...und im gleichen Forum (thehighroad.org) bin ich auf den nachstehenden Beitrag gestossen:
The Classics were made 1992-2006. They are every bit as good as any Pre-64. In fact I'd rate the early ones BETTER than the Pre-64's built from WW-2 until 1963. Only the Pre WW-2 70's were truly great rifles. Winchester quality didn't just drop suddenly in 1964. The rifles were in decline by the 1950's. The 1964-1980 Pushfeed rifles were spotty for sure. Winchester reorganized in 1980 and the 1981-2000 guns were VERY good guns, even the pushfeed versions.
The CRF Classic came out in 1992 and is a near copy of the pre 64, but better built. There are some very minor design changes. It became the top end Winchester, but they still produced the push feed version of the 70 as their budget rifles until 2006.
If you can find a Classic made prior to 2000 you are pretty much guaranteed an excellent rifle. They have 6 digit Serial Numbers. I've heard that some may have 5 digits, but cannot confirm that. Those with 7 digit SN's were made after 2000. Production ended in 2006. Those made after 2000 were generally pretty good too, but the closer you get to a 2006 production rifle the greater the odds are of a lemon. It's not like all of them are bad. The good ones made after 2000 are as good as the earlier ones. Just more with issues.
There were no Winchesters built 2006-2008, and only a handful in 2008. Full production didn't start up until about 2010. They were made by FN in their SC factory. Production is now in Portugal. The new FN rifles are in my opinion just as good as the Classics with one caveat. They changed the trigger. The old style trigger is as simple and rugged as possible and on a hard use rifle I prefer it. The new trigger is smoother and lighter out of the box, but less desirable on a rifle meant for harsh duty.
There are no accurate online sources for SN's that I've ever found. But here are some for reference that may help on some of my Classics
G148XXX 1994 Classic
G824XXX 1999 Classic
G2462XXX 2006 Classic
All are SS Classics, the
1999 30-06 rifle is the only one I still own and is a great rifle. The 1994 rifle was a Featherweight and I just didn't like it as well as the 1999 Sporter. The 2006 rifle wasn't the same quality, but was acceptable. It was in 300 WSM and I just didn't need a magnum.
Meine Classic Featherweight stammt demnach aus Mitte der 90er.