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Very little is known of these. I have examined a handful of that were chambered in .270. The under barrel markings were 270 54 with only one not marked ST. So, I have come to believe that these barrels were made in 1954. The serial numbers ranges from 1954 to 1956. I have had stainless steel barrel .300 H&H Mags in hand, but I have not examined one. If anybody has either examples, please state if it is a Super Grade, or Standard. The serial number, or year made. Also, what the under barrel markings read. Maybe we can add some light on is mystery!
November 5, 2014
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Bob-
Did you get the e-mail (not PM) that I sent you with survey results to date?
270 WIN Standard Stainless barrel:
Standard Rifle (11): S/Ns 241080, 242052, 328484, 329231, 330285, 330377 (barrel date ’55), 330937, 366496, 366962 (ST, no date), 422897, and 423196 (barrel date ’54). Super Grade (1): 257609. All these have silver brazed ramps.
300 (H&H) Magnum Standard Stainless barrel:
Standard Rifle (8): 56807, 57050 (barrel date ’42), 82147, 84845, 101897, 320257, 320278, and 506645. Super Grade (3): 77082, 82249, and 87160. All but S/N 506645 have integral forged ramps, while 506645 has a #7 silver brazed ramp.
That’s all I’ve got… Most of the time I do not know barrel dates. Given that there appear to be little groups of relatively close serial numbers with large gaps between them, I get the impression that Winchester made these guns is somewhat discrete small production runs as opposed to random special orders…
Let me know (for the survey) of any more you turn up…
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
Lou, Very interesting! A much wider Serial Number range then what I thought I would see. Most of the .270 are in the 1955 range. While the .300 H&H Magnums have a much wider range. Lou let me add these to your survey. They are all Standard grade.270s. All have silver brazed ramps. S/N; 314834 54 barrel date. S/N; 330533 ST marked 54 barrel date. S/N 328763, and S/N 366396. Lou for some reason I did not receive you e-mail.
November 5, 2014
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Thanks, Bob!!!
Those certainly seem to fit into the “window” were most of them were made…
Do you know anything about the “story”, that I cannot substantiate, that Winchester made up a batch of stainless 270 WIN Standard rifles about this time on special order from an oil exploration company (or some such concern) that was doing work in South America, presumably where they expected high humidity?
I’ve no idea if this is true or not, but a special order production run would explain a cluster of close together serial numbers… 
As far as special order stainless barrels on pre-64 M70s, the 300 (H&H) Magnum and 270 Win standard contour barrels, along with 30-06 target weight barrels are what I’ve seen most often. It seems like fairly good sized production runs of those were probably made and set aside. I suspect that anything else would be a “one-off” special order that was rarely, if ever, requested…
Best,
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
Lou, I have heard about the South American story. Like you, l’m not sure if I believe it. Back in the 1980s I bought a Stainless Steel .270 Standard grade. The rifle belonged to My Father In Laws friend. A fellow Cleveland Police Officer. It did not have any South American ties. I don’t know if we will ever get to the bottom of this. But, it will be fun trying to learn more on these. Why did they make them? Who knows? Maybe they had extra Swift barrels that they had a hard time getting rid of, so they made them into the more popular .270. Just a thought. The list on these is pretty short. It will be interesting to see if any more will be added to it. I don’t think so.
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