Hello all,
I sincerely apologize but I cannot seem how to figure out how to add pictures and I cannot find anything through searching.
I’d like to ask some help identifying a Winchester. From what I can tell from its serial number it is a pre 1964 .270 featherweight but also a super grade. Am I correct in this ?
The super grade, which is cheekpeace, checkering etc were made up to 1960, that seems to line up with the serial number range. The super grade does not mention the added engraving which this example has.
Thank you in advance.
To post pictures, you will need to use a hosting app…. Imgur is what I use… you upload the pic, then select one of the boxes to give you a link, copy the link, open the posting page here on the forum and then click the little icon with the mountain @ sun… that will give you a box to add your link…
There are several very intelligent folks on this forum that can help with your rifle. The actual serial number will be needed. Also, pics… they will want & need pics to give you the exact info I’m sure you’re needing. But I can share a couple of things in the blind… the floor plate will say “Super Grade”… the stock will have in-letted sling swivel bases. The swivels are propriety… and can be spendy. There will be a forend cap. Lots of other things to know. Hope you got a good one… You may want to invest in a copy of Roger Rule’s Model 70 book… well worth the investment & those are also going up in price.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Winchesters… questions are highly tolerated here, insolence & arguments, not so much! Hope you stick around & enjoy the site. Cheers… Ben
November 5, 2014

Hi NikoGR-
Would love to see pics of your rifle… As Ben said, non-WACA Members need to put photos on a third-party site and post the link…
In a vacuum… Here are pics of a 270 WIN Super Grade Featherweight that I believe is legit. This one happens to have the “three-line” barrel address stamp that shows up on 270 Fwt barrels now and then around this time. Don’t focus too much on that…
Just a general reference…
Best,
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
1960 would be very late for a Super Grade Feather weight. Does it have a rust blued barrel? Is the bolt, and follower jeweled? Does it have the gold Redfield front site? Some claim that very late Super Grades can be found with out some of these features. This will be found in the Rule book. I myself would be very careful with any Super Grade made after 1955 that lacks any of the above features. To find a Super Grade, or Super Grade Feather weight made after 1958 is very rare. Louis, you show a picture of your Super Grade Feather weight with the three line barrel address. Interestingly my Super Grade Feather weight, and my Standard Feather Weight both have this feature. Both of these have 1955 barrels, and I believe that only .270 Feather weights were marked that way in 1955. I have never seen any other caliber marked in the three line barrel address.
November 5, 2014

Hi NikoGR-
Your rifle is a standard 270 WIN Featherweight that has been upgraded with a pretty nice looking custom stock and engraving. Value of a custom rifle is very difficult to assign. It would not appeal to purist collectors, and whether other prospective buyers would find the customization appealing would vary from one individual to another.
FWIW… These days an original unaltered high condition 270 WIN M70 Featherweight from 1957 (with aluminum butt plate) is about a $1,600 to $1,900 gun. Whether a custom stock and engraving adds or subtracts value would be a matter of opinion, and those opinions might vary widely. In general, aftermarket customization, which after all was done to suit the taste of one particular owner, does not add much if any value and may hurt it depending on the quality of the work. Exceptions would include rifles built by known/famous custom rifle makers of the era, like Al Biesen, Joe Balicke, Lenard Brownell, etc. Their work usually adds value…
Just my take…
Hi BoRich-
Regarding the “three-line” Featherweight barrel marking, my observations agree completely with yours. Only 270 WIN Featherweight barrels, and only ’55 barrel dates. I suspect these were all done in one batch in 1955 and marked with a single roll die that was not repeated… I have three 270 WIN Featherweights currently, and (oddly) two of them have the three-line marking. Both of those have ’55 barrels. The SG Featherweight I showed above is stamped “SUPER 270 55” underneath, so I suppose the rust blued “SUPER” barrel sat around from 1955 until finally being used in 1957. Here’s the standard Featherweight with three-line address. This one is a 1955 gun…
All kinds of M70 trivia…
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
NikoGR said
Thank you Bert,
Based on what you folks are seeing how would you value this piece or do you folks not get involved in that ? Would you consider it a good candidate for your classifieds section ?
I downloaded the images you posted so I could examine the checkering in greater detail. That fleur d’lis pattern is not easy to cut and requires a high degree of skill, even just to establish the ovoid outlines. The diamonds are fairly even, long and narrow and I see no overruns past the borders. While not all of the checkering is visible, what I can see of it appears to be of very high quality.
The trap buttplate was a popular option for custom stockmakers in the Fifties and it looks well in letted, to my amateur’s eye, at least.
The engraved floorplate does not impress me and may have been an out of the box aftermarket item. The guard looks to have been done by another hand, as if it were the factory aluminum guard. Without close inspection using a magnifier, it’s hard to tell much. But whether hand engraved, etched, o r stamped, I don’t think it is first quality work by a known artisan that would help the price. Usually, this sort of work hurts the price.
As Lou has already said, WHO did the stock work affects resale price. I would add the adverb, “drastically”
Before you try to sell it, if you can very carefully remove the buttplate from the stock and the barreled action from the receiver, perhaps the inletting will contain the mark of the stockmaker. Al Biesen did not sign his work, as a rule, but some did. If you come up with a name, let this forum know and someone can give you further advice.
If the stock work was done by an unknown, I don’t think the rifle would bring as much as a pristine, all original Featherweight .270 of the same year. If Biesen did the stock, it should bring more, I’d guess three to five thousand USD. I myself don’t think he did but I can’t prove he didn’t.
As Lou would have said if he were not such a refined and mannered gentleman, custom rifles are like racehorses and redheaded women. One man’s nirvana is another man’s poison. You’ve got to find the right man who will pay your price.
I’d put some effort into investigating your rifle’s provenance, first.
- 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.
I like the Flour-de-Le checkering pattern on your rifle, it is nicely done. Al Biesen would mark the inside of the barrel channel with his name. Here’s a pic of a 1952 Al Biesen custom Mauser I sold last year. I still have another Biesen custom model 70 in .243. Same checkering pattern. Amazingly, Al would do his checkering “free-hand”, sitting in his recliner while watching tv…
November 5, 2014

Hi NikoGR-
The “EJ” on the trigger guard is a Winchester factory inspection stamp. All, or nearly all, M70 trigger guards have one or two numerals and/or letters stamped in that location. It’s unrelated to the custom work.
As Ben said, many (but by no means all) custom stock makers would brand their work either inside the barrel channel or under the butt plate. If you have the ability (and proper screwdrivers) to remove the action and butt plate from the stock you may be rewarded (or not)…
If you don’t have the tools, please don’t take the rifle apart, e.g. with Sears Craftsman screwdrivers… Maybe find a gunsmith to do it for you. The screw slots on your rifle appear to be very clean (and may be tight) and removing them with the wrong screwdrivers will damage the slots (and hurt your rifle’s value)…
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
Ben said
I like the Flour-de-Le checkering pattern on your rifle, it is nicely done. Al Biesen would mark the inside of the barrel channel with his name. Here’s a pic of a 1952 Al Biesen custom Mauser I sold last year. I still have another Biesen custom model 70 in .243. Same checkering pattern. Amazingly, Al would do his checkering “free-hand”, sitting in his recliner while watching tv…
Hi Ben. I stand corrected about Al Biesen. Was the engraved floorplate on the rifle you illustrated done by his granddaughter?
- 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.
Zebulon said
Ben said
I like the Flour-de-Le checkering pattern on your rifle, it is nicely done. Al Biesen would mark the inside of the barrel channel with his name. Here’s a pic of a 1952 Al Biesen custom Mauser I sold last year. I still have another Biesen custom model 70 in .243. Same checkering pattern. Amazingly, Al would do his checkering “free-hand”, sitting in his recliner while watching tv…
Hi Ben. I stand corrected about Al Biesen. Was the engraved floorplate on the rifle you illustrated done by his granddaughter?
No. The above rifle was ordered in 1952 and delivered in 1953. It sold with all the correspondence, sales receipt & copy of the money order used to purchase between the Al and the customer. There were a couple letters where the customer got testy with Al and Al didn’t hold any punches in his reply. 🙂 The rifle sold at the Jack O’Conner museum gun show last spring. While there I asked Paula if she knew who would of done the engraving and she said there were a couple of German engravers that her grandfather used… one was named “Franz” and couldn’t recall the others name. Side notes the receipt shows the golden bear began life as a $10. gold coin…. also, sadly, Paula is no longer engraving due to nerve damage in her hands and fingers.
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