Pretty excited to have picked this one up over the weekend. 1950 Model 70 in 257 Roberts. The quarter bore has become interesting me in recent years. I’ve got a Remington Model 8 in 25 Rem also.
Just thought I’d share with the group. Any input would be great.
Congratulations on your new addition!
A Model 70 in .257 Roberts has been my “go-to” deer rifle for the past 20 years. I stopped using rifles with more power (and given Newton’s Third Law, inevitably more RECOIL!) once I figured out there are not degrees of dead. The deer never noticed the difference, and tipped right over from a well placed .257 bullet. And my shoulder is certainly happier without the extra recoil. Ned Roberts came up with a great deer caliber, and in a vintage Model 70 it is near to perfection as a hunting rifle.
BRP
I’ll look it over, but my first impression is it was a recent manufacture knock off.
Question on cleaning it up: Has anyone done the rust conversion steam bath and carding wheel on these? The receiver has the dull bead blasted type finish. I don’t anticipate that it would effect it, but wonder if anyone has tried. I want to clean it up, but don’t want to alter it, either.
35Rem said
I’ll look it over, but my first impression is it was a recent manufacture knock off.
Question on cleaning it up: Has anyone done the rust conversion steam bath and carding wheel on these? The receiver has the dull bead blasted type finish. I don’t anticipate that it would effect it, but wonder if anyone has tried. I want to clean it up, but don’t want to alter it, either.
Welcome to WACA
Very nice, honest rifle
No idea what a rust conversion steam bath and carding wheel are, I’d just wipe the gun down and put a filler in the dovetail
November 5, 2014
Hi 35 REM-
Nice looking rifle, congrats!!!
Barrel specs are in this Winchester document (from 1938):
By coincidence it happens that I know Mark Novak personally… I talked with him a few times in SC before I ever found out that he did all those YouTube videos… On the one hand, he is a man of strong and independent mind whose opinions send some collectors into convulsions… On the other hand, I agree with the distinction he makes between “preservation” and “restoration”… “Red rust” is never good and can be converted (protected from further deterioration) without “refinishing”… Just my take…
You gun looks pretty nice to me and unless it has active rust somewhere I can’t see, I think I’d lean toward Tedk’s “just wipe it down” aphorism… Maybe a little Kroil and a cotton cloth… At most Kroil + gentle 4-0 steel wool. If it’s got red rust I’d talk to Mark…
Thanks for the post,
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
November 5, 2014
Hi Chuck-
BRP is right (of course)… “Stayset” knobs first became available in 1950 and only on “half block” Lyman receiver sights. This rifle (S/N 52860) from 1945 is a little too early for that sight… If it had a factory receiver sight it would likely have had a stock inlet for a full block Lyman 48WJS with target knobs.
For me the most annoying thing is that they don’t show the barrel roll marks or the front sight, which “should” be a Redfield 254 (not 255). The 7M/M is rare enough that people will fake them, so without pics you can’t even be confident that the gun is a legit (albeit possibly upgraded) 7M/M…
I’m not dissing the gun or CWOCA, but I’d need a LOT more before I’d bid on that one…
Best,
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
Louis Luttrell said
Hi Chuck-BRP is right (of course)… “Stayset” knobs first became available in 1950 and only on “half block” Lyman receiver sights. This rifle (S/N 52860) from 1945 is a little too early for that sight… If it had a factory receiver sight it would likely have had a stock inlet for a full block Lyman 48WJS with target knobs.
For me the most annoying thing is that they don’t show the barrel roll marks or the front sight, which “should” be a Redfield 254 (not 255). The 7M/M is rare enough that people will fake them, so without pics you can’t even be confident that the gun is a legit (albeit possibly upgraded) 7M/M…
I’m not dissing the gun or CWOCA, but I’d need a LOT more before I’d bid on that one…
Best,
Lou
I’m just learning about the Model 70’s. I am not bidding on it either. One thing in my favor is I can go look at it. I’m just not smart enough to know what I am looking at. I was wondering why, of the 2 they have, this one is valued so much more?
November 5, 2014
Hi Chuck-
If you’re talking about the other 7 M/M M70 in that auction (Lot 149), it’s because that rifle is a train wreck of somebody’s Bubba project going terribly wrong…
First off, the receiver is S/N 418133 from 1957. It is highly unlikely that an original 7 M/M would have been made that late. The chambering was discontinued after 1949. The latest bunch of 7 M/M M70s in the surveys are a pretty good number done in the 297,000 to 300,000 range (1954). Part of the last round of “barrel clean-up”.
Add to that the rifle is a mess. Worn Monte Carlo standard stock and action/barrel, a third hole added to the bridge, sights removed, etc. Painful to look at… Since even the receiver is trash, the only potential value in that rifle would be the 7 M/M barrel IF it’s legit and not shot out or pitted. Since they don’t show the barrel markings I cannot even venture an opinion. IMHO the estimate on Lot 149 is ridiculously OPTIMISTIC…
OTOH… Lot 151, a supposed 7 M/M Super Grade, presents well in the photos (subject to all the Caveats I mentioned above). If it were a legit 95+% Super Grade, then it probably is a $10K gun. Look at this one (sold for $9.5K on Pre64win.com). This one is “correct”, except for the wrong barrel blank and “elevator tracks” (I didn’t say “genuine” because I don’t know)… But it is made up of (mostly) the right parts…
https://pre64win.com/collections/rifles/products/7-m-m-7x57mm-mauser-super-grade-rifle-1941
Just my take…
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
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