I noticed a forearm anchor screw in the photo, as was the norm pre war and immediately post war. [a la early Pre 64 Model 70's] I am betting it was not built by said Mr. Hughes. JFL
Nice observation there Mr. Linden- I have a 1939 Super Grade M70 in .270Win that my late father bought new and passed to me, and it has this same feature-I feel that the best of the pre-64 Winchesters were also the pre-WW11- better wood available, and assmeblers and Dave Carlson's Custom Shop crew could work to closer tolerances- 5 years of producing M-1 Garands, some 1903's, BAR's etc- the workers became accustomed to greater tolerances, and that may have carried over in post-War production as well- I also have a Std. Grade M70 in 30-06 mfg in 1948 (Rule's book serial number tables) and I way prefer the std. grades with 24" barrels in non-magnum calibers made before 1952 and the changed from single hook cutter rifling with lead lapping to the brooching as first tried on the M70 Featherweight-
My 1903 is a NM and armory built as a sniper rifle for the Korean conflict- I know this because my CO at Quantico allowed me to purchase it from his personal collection of over 200 military rifles- it is a 4 groove Star gauged barrel and is a flat out "Dinger" now with a Timney trigger instead of the "as issued" two-stage trigger-