A couple of Winchesters

[Bill Zachow]

In my opinion, the model 61 was the finest pump 22 Winchester made. Even better than the model 90s that I also love. I have 3. The neatest is a pre war in 22 shot. Looks just like a mini model 12. Great guns.

[Cold Spring]

I've owned a few Model 61's and like them, but have long remembered watching the gunsmith at the Argonaut Gun Shop in Modesto CA while he was setting back a 61 barrel. He told me that the angled section of the breech where the extractor rests when bolt is in battery, will deform into the chamber over VERY LONG use. Just passing along a vignette from when my bride and I were transferred to CA; that was well before modern microtig welding was developed.