Model 70 - 22Hornet|Page 2|Winchester Rifles|Forum|Winchester Collector

Bert H. said

Chuck said

Zebulon said
Anybody who calls himself a Winchester collector and sneers at a nice 1955 Super Grade 30/06 is a moron with no real understanding of our hobby.. Like a corpse, he’s unpleasant to be around and probably smells bad. He just doesn’t know it. 
  

Zeb, you talking about me again?
  

If the shoe fits… you know the rest of that story!
  

Chuck,  I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer but I know better than to offend a guy who regularly engages targets at a thousand yards. The morons I had in mind were those who denigrated Bo’s decision to buy a nice M70 Super Grade chambered in 30/06. Apparently because it was too common.  

As the late, celebrated “Mr. Rifleman” — Colonel Townsend Whelen – famously wrote, “The 30/06 is almost never a mistake.”  It’s not the ideal varmint rifle but anybody who has actually loaded up some 90 grain frangible bullets and shot them at pests might just disagree with you. It is no elephant gun but it has killed some and Cape buffalo, too. Anything in between is pretty fair game for it. 

Why did I know they would be M1s? 

You know, it’s a funny thing but I’ve never hung onto any of the several 270 rifles I’ve bought, although I like the cartridge and have taken several deer with it ( and the 280 Rem as well.) I think that’s so for two reasons.

First, because with me it’s the gun rather than the cartridge that’s uppermost in my mind. Of the four pre-64 Model 70 rifles I’ve owned, the 1950 Super Grade ’06 and the Nagel-built 22 Varminter are in best condition, whereas the 1951 270 Standard i let go was a little scruffy. The fourth one was the Featherweight ’06 I restored and wrote about in the Collector. I sold it only because my hunting partner was drooling on it so bad it was rusting.  And I still had the Super Grade ’06 plus my serious stand hunting rifle, a1962 Browning  High Power 30/06 with an old Leupold 6×40 heavy reticle scope,  the multi-stepped, flea weight barrel of which somebody had previously free-floated and glassed, rendering it uncollectable but much more accurate.

Second, because, for what deer and hog hunting I can afford to do and am still physically able to do, caliber doesn’t mean much.

The 270 would do anything I need done and more I can’t. My nephew killed a 400 pound feral hog with a single round of Winchester 150 grain Power Point through both shoulders – for those who think a 270 or the old low-cost Power Point have insufficient penetration. With 100 grain, plain old Speer HotCor bullets it will do things to a big coyote at 300 yards you can’t talk about in mixed company. 

The closest thing to a 270 I almost kept was a Kimber of Oregon BGR Fearherweight .280 Remington (.284 to .277 is insignificant.) It was a stunningly beautiful rifle (illustrations). I took several deer at, for me, long range, and 4 Rio Grande turkeys at 150 to 200 yards with reduced SR4759 loads. Problem was, relatively few Featherweights were made compared to Super America grades and fewer still in 280. A serious gent in what West Texans call the  “Awl Bid’ness” made me an offer my Scottish ancestors would not let me refuse.

So this thread started out about the .22 Hornet and now we’re talking about .270’s.  My gosh but I love this place!

To start with I didn’t have anything to say as I’ve never owned a .22 Hornet. Now the .270 WCF – yes, more than one.  Also, I’ve had a .270 Weatherby, .270 Ackley Magnum and a .270 Gibbs (which was one-half of a switch barrel rifle – the other barrel was a .280 A.I.).  All fine cartridges that would do anything (within reason) quite nicely.  

Chuck, I’m impressed. 

Parson,  I’m hesitant to use the word “karma” in connection with  small bore rifles, although the late Bill Coffin could probably have squeezed the idea in. 

BRP…  I will volunteer to hold your wallet to keep you from making impulse purchases in the future.  I’m offering to do this out of the goodness of my heart during this wonderful “giving season”.  🙂   Merry Christmas my friend!

Blue Ridge Parson said

Chuck said
Zeb, take a second look at the serial numbers for the M1’s. Especially the 2 on the right.  
  

Love the consecutive serial numbers!
I have two pair of Winchester 52 rifles with consecutive serial numbers, and always think, “What are the odds that I would end up with two pair of rifles that I purchased decades apart (and thousands of miles distant) from each other— and reunite them as consecutive “twins” here in Big Sky Country?  Seems too ridiculous to be possible.  I don’t generally collect rifles for their serial numbers, but some coincidences just demand I reach for my wallet.

 
BRP
  

I was lucky.  I bought these 2 rifles at an auction full of M1’s. The gas trap and sniper rifles were pulling in all the big money.

Blue Ridge Parson said

Zebulon said
Chuck, I’m impressed. 
Parson,  I’m hesitant to use the word “karma” in connection with  small bore rifles, although the late Bill Coffin could probably have squeezed the idea in. 
  

I heard Wm. S. Coffin on several occasions. He was one of the finest practitioners of the of the beautifully crafted (and just as beautifully spoken) WORD that I have ever heard. He elevated our native tongue to a level of beauty seldom achieved since the times of John Donne.
BRP
  

I agree he was most eloquent.  His advice to young folk has always stayed with me: “If you win the rat race, you’re still a rat.”

steve004 said
So this thread started out about the .22 Hornet and now we’re talking about .270’s.  My gosh but I love this place!
To start with I didn’t have anything to say as I’ve never owned a .22 Hornet. Now the .270 WCF – yes, more than one.  Also, I’ve had a .270 Weatherby, .270 Ackley Magnum and a .270 Gibbs (which was one-half of a switch barrel rifle – the other barrel was a .280 A.I.).  All fine cartridges that would do anything (within reason) quite nicely.  
  

Quite frankly I’m very interested in the 22 Hornet and would like to hear more about it as I have no personal experience with it. Maybe someday. My prodigal 670 in 30-06 (oh, well) has arrived and I’ve been perusing the Boyd site to replace one I had lying around when I put this rifle together for a deer camp loaner a dozen or so years ago. Not a project suitable for discussion on a forum focused on collectible Winchesters but it’s one I can afford.

Mike

A very good and interesting thread all the way around, and even though it tends to speak of a few different calibers, and some personal experiences with a couple. The couple pairs of consecutive serial numbered rifles, as the original .22 Hornet caliber conversation that started this whole thread, would surely be enough to attract even the most interested collector, let alone the additional ones mentioned here.

A great thread post offering by all! IMO!

Anthony