Gentlemen,
I was curious myself so I contacted a noted Winchester collector and researcher, Bert Hartman. Below is his answer.
Art
The answer is a bit complicated, but here goes.
The first use of that type butt plate was on the Model 1887 lever-action shotgun... not the Model 1886 rifle. In fact, Winchester never used a checkered steel butt plate on the Model 1886, instead a smooth steel butt plate was used or a checkered black hard rubber plate was used.
The second model to use the checkered steel plate was the Model 1897, circa 1903. It was exclusively used for several years, then intermittently until 1915.
Then in January of 1933, Winchester exclusively used it for the brand new Model 64 lever, and in 1936, on both the Model 70 bolt-action, and the Model 71 lever-action.
I have not had the opportunity to compare each of the various Models side-by-side to determine if or how much of a difference exists in the size or contour of the butt plates, but it would not surprise if several of the Models used the exact same size plate.
If you would like, cut & paste this information into the post on doubleguns with my name attached.
Regards,
Bert Hartman
