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April 29, 2024
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So was looking at purchasing this 1955model 70 on gunbroker but question is …..it is listed as a 300 winmag ( but pre 63 release date) could it be a 300 H&H that had “H&H” milled off and “W” put on ?
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June 1, 2023
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Only casting the chamber can solve this mystery. A goodly number of the 300 H&H magnums were converted to 300 Weatherby magnum as well. Obviously, for safety’s sake, I would not fire it before having a gunsmith determine what the rifle is now chambered to shoot. This is not a matter I would take someone else’s word for.
BRP
August 25, 2009
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I will agree with Tim that a chamber casting is the smart thing to do
That being said I have purchased three M70s over time that were originally 300 H&H that had been rechambered to 300 WBY.
Other may correct me here but to get it to 300 WIN MAG would require shortening the chamber and then reaming to 300 WM.
A quick test would be to chamber a 300HH cartridge, If it chambers it is likely HH if it doesent ….??
The script of the “W” looks somewhat Weatherby ish.
Doug
November 5, 2014
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Hi Uplander-
Is there a link to the GB listing?
Odds are that the “W” stands for “Weatherby” and that it’s a rechambered 300 H&H Magnum. The 300 Winchester Magnum was not released until 1963. A photo of the top of the action would tell if it’s an H&H action or not. If it’s not an H&H action, then it may have been a standard action converted to short magnum. But those were usually done either by rechambering a 30-06 barrel (that was marked “30-06 SPFLD”) or by putting a 1963 barrel in 300 WIN MAGNUM on a converted standard action.
This barrel “300 XXX MAGNUM” was once marked “300 H&H MAGNUM” in style 3C. Too long a cartridge to convert to 300 Winchester Magnum.
Best,
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
November 7, 2015
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Just looking at the relative case dimensions the H&H conversion to the Weatherby cartridge, Lou’s theory makes the most sense. The 300 Winchester Magnum uses a shorter cartridge case and OAL than the 300 H&H. The WBY case and OAL are longer than the H&H, it’s easier to make a chamber longer than to make it shorter. A bore scope may give you a few clues but a chamber cast and/or Go/No go gauges would tell you what you are looking at. Seller may not know what he has.
Mike
January 20, 2023
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A chamber cast will not only tell to what cartridge the gunsmith (hopefully) tried to rechamber the barrel but how successful he was at the job.
If the barrel is original to the rifle and the receiver is a pre-64 Model 70 showing the milling marks in the bridge and ring indicating it was a 300 Holland when it left New Haven, almost certainly the chamber was reamed to at least approximate a 300 Weatherby Magnum chamber.
There are things to know about that job only a chamber cast can tell you. First, how close are the dimensions to the SAAMI standard for the cartridge. Weatherby was at one time NOT a SAAMI cartridge and different gunsmiths had varying ideas about how much or how little freebore would be a good idea. Not all gunsmiths bothered to pay for the custom reamer that would cut the radiused Weatherby shoulder.
If you buy this rifle, before you fire a current factory 300 Weatherby Magnum – or any other – round in it, you absolutely must have a chamber cast made and measured.
With all due respect for the Model 70, of which I own and shoot several, it is NOT a Weatherby Mark V and will not handle 60,000+ psi gas escaping from a burst brass case very safely.
Your eyes are worth far more than the price of a chamber cast. I can get one for less than a hundred bucks. Yours may be more or less. But factor it into the price of the gun.
Speaking only for myself, I would not buy the gun without an agreement to rescind if the chamber should be weird as cut. If you are going to buy a pig in a poke, get a warranty of the pig’s breed.
- 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.
July 17, 2012
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I am certainly not as eloquent as Zebulon Esquire but agree with his premise. In my Engineering “if-then” statement layman’s terms; “If you are going to buy a pig-in-a-poke, then poke the pig.”
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
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