Looking for correct scope base (1-piece) for Pre-64 Winchester Model 70 "Featherweight" in .30-06|Winchester Rifles|Forum|Winchester Collector

You should have no problem finding these on eBay, Gun Broker, etc.  Redfield style base should fit your needs.  Burris, and Leupold make the same style mount.  I always preferred the two piece style myself.  A little more room for loading.

TXGunNut said
I like the clean look of a Redfield one piece base but they can be a PITA to install.

Due to misalignment of screw holes?  Only ones I’ve had were 3-screw attachment on 70s.

Pretty sure I have a couple, let me check. Do you need more than one?

clarence said

TXGunNut said

I like the clean look of a Redfield one piece base but they can be a PITA to install.

Due to misalignment of screw holes?  Only ones I’ve had were 3-screw attachment on 70s.

  

No, IIRC the trick was to get the front ring seated in properly (many Bubbas used the fragile scope tube for this task!) and then getting the rear screws organized to center the rear ring. I don’t recall any alignment issues but I suppose the rear screws could be used to correct situations where more windage adjustment was needed. My 670 had a Redfield mount but I went through a lot of cheap scopes in those days and James was always willing, if not eager, to install them for me. I installed dozens, if not hundreds, of scopes for his customers but I would generally fumble around long enough for him to push me aside to do it. 😉 He finally convinced me to toss the one piece mount into my parts box but I still like the clean look. We lost James to Leukemia in his early sixties several years ago.

Mike

Before I got a set of Brownell’s pointed alignment rods, I kept a length of 1″ hardwood dowel in my toolbox to rotate the forward ring into approximate congruence with the bore.  

By the time I was able to afford something “better” than two piece aluminum Weaver bases. Buehler was no longer top dog and my first rotary dovetail base was a Leupold, which is still my top choice unless I want a QC mechanism.

It wasn’t until I started assembling a period correct scope and mount for a vintage, Sauer-built Mark V Weatherby 7mm Magnum that I became intimately acquainted with the Buehler version of a rotary dovetail mount. Boy, there were sure a lot of pieces!  The dovetail ball and socket were small and were locked together by a small, blade-headed set screw. In fact, all, the ring screws were blade-headed.  Very nicely machined and finished, the rings could be had in split form or ssolid.im surprised they sold for as little as they did, even adjusted for inflation. 

(To finish the story, I found a clean Imperial 2.5X 10X variable for the rifle, the bright yellow Claro Walnut stock of which features  butt-to-forearm cap, dark brown tigertail stripes.  No ivory inlays of  Diana riding a Cape Buffalo but it is still about as inconspicuous as a four alarm fire. An in-your-face, “I gotcha classic design right heah, pal!” specimen of California outrageousness. Shoots good.)

I recall the 670’s well deserved reputation for accuracy. While the early post-63 Model 70 action was derided as “cheap”, the new rifles employing it shot decidedly better out of the box than the pre-64 versions, according to experienced rifleman who evaluated them at the range and in the field, whose reports were published in Gun Digest. 

For some reason, the 670 delivered more accuracy than the 70.  I believe WRA killed the 670 because its marketing department feared it was [urinating] in the soup, just like the Remington 788. 

Of course, all of the above are (or were) designed and produced as hunting rifles, not rifles for high power competition or benchrest, or for hyper serious varmint hunting, even in the smaller calibers. Until relatively recently, any big game rifle that could consistently deliver two minutes of angle groups was considered satisfactory — and most hunters still can’t hold that close without a rest. 

So, although it’s fun and satisfying to own a rifle that will shoot .99″ groups instead of 1.5′ groups (and why are we doing this if not for fun?), either is more than capable of serving as a good game rifle. I’d do better to spend the cash on a boatload of practice ammo and plenty of offhand shooting practice. 

I’ve never had the experience of a once-in-lifetime, guided hunt costing more than my truck. If a genie came out of my bottle of Coke Zero (r) and offered me a 30-day guided Ellk hunt in the Absaroka Range, out of an abundance of caution i’d likely ask for a half-minute rifle as part of the deal (along with an assistant guide to carry it, my oxygen bottle, and an Li powered defibrillator.)