with a simple chamfer on the leading edge to aid feeding, Magnum carriers and recv's marked as such.
Lots of fakes out there now. NIB guns that are actually refinished guns put up in new mfg'd cardboard boxes. The boxes just slightly aged enough to make them look right. Paper work, hand tags and packing paper complete.
The reblue work is excellent and if you don't know what you'r looking at, you most probably will think you have the minty NIB original in hand.
Most all of these are somewhat rare issues like 'single caliber guns' (cal 22LR only,,or cal 22Short only) w/ oct bbls, ect.
So called 'Deluxe' Model 61's with fancy grade AmWal stock and forends, hand checkered and the bolt jeweled also set up nicely in a box w/ papers usually started life as a pretty good condition field grade and went from there for a face lift.
Winchester did make a few of these Deluxe 61models, but not the hundreds and hundreds that litter the market in the last 20+ years.
Engraved specimens too,,way too many engraved examples. Many with gold inlays.
B-carved checkering patterns,, 'Factory' invoices from the Custom Shop included,,ect and on and on.
A real buyer beware field of collecting.
There are NO factory records on the 61 (or 62 or 63). So they are an open field to upgrade and fake.
Recently a few of the real collectors have been tracing the life of some of these special rifles over their travels from dealer to dealer and owner to owner. The internet actions and sales allow that to be done pretty easily now.
There are a quite a number that have appeared as plain lower collector quality field grade rifles (round bbl, used but not abused condition, ect) for sale and then sold. Only later to appear on another site for sale as a completely NIB gun an perhaps with a different bbl (Oct maybe), in a single caliber, maybe a Deluxe Grade, and on it goes.
Same thing goes on with Model 63's and 62/62A's
If you read over on RimfireCentral.com in the Winchester section, there's quite a few threads on this. One 'sticky' just on fake Model 61's alone.
Be careful buying any of this spectacular looking crisp condition hardware.
A nice clean 85% condition rd bbl M61 will generally go $750+,,usually +.
Grooved recv'r usually gets more attention and sell quicker,,I like the smooth top ones myself.
Not unusual to see a really nice 61 priced at just under $1000 these days with just a little haggling room.
Obvious reblued guns, or those with extra D&T holes, cracked stocks, abnormal finish wear ect are still usually priced in the $400 range.
Not many below that.
They certainly are a nice piece of machinery..
