Class IV, Special Order in .375 H&H Value?|Winchester Rifles|Forum|Winchester Collector

James-

Photos would help, as would the serial number.  Type I, II or III M70 action?  Is the receiver bridge drilled?

By way of comparison, consider the following rifle that sold November 2014 (photo is courtesy of Amoskeag Auction).  I’m sorry if the resolution is poor, it’s the best I can do right now:

This is a 1948 Type II-1 375 MAGNUM Standard SN 77043 with factory installed Lyman 48WJS.  Metal condition about 99%, wood about 98%.  The rifle belonged to vicvanb and was one of the M70s he sold via Amoskeag Auction.  As you describe, the rifle has no D&T holes in the barrel to mount the sight base that would have held a Lyman 6W dual folding leaf sight.  The 25″ C-1 contour barrels used for 375 H&H Magnums after 1939 did not have a “goose egg” with dovetail for the rear sight.

In any event, I won this lot for a hammer price of $3500 (plus the 15% Premium), so figure I paid $4025 for it.  (Laugh all you want, I was looking for a type II 375 MAGNUM and this one is very nice.  So I don’t feel bad…)

FWIW, I do not believe that the absence of D&T holes on the barrels of M70 375 MAGNUMs made before 1950 constitutes a “special order” feature.  Some number of the barrels intended for a rifle with factory Lyman 48WJS receiver sight were not drilled.  I also have an early type I-3 M70 375 MAGNUM with the 24″ straight taper barrel and factory 48WJS that is neither drilled nor dovetailed.

Hope this helps,

Lou

James-

Thank you for the photos.

From what I can see, this is a type III-1 375 H&H MAGNUM SN about 183584 (1951 production).  At this date the bridge should be factory drilled (as it appears to be).  A smooth undrilled bridge on type III H&H MAGNUM length actions can be found into 1950 or so (an oddity in M70 production).  But your rifle is ‘safely’ in the range where the holes are factory.  

The barrel appears to be standard for the 375 H&H MAGNUM C-1 contour (should be 25″ length).  There are two D&T holes on top pf the barrel.  These are in the correct location and would have secured the base block for a Lyman 6W sight.  (What I was talking about yesterday was a 375 MAGNUM barrel missing those two holes, not just missing the sight/base).    

FWIW, my impression is that the bolt body/extractor have been non-factory polished (or plated) and the barrel may or may not have been reblued.  The barrel looks over polished but a lot of those early 50s barrels look “too polished” to me so I wouldn’t want to judge.  Are the barrel/receiver proof marks sharp and can you still read the SN on the bottom of the bolt?

On the face of it, I would not consider this to be a “collector” M70, but an excellent vintage shooter (assuming the rest of the stock looks like the parts in the photos and the solid red rubber Winchester recoil pad is clean).  The Lyman Alaskan in contemporary mount is a nice bonus.

As far as value?  The 375 H&H MAGNUM is not a particularly rare chambering, with about 14000 made, but it’s not a 30-06 or 270 either.  If the bolt modifications are non-factory (as I suspect), then I’d say $2000-2250 range??????????  

Just my opinion…

Lou