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I recently acquired a model 70 in .375 H&H SN: 153,XXX which best I can tell places it as a 1950 manufacture. Based on what little I know and some added research, it seems as though the features aren’t matching up. This rifle is unfired with only a few handling marks easily identifiable as “safe bumps”. It has a rolling type two blade express rear sight and there are only two factory drilled and tapped holes in the forward portion of the bridge and none in the rear portion. Additionally it has a wedge style tang as opposed to a clover leaf. Ideally i’d like to mount a scope but refuse to do anything that may reduce the value of the rifle. Any inputs or thoughts on mounting solutions, commonality of the combined features, or overall value?
November 5, 2014
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Hi Dougie561-
Photos would help with determining originality, and therefore value, of your Model 70. As a non-member you cannot post pics here directly, but can either put them on a third-party site and post the link or you can e-mail them to me at [email protected] and I will post them for you.
What I can tell you is that the rear bridge of pre-64 Model 70 receivers in H&H Magnum length was not regularly drilled for scope mounting until around s/n 160,000 (1950). This is well into the later-style “oval tang” receiver production. So in that respect your Model 70 is factory correct/original. The front receiver ring and left side rear of the M70 receiver were factory drilled from 1936 onwards.
In 1950, the rifle would have been made with a low comb NRA style stock with solid red Winchester recoil pad. The typical rear sight at the time was a Lyman 6W two folding leaf sight installed in a dovetail base that attached to the barrel with two screws. The original barrel would have an integral forged front sight ramp and the caliber designation (on a 1950 barrel) would most likely be “375 H&H MAGNUM” as that was the year Winchester changed from marking them “375 MAGNUM” to “375 H&H MAGNUM”. The Winchester 70B “rollover” sight, installed in a similar dovetail base, didn’t become the norm until 1954. I have recorded a few earlier s/n guns with the 70B, but don’t know if that’s because they were assembled later or because the rear sight has been replaced.
Pending pictures of the gun, I would recommend against drilling the bridge of what may be a very collectable/original Model 70. There were scope mounts made at the time that used the existing holes, with the rear of the mount attaching to the two receiver sight holes on the left side rear of the receiver. The Bausch and Lomb and the Stith “Master Mount” were made in that style, as it allowed a scope to be installed on pre-war and H&H receivers that had not been drilled on the bridge. Both of these mounts are externally adjustable for windage/elevation, but can be used with more “modern” scopes as desired.
If you are willing, please consider giving the full serial number so I can add your rifle to the ongoing M70 survey.
Best,
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
November 5, 2014
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Dougie-
This may help… First is the Standard Rifle page from the February 1950 Winchester Wholesale-Retail catalog (Form No. 2013). The 375 H&H Magnum is not pictured, but under “Sights” it flatly states that the H&H Magnum receivers were not drilled on the bridge. At the bottom it mentions the Lyman 6W rear sight on the 375 H&H MAGNUM. By the December 1950 catalog, the part about H&H receivers not being drilled was removed. So the change happened in 1950… This is also backed up by the Model 70 survey…
Next are pics of the closest to your rifle that I have handy… This one, s/n 123892, is a little earlier (1949) and is a Super Grade. So it still has the Type II-2 receiver (cloverleaf tang/late safety), and the caliber stamp is still “375 MAGNUM” in Style 3A. But it does show the factory recoil pad, the undrilled bridge, C-1 contour barrel with forged integral front ramp, and Lyman 6W rear sight on dovetail base…
Hope this helps,
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
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