Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a 1939 Winchester Model 65 in .218 Bee – one of the most interesting cartridge experiments of the pre-war era that never quite lived up to its potential. Winchester introduced the .218 Bee in 1938 as a high-velocity varmint round, necking down the old .25-20 case to accept a .224 bullet. The idea was giving farmers and ranchers a flat-shooting cartridge for pest control that could reach out further than rimfires. On paper, it made sense – velocities around 2,800 fps with a 46-grain bullet gave legitimate 200-yard performance.
Reality proved more complicated. The .218 Bee was temperamental about bullet selection and notoriously difficult to reload accurately. The bottleneck design caused feeding issues in lever actions, and the small case capacity made it sensitive to powder charges. Worst of all, it arrived just as World War II shut down sporting ammunition production.
This 1939 Model 65 shows typical pre-war quality – 95% original blue, factory peep sight setup with the upper tang drilled and tapped, and the short “button” magazine. The hooded front sight and bolt-mounted peep rear were serious varmint hunting features. The .218 Bee limped along until 1963 when Winchester discontinued it. By then, the .222 Remington and .223 had proven that bolt actions were the future of varmint shooting. Winchester’s attempt to keep lever actions relevant in the precision varmint market – decent concept, wrong platform, terrible timing.
Most of our POTDs utilize images from our friends at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse their current auctions – who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!
“Pre-World War II Winchester Model 65 Rifle in .218 Bee.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4095/1057/preworld-war-ii-winchester-model-65-rifle-in-218-bee. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
Writer | TheFirearmBlog
Writer | AllOutdoor.com Instagram | sfsgunsmith Old soul, certified gunsmith, published author, avid firearm history learner, and appreciator of old and unique guns.
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