Log In
Members
Home
Add Reply
Add Topic
Offline
About ten years ago, I bought from a fella in Ohio a NIB Winchester Model 70 chambered in 300 H&H Magnum . The rifle has one of the most magnificent stocks ever on a factory Winchester, far surpassing any Super Grade rifle I’ve seen. According to the seller, he bought the rifle in 1988 from Wammes Gun Shop in downtown Bellefontaine, OH. Supposedly, Wammes often worked with gun manufactures, notably Winchester and Colt, to produce special runs of firearms specifically for sale in its Ohio store. According to the seller, that was the case with a a run of Models 70 XTR in 300 H&H Mag Winchester did for Wammes in 1988.
I’ve heard several versions of the story surrounding this run of rifles. One version has it that Winchester was producing a run of XTR Models 70 in 300 H&H and Wammes asked them to turn out some in “Safari Grade” with exceptionally figured walnut stocks. Another version claimed Wammes commissioned a run of 300 XTR rifles in 300 H&H, 200 Standard Grade sporters and 100 Safari Grade examples. Both examples periodically come up on the auction side, often from owners in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and other nearby states.
I’m hoping one of you experts, maybe someone from Ohio familiar with Wammes (now defunct) or who knows about this special run, can reveal the gospel on these 1988 Winchester Model 70 XTR rifles chambered in 300 H&H. I heard one of the popular gun magazines, maybe Guns & Ammo, published an article on these rifles, but an Internet search failed to turn up anything. Thanks in advance for any leads or information.
This topic is of more than passing interest to me.
The label on the end of your NIB 300 H&H may shed a bit more light on this, as it might tell you what USRAC actually called the rifle you have.
I have another rifle that must be kin folk to yours. It is a Model 70 XTR Sporter in 300 H&H that is in a Featherweight stock (with the schnable fore end) and a “Super Grade” marking on the floor plate. I bought it about 20 years ago from Lewis Yearout, a former WACA board member. I truly don’t know if the rifle started out life in its present configuration, but Mr. Yearout insisted it was entirely correct. Here are a few pics:
FWIW, another Model 70 chambered for 300 H&H sold on Gunbroker last week. That rifle is just 13 numbers after my rifle above. That suggests that USRAC made these uncatalogued 300 H&H rifles in a batch of unknown quantity. Here is a link to that auction:
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1075333037
I would love to hear from others what they might know or think about these rifles.
BRP
G1891950
BRP, thanks for your post. I’ve been tracking these rifles for quite some time and yours is the first featherweight I’ve seen. My rifle came off the assembly line about 20,000 ahead of yours. Hopefully, someone can shed a little light on what we have.
BTW, here’s a link to a current auction: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1077867798 The wood on this rifle is very similar to mine, but I can’t tell if the rifle up for auction has a close serial number. You’ll note this rifle is also currently in Ohio.
The box for my rifle is in storage, so I’ll have to spend some time digging it out.
Thanks again for your post.
I also have my 300 H&H’s near twin, chambered in 300 Winchester Magnum. I recently saw another rifle from the same time frame, with the same basic configuration, in 7mm Rem. Mag. All these rifles have 24″ barrels, as opposed to the normal 22″ barrels of the Featherweight, and all were in Magnum calibers (Nice light rifles to carry, but brutal to shoot!)
I suspect there are some very interesting uncatalogued offerings from USRAC still lurking out there. I still kick myself for not buying a Model 70 Featherweight made by USRAC in 6mm Remington, that was absolutely NEW with the box confirming all details. That one haunts me still…
Here are a few gratuitous gun porn pics of the near twins.
All the best—
BRP
Online
The Model 70 was offered in .300 H&H Magnum in the late 1980s. The first batch were made a little different from the Sporter style available at that time. Then perhaps two years later the .300H&H Mag was offered in the regular Sporter style. These were not special order guns. But, they were very limited production rifles. I ordered one for my Friend back then from Jerry’s Sporting Goods, out of Pa. Back in the 1990s I ordered a Custom Model 70 for another of my friends. I talked to Bruno Pardee, who was in charge of the custom shop. He told me that they only made a couple hundred new Model 70s in .300 H&H Magnum.
I went through my old Winchester (USRAC) catalogs, and found just two mentions of the 300 H&H Magnum Model 70 rifles.
First, from a 1989 Dealer price list, the 300 H&H is listed in two configurations: one with sights and one without, listed as “NEW” for ’89. Here is that page:
Second, the 300 H&H shows up as a regular cataloged item for one year, in 1992. Here is the relevant bit of the 1992 catalog:
It also appears that there were other uncatalogued offerings of the 300 H&H, as Fairlane*66 has mentioned. I have encountered several mysterious Model 70 offerings from USRAC that never were listed in their catalog.
BRP
1 Guest(s)
