Log In
Members
Home
Add Reply
Add Topic
Just purchased a Model 70 (308 Win). Both the bolt and receiver have same serial (730249).
The question I have is if this is authentic or if this is fake? Bought it off of consignment from local gun dealer. They were not necessarily selling this as truly authentic just as a Model 70. I know that a model 70 in 308 win is uncommon.
Attached are photos.
Your Model 70 was manufactured in the latter half of the year 1964. At that time, the 308 Win chambering was not uncommon. It does not appear to be a faked rifle.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 5, 2014
Offline
Hi 2ndAmendment-
Bert is correct that 308 Winchester was one of the initial caliber offerings when Winchester introduced the post-63 style Model 70 in 1964. With a 730,000 serial number, yours is a relatively early post-63 rifle, as Winchester jumped the serial numbers from 581,471 (last of the pre-64 receivers) to 700,000 (first of the post-63 receivers).
The 308 Winchester barrels on post-63 Standard Model 70s like yours was 22-inches in length. These rifles were generally supplied with sights, specifically a Williams “Guide” rear sight and a hooded Williams “screw-on” ramp front sight. Unlike the pre-64s, these sights were attached with screws, hence removable. Does your barrel have D&T holes in the barrel for these sights?
As for 308 Winchester in the pre-64 Model 70, it was very common in the Featherweight style (1952-1963). In fact it was the only Featherweight chambering from 1952-1954. In other styles, e.g. Standard rifle, Super Grade, Target Model, etc., it was only available on special order.
Hope this helps,
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
Your rifle is the original “post 63” Model 70, which was such a kick in the [groin] to traditionalists, mostly because of its unconventional appearance — compared to the pre-64 Model 70. In fact, the changes made to the Model 70 that are found in your rifle made it more accurate out of the box than its predecessor and considerably stronger and safer in the event of a case head separation.
No less an authority than Jim Carmichael, the former shooting editor of Outdoor Life magazine and for years a serious High Power rifle competitor, built more than one over-the-course competition rifle based on post 63 barreled actions. I believe both of them were chambered for the .308 WCF.
In 1966, the company undertook some mostly cosmetic modifications to the Model 70, that reduced the overlarge barrel channel in the stock, improved the impressed checkering pattern, and replaced the riveted follower with something more substantial. However, it was in all functional and mechanical respects the same sound and accurate rifle.
I am not an obsessed Model 70 collector but have owned five or six of them and still have three, one of which is a 1980 African. For several years I had a 1966 Model 70 that was the most accurate .243 WCF rifle I’ve ever owned, and I’ve owned more than.a few over the last 50 years. The only reason I don’t own it is I gave it to my older son.
Run of the mine post 63 Model 70 Winchesters do not have a large collector following, although certain variations do attract some collectors — e.g. the Model 70 full stocked “mannlicher” carbine. However, do not ever let anybody tell you they aren’t sound, rugged, and accurate rifles.
If I were to hit the big lottery and so able to seriously collect Model 70 rifles, I would make sure I had at least one 1964-66 exemplar, another from the 1968-1970 production, a late 1980 version, and one of the real knockout USRAC guns like the Jack O’Connor Commemorative. In addition to fine examples of the prewar guns, the early postwar guns, and — not least — an example of a field grade Model 70 and a Remington 700 BDL each made in early1963, to illustrate what the company was up against.
I can make a pretty good argument that, if the purpose of a Model 70 collection is to “tell the Model 70 story”, the absence of the aforementioned production examples tells less than half of the true story. I dote on my 1950 Super Grade .30 Gov’t ’06 but there’s a lot more to it than that.
- 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.
1 Guest(s)
