M-71 Deluxe Question****Pictures Added****

[Windjammer]

I have a M-71 Deluxe made in 1946. It has a Pachmayr Recoil pad. I don't know if it was factory installed or not.

Are there any of you that could tell from a picture?

Pictures Added

[Gun Smith]

I know that Winchester did put on recoil pads at the factory. I'm not sure that they were marked Pachmayr though. Let me check my books.

[Gun Smith]

My book says some of the recoil pads put on M.71's were made by Pachmayr. It doesn't say how they were marked. So it could be a factory job or gunsmith installation depending on how the pads were marked.

[big bear]

What book gives the information about factory installed recoil pads on Model 71? thanks for the info.

[Kansas Ed]

Madis notes under a picture of a 20" Mod 71 Carbine:

This is the shorter version of the model 71 with a 20 inch barrel. A rubber recoil pad was fitted by the factory. Four shot magazines such as on this rifle are standard. Open rear sights, number 22K, were usually furnished , as were ramp front sights. Pachmayr made recoil pads for Winchester, and some of their pads will be found on the model 71.

The photo they show, is a photo of a carbine with thick recoil pad from the side which is "vented" if you will with diamond shaped "vents" through the pad from side to side.

That is the only thing that Madis has to say about recoil pads on the 71.

Perhaps a more lucrative question is whether anyone else will believe that the recoil pad is original. I mean, you could have Teddy Roosevelts tooth brush but if you can't get anyone else to believe you, or you can't prove it, then all you end up with is a used toothbrush...get my drift?

Ed

[Windjammer]

That's exactly how mine looks........I will try to make a couple pictures of it.

[Gun Smith]

Kansas Ed's statement is the place where my info came from.
If it had been a red Winchester pad in that picture it would be solid, no grid or ribs. The pad in his book looks like a Pachmyr pad from the side. You might assume that, (in the picture), the pad said Pachmyr on it, but that would only be a guess.
If it was installed at the factory and the buttstock has NOT been refinished since, a factory installed pad will be a perfect fit since the stock would be finished AFTER the pad was fitted. A later ('smith) installed pad might not fit as perfectly. That may be a way to determine if it is a factory job.
Gun Broker auction # 129439427 shows a red Winchester pad installed. The pad does not appear to fit very well, and it may be an after delivery 'smith job itself.

[Windjammer]

Here are pictures of the recoil pad

[Gun Smith]

On the side view there appears to be scuff marks on the stock. If these are scuffs this pad was 'smith installed. The Winchester inspector would not have passed that. Also the plastic part of the pad has curved marks on it. They come from a disc sander. I installed hundreds of pads with a disc sander and those marks are typical.

[Mike D.]

That "appears" to be a vintage 1950s Pachmayer pad, but possibly too late to have come with the 1946 Model 71. Interesting, that's my birth year.