Which is older a Winchester 72 or 72a?

I can say that the Winchester model 72,and 72A were made from 1938-1943(40,566) were made and after World War II another 120,434 rifles were made from 1946-1949.The only difference in the 2 rifles were that the model 72A had a swept back bolt handle and some minor internal improvements.Winchester did not serial number these rifles and keep records of production,other than what I have stated.Both models were produced at the same time,but the original model 72 was made first for a few years.The answer is the model 72.