I have just come across a nice condition Win mod 61 in 22 mag. I have seen them in all the other 22 rimfire loadings, but not in magnum. Chatting to a few gunsmith buddies and our local Classic firearms auction house reveals a common lack of knowledge on this firearm.
Can someone supply some info/history/success on this little rifle and a ballpark figure on its value?
thanks,

John

When Winchester introduced the 22 Magnum Rimfire in 1960 they chambered the M61 for the new cartridge. This required some changes in the action parts to handle the longer cartridge, and increasing the size of the loading port.

Serial numbers run from about 280000 to 348500. Production ceased in 1963. The caliber inscription generally is 22 Win Mag RF, but some are 22 WMRF.

I see really crisp, totally original M61s in RF Mag advertised for more than $2000 these days. Over the years, I've seen quite a few that survived in excellent condition.

There is a lot of knowledge and demand for that rifle in the US. The .22LR are highly coveted but the .22WMR is much more rare. I would kill for one at a decent price.

quote:

Originally posted by 500nitro:
I have just come across a nice condition Win mod 61 in 22 mag. I have seen them in all the other 22 rimfire loadings, but not in magnum. Chatting to a few gunsmith buddies and our local Classic firearms auction house reveals a common lack of knowledge on this firearm.
Can someone supply some info/history/success on this little rifle and a ballpark figure on its value?
thanks,

John

Thanks guys. Sadly, the gun seems to have a value of around $180-$250 here in South Africa. The regular .22 short/long/long rifles fetch around $80-120.
I will check with Holts whether they can sell it for us.

Let me know what you do with the rifle.
I can investigate the cost of importing it to the US.

Thank you sir, I will let you know.

My father collected all these old Winchesters 61, 62, 63, 61M as well as Rem 241, browning high grade belgium autos, T bolts, Marlin 39A and some old savage pumps. He thought a lot of those winchester 9422's as well and acquired three of them, carbine, std 22XLR and the 22 mag XLR and the. He knew his 22's!! I have a safe full of them that were passed to me when he passed away about 9 years ago. Most are like new.
Probably my favorite is a pump he had when he was a kid living on a farm in West Texas. It traveled on a tractor with him daily shooting jack rabbits and such. It is about worn out due to the dust collected on it while on those jaunts. They did not have cab tractors back in the 1930's (LOL).
Neat thing on about all these vintage 22's is that there are NO stamped metal parts in them. All machined. They would be pretty expensive to make today.
A lot like the Browning auto 5 shotgun and the original Winchester super X 1 and model 12 all machined made parts. Far more expensive to make than the current plastic fantastic guns of today.
These 22's will be my sons when I pass on.

EZ

The last new one I sold was to the head of the West Lane Forest Protective Association in Lane ounty Oregon(1964). I sold it for $92.50 and lost about two dollars on it.

Because of the shrunken value of the $U.S. since then, that would translate to about $925 of today's money even if they had no collectors premium added at all.

Today, the gun in question is mint condition will fetch around $1200 to even as much as $2000 with hang tags and box..Average sale price of a nice one in 85 to 95% oal is $900 to a $1000 if you shop.