pre64 Model 70 bolt questions.|Winchester Rifles|Forum|Winchester Collector

Hello Carl-

I cannot help answer your question, as I don’t own any Model 70 Classics and I am not a gunsmith. 

But I do have a pre-64 Model 70 stripped bolt body you can have if you can use it.  Thing is it’s a PRE-WAR bolt body (the one with the “shoulder” at the root of the bolt handle).  The serial number is no longer completely legible, but the first two digits are 28XXX so it’s from 1939.  It has the standard bolt face recess and has not been altered.  The pre-war bolt bodies will work with the post-war pre-64 bolt sleeve/safety/firing pin/mainspring assembly, it’s just the bolt handle shape that’s different.

Anyway… I have no use for it, so if you want it either for getting dimensions or for conversion, send me an e-mail at [email protected].  BTW… I don’t believe that have spares of any of the other bolt parts, just the body.

Good luck with your project!!!

Lou

Carl,

This may be useless information but have you asked Dwight van Brunt whether he might have or might know someone who has, a Kimber of Oregon spare  BGR bolt? Dwight was once the general sales manager for Kimber of Oregon (and, afterward, for a time the general sales manager for the other Kimber in New York.)  He owns and operates Sportsmans Legacy.com from his home in Montana and deals in Kimber of Oregon products, among other lines.  I can’t say I know him although I’ve spoken with him on the phone once while he was still in Colton and later bought a Marlin Mountie from him on Gunbroker. I’ve found him to be a straight up and pleasant guy to deal with. I encourage you to call him and see what he might be able to do to help. Just Google Sportsmans Legacy.  Lou has made you a very generous offer and Dwight might have an opinion on the feasibility of the conversion. 

I’ve owned and used a couple of Kimber of Oregon BGR/89 rifles and think highly of them, although I sold them off because people put me in a painful armlock and threw serious money at me.  Anyway, my very limited understanding of the BGR action is it is a cross between the Mauser 98 and the Pre-64 Winchester Model 70.  The differences I could detect are probably cosmetic but, still: the BGR doesn’t have a coned breech and it has the more elaborate bolt release on the left receiver wall.  For some reason, I seem to remember the action length and length of bolt throw are longer than on the Winchester – but that may be a false memory. 

If nothing else, Dwight might have access to plan drawings and specs for the bolt you need to replicate, which would really move your project along. I could be wrong but, if we only knew the differing dimensions, you could determine whether starting with a Model 70 bolt or an FN bolt might be a better start.  

I understand you’ve already scoured the Internet but if that did not include searching for old New Product reviews of the Kimber 89/BGR, one or two of them might offer more detail on the differences between the Pre-64 Model70 and the then-new BGR.  I recall the BGR’s introduction was a highly anticipated event and it was thoroughly reviewed.  If you could find a review by the late John Amber or his peers, I think it would be helpful. 

I join with Lou in wishing you the best of luck. If you can get it done, you’ll have something to brag about.  

Happy New Year!

Bill 

Carl,  

Well, [expletive deleted].  If only this problem had turned up a year ago, I could have photographed a Kimber of Oregon bolt beside a 1950 Model 70 bolt, at several angles, from which you probably could have reverse engineered the specs needed.  As the character Roseanne Rossanadana would have said, “Never mind…”

With all due respect to Dwight, he does have a LOT of Kimbers to sell…

So, it looks like Lou has got the best alternative.  

If you can find a copy of the DVD set of all the Gun Digests from 1944 until well into the 2000s, on Amazon, the one I bought was about twenty bucks, the bargain of the Century and it certainly cleared a lot shelf space for me.  What you would be looking for are some professional reviews.  Also, I’ve noticed that Shooting Times seems to have a whole library of older articles online. I don’t know if there’s an index but I’ve hit a number of them with Google.  What you are looking for is a professional, technical review in the date range of 1988-1990.  Skip the Websites featuring Dynamite Dave and his phony S.E.A.L. friends. Don’t trust them for the time of day…

There used to be a Kimber Collectors’ Association but they may have disappeared. Failing that, there might be more generalized collector groups that would include a section devoted to Kimber. If you haven’t turned up anything on the Web, perhaps these don’t exist. If I see anything I’ll let you know. 

Bill