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I recently acquired a Model 70 in 22-250 caliber. The serial number has a “G” prior to the numerals which start as 866xxx, so 1966? Given the high grade walnut used for the stock, would this have been a Winchester custom build? The barrel is also bedded, but I assume this would have been done by the previous owner.
G885006 Serial#.
The partial serial number you provided indicates that it is a 1967 production rifle. That stated, the “G” prefix was not used until late 1968.
Your pictures did not post.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert H. said
The partial serial number you provided indicates that it is a 1967 production rifle. That stated, the “G” prefix was not used until late 1968.Your pictures did not post.
Bert
See my first post. Sorry I had the serial number wrong. So I assume it’s a 1968 then?
Pictures should work now.
Redbird said
Bert H. said
The partial serial number you provided indicates that it is a 1967 production rifle. That stated, the “G” prefix was not used until late 1968.
Your pictures did not post.
Bert
See my first post. Sorry I had the serial number wrong. So I assume it’s a 1968 then?
Pictures should work now.
Your pictures links still do not work.
S/N 885006 does put it in the year 1968.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert H. said
Redbird said
Bert H. said
The partial serial number you provided indicates that it is a 1967 production rifle. That stated, the “G” prefix was not used until late 1968.
Your pictures did not post.
Bert
See my first post. Sorry I had the serial number wrong. So I assume it’s a 1968 then?
Pictures should work now.
Your pictures links still do not work.
S/N 885006 does put it in the year 1968.
Bert
I had to read the FAQ to figure out how to post my images, lol.
I very much doubt that the stock is factory original.
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert H. said
I very much doubt that the stock is factory original.
Thank you. So someone made it to duplicate a deluxe factory original stock then. It has hand cut checkering duplicating model 70 pattern, and the pistol grip cap in wood stained black, as well as the forearm tip Wood stained black, with the white spacers. Barrel length is 22″.
Redbird said
Bert H. said
I very much doubt that the stock is factory original.
Thank you. So someone made it to duplicate a deluxe factory original stock then. It has hand cut checkering duplicating model 70 pattern, and the pistol grip cap in wood stained black, as well as the forearm tip Wood stained black, with the white spacers. Barrel length is 22″.
There were a fair number companies that specifically made replacement stocks for Winchester Model 70 rifles. The Model 70 stocks that Winchester manufactured after the year 1963 did not have hand cut checkering like the pre-1964 rifles, and many aftermarket stock makers profited from that fact.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015
Offline
Awesome wood! Someone built what they wished Winchester would build. Nicely done!
Mike
Bert, recognizing that the post-63 Winchester Model 70 was introduced with impressed checkering, which endured until about 1972 when CNC machine cut checkering returned in a more sophisticated form, isn’t it true that in the last years of the pre-64 Model 70, beginning about 1959 [or whatever year the Model 70 stock was flattened at wrist and forearm to accommodate the new checkering machines], to the end of production in 1963, Model 70 stocks were machine checkered, not hand checkered? I suppose there could have been some hand cleanup.
Although it is probably only a matter of interest to me and three other guys in the known Universe, I believe my 1980 vintage Model 70 African was hand checkered by the outside shop contracted by WRA to make its stock, something of an anomaly at the time. It is essentially the same stock pattern as on the original African, down to the solid red pad, black forearm tip, Super Grade swivel bases, “Super Grade” marked floorplate, and capped pistol grip, the inletting being cut slightly differently for the post-63 action.
- 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.
Zebulon said
Bert, recognizing that the post-63 Winchester Model 70 was introduced with impressed checkering, which endured until about 1972 when CNC machine cut checkering returned in a more sophisticated form, isn’t it true that in the last years of the pre-64 Model 70, beginning about 1959 [or whatever year the Model 70 stock was flattened at wrist and forearm to accommodate the new checkering machines], to the end of production in 1963, Model 70 stocks were machine checkered, not hand checkered? I suppose there could have been some hand cleanup.
You are asking the wrong person… I highly recommend redirecting this question to Lou or Steve.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert H. said
Zebulon said
Bert, recognizing that the post-63 Winchester Model 70 was introduced with impressed checkering, which endured until about 1972 when CNC machine cut checkering returned in a more sophisticated form, isn’t it true that in the last years of the pre-64 Model 70, beginning about 1959 [or whatever year the Model 70 stock was flattened at wrist and forearm to accommodate the new checkering machines], to the end of production in 1963, Model 70 stocks were machine checkered, not hand checkered? I suppose there could have been some hand cleanup.
You are asking the wrong person… I highly recommend redirecting this question to Lou or Steve.
Bert
Hey Lou and Steve!! Need a little help here…
- 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.
Some extra images of my Model 70 stock. Hard to believe it’s not a Winchester piece. I assume if this is so, it would not de value the firearm?
Sorry for the blurred images.
Several years after According to Fjestad’s Blue Book, contemporaneously with the introduction of the post-63 Model 70 in 1964, Winchester did offer a deluxe version of the rifle that resembles your rifle, although how closely I can’t say. It featured higher grade Walnut, a high gloss finish, a forearm cap installed on a slant, and white line spacers. If I can find any images of the deluxe version. I’ll post them here.
Note: It may just be bad memory but I don’t recall the Deluxe being first catalogued in 1964. I thought it was later. When I get my library back, I’ll look at Henshaw et al. for more reliable detail.
- 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.
It would be helpful if you could post a full length image of the whole rifle.
- 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.
Here’s a Blue Book image of the Model 70 Deluxe, according to the text of which was offered from 1964 through 1971, although, again according to BBGV, never in 22-250 as a factory chambering. 
Factory literature for the Deluxe says the stock is hand checkered.
- 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.
Redbird said
Some extra images of my Model 70 stock. Hard to believe it’s not a Winchester piece. I assume if this is so, it would not de value the firearm?Sorry for the blurred images.
OK, looking through several catalogs, the stock on your Model 70 is a factory piece, but not original to your rifle. Because it has two cross bolts, it was originally made for a Model 70 Magnum rifle. Winchester introduced the stock design that is one your rifle in the year 1966. The Standard and Varmint models had a single cross bolt, and the Magnum modes had two cross bolts.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Zebulon said
Here’s a Blue Book image of the Model 70 Deluxe, according to the text of which was offered from 1964 through 1971, although, again according to BBGV, never in 22-250 as a factory chambering.Factory literature for the Deluxe says the stock is hand checkered.
Thanks for your input Bill. I truly appreciate that! The rifle had a high gloss blued black finish. Unfortunately there was an area near the muzzle where the blueing was worn. So at present, I have everything disassembled and inspecting and cleaning all components.
That’s the most spectacular factory Walnut I’ve seen on a Winchester Model 70 Deluxe, ever. They are not all that commonly seen, at least in North Texas, but that is surely not a run of the mine piece of stump. If you look at the presentation rifles John Olin was handing out, that is the grade wood you would see on them.
There’s surely a story behind that rifle. Bert’s pointing out it was originally on the magnum variant makes it even more interesting. You might want to closely examine the stock inletting and the barreled action to see if there might be matching assembly numbers,or non-matching.
- 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.
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