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April 15, 2005
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Louis Luttrell said
Hi Bill-
I’m in about the same boat… One of the two M70 Super Grades in 22 HORNET that I’ve decided to keep is a 1950 rifle my that Dad bought from the original purchaser. It has literally had about half a box of ammo through it. The seller included two boxes of vintage 22 Hornet ammo with the gun, one half empty; the missing shells representing the total number of rounds he’d fired through the gun…
Anyway… It came with a Lyman 48WJS with target knobs installed. I know for a fact that the owner put it there b/c the sale also included the original box the sight came in. Just like Winchester’s assessment above that lead to their discontinuation of the 48WJS option…
I like the gun… You’d be hard pressed to find one in better condition. But the receiver sight is not factory original to the gun. I don’t care…
But it does still have the original Redfield 254…Best,
Lou
Lou,
That rifle is screaming for a ream job and a nice Unertl Small Game scope
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
January 20, 2023
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Bert, I knew mention of the word “Hornet” would find you here. That is a mighty fine-looking Super Grade, particularly with the Flash Gordon ray gun on top for back up.
I would guess the idea of drilling and tapping the barrel of an otherwise pristine Super Grade would cause Lou to lose sphincter control, although, if the deed were already done, he and I would fight over who got to buy it.
A while ago I was looking for a VG condition Weatherby Supreme (the ones made by Hertel & Reuss) for an early Mark V project rifle. I ran across an outfit that will restore and modernize the old external adjusting Unertl varmint scopes, multi-coat all the lenses, fill the tube with inertia gas and seal it. I’m sure it’s not cheap but nce to think a fine, vintage varmint rig can still stay in the field.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
November 5, 2014
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Hi Bert-
I know it will appall you, but I once converted a 1948 (Type II) M70 Standard rifle from 22 K Hornet BACK to 22 Hornet… 
I should have just “gifted” the rifle to you!!!
The original barrel was never marked for the rechamber, it still only said “22 HORNET”. But I promise you that if you shot it (I did) you would extract perfectly fire formed K Hornet brass… I ended up getting a nice clean original ’47 date barrel from a M70 22 Hornet that was missing it’s bolt (!!!) and swapped them. As usual there were no headspace issues.
If I were to own a K Hornet, it would have to be one like yours, i.e. converted by Kilbourn himself!!!
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
April 15, 2005
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Louis Luttrell said
Hi Bert-If I were to own a K Hornet, it would have to be one like yours, i.e. converted by Kilbourn himself!!!
Lou
Lou,
That was definitely the “icing on the cake” for me, and the only reason I bought a repeater! 
I am still chasing 22 Hornet Winchester rifles… just lost out in a recent auction for an R.F. Sedgley Winchester Single shot rifle (apparently somebody wanted it more than I did).
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
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