Pre-64 Model 70 Q&A

H

huntindude

Guest
I've had some folks PM me with questions about their pre-64 70 and I love to talk about them so if anyone has a question about their gun or anything related this might be a fun thread. I'm a scholar and long time collector of them, while RELH doesn't know anyhing about politics I think he knows a little about 70's himself.
 
Damn!! Dude that is the same thing I would say about you. Guess we are even on that score. I know a little about the "Rifleman's Rifle", but I would not be surprised if your knowlege on them exceeds mine. I always preferred the commercial Mauser action, which the M-70 is copied from with a few changes.
Could be a very interesting thread.

RELH
 
OK, I'll start.
I take it you both have seen that Winchester is bringing back the controlled feed M-70, summer 2008.
Any thoughs on the new gun ? Is it the same ? Just as good ?
or a waste of money, wanna-be ?
I know this question isn't "pre 64" but I always wanted a Md 70 in the safe, just never got around to it ( so many good guns, so little time/money)then poof, they went away.
Now it looks like I might get another chance.
 
I have not seen the 2008 version but as much as I hate to say it the late model 70's with controlled feed have an improved action over the original pre-64. they have gas vents for saftey and they can close the bolt over a round in the chamber which the original couldn't. beyond that the fit, finish and bottom metal is all inferior to the original, plus they don't seem near as accurate in my experience as the early guns. my 2 cents is pick up a decent pre-64 in a lower priced caliber for not much more than you'll pay for a new model that will go down in value. that's if you just want to own a 70, if you have a need for a particular caliber or rifle then that would be different.
 
I don't have a question, just wanted to thank both you and RELH for answering all my questions about my rifle.
_____________________________
Farmers harvest. Hunters kill
 
M70 question:
My brother-in-law got the opportunity to purchase a M70 in .300 H&H, stamped "300 Magnum", on the barrel. He bought it. It was made pre War, 5 digit serial #. It had an old Weaver M-330 small tube scope with a post reticle, that we removed and put on a 3x9 Leupold. The question is about the safety. It is a 3 position but it swings the opposite way from the later models, in other words under the scope. Is this typical of M70's from the pre-war period??
 
Yes, the pre war ( up to about SN 60,000 ) was the type 1 action with the early style safety. it can be modified to a modern style but if the rifle is in decent shape it's too valuble to mess around with much, pre wars bring a premium price.

Does he still have the scope? check it out because some of the 330's were made for sniper use in WWII and collectors will pay a bunch for them. I took one off a 70 a few years ago and put it and a bunch of other junk scopes on ebay, I got over $500 for it, I didn't even know if I'd get a bid on the peice of junk.
 
The rifle is in nice shape and shoots good, I've killed a 4x4 mule deer with it. Yes we still have the scope and everything else, including a full box of 150 grain silvertips in the old yellow winchester superX box, I believe that the rifle has a 5 digit serial #.
How can you tell anything about the 330 scope? , (I believe that it is pre-war as well).
 
I'm not an expert on Weaver scopes at all but if I remember right the 330 scopes with the tappered post and marked M8 are the most prized by collectors. do a little searching under weaver 330 and A4 sniper rifles and you'll probably learn quite a bit . watch ebay too and contact some of the collectors who buy and sell old weavers, they'll tell you more than you wanted to know.
 
One of my ol'buddys had a Pre-64 70
chambered in .264 Win Mag, that was the
22 inch barrel version.

When we were 17 or so, we didn't know the
difference, and I used it as my first, trial gun
to glass bed.

Fast forward several years later. Boy, we wished
we hadn't of done that.

It's gone now, but I wish I'd of never taken it out
of the stock.

Lrv
 
So you were the guys screwing up these guns. that would be the Featherweight westerner, only a few thousand of those were made.
 
A friend recently bought a mid 50's 300H&H model 70, It is beatifl and looked all original. Took it out and it shot good.....only thing was that the brass went in 300 h&h and came out 300 weatherby. Oh well...it shoots good.

JB
 
That happened a lot, tons of 270's were rechambered to 270 WBy as well. at least they didn't stamp it.
 
Yea, it's my fault on that one.

Lord a flame came out the bbl when you pulled the
trigger.

Wish it was setting here next to my chair.

lrv
 
hintindude, what do you mean you can't close the bolt on a round in the barrel on a pre-64? the dozen or so of em i have must be defective. i've seen a lot of mausers that you can't close it on, but not a model 70. i have one model 54, and you can close it too. just wondering what you are refering too.
 
Maybe I should have said you shouldn't close the bolt with a round in the chamber. most will close but it's not the best thing for the extractor, if you read some of the old stuff written on them it's taboo. I have a 264 and a 338 that won't close, or if they will it would take more down pressure than I want to put on them, I'm sure I could file the extractor down a little and make them work if it bothered me. I just always hold the round I'm putting in the chamber as far dowm in the magazine as it wil go and feed it in properly, I guess you don't have to but it's best.
 
that's interesting. first time i've ever heard that. i remember reading a really old article about model 70's and one of the things that they said it made it better than a mauser was the fact that you could drop a round down the barrel and close it. most mausers won't. i've seen a couple modified that would. but i've never seen a model 70 that wouldn't. we must have 30 or 40 in the family and they all will. i own a safe full of em, and every one of them does. i've shot the barrels out of a couple. blew one up (i don't recommend this). but i've never had an extractor problem. i have a .270 made in '48 that i've shot several thousand times. the groups are a little bigger than i like anymore, but no extractor problems. it makes sense that it could put some wear on it, but this is the first time i'd heard that some of em won't do it.
 
huntndude. i've been re-reading this thread and sorta wonder what you're talking about? the left swinging safety is called a spatula. the purpose is to block the line of sight and be an extra "safety". it is found on the older rifles that were never drilled for a scope. pre-war doesn't really matter here. the only ones i've seen this way, and i have one, all have really low serial numbers, under 15k. when they started putting the wavy lines on the top of the reciever, where the scope bases go, is when they went to the safety that swings the other way.
there never was a featherweight westerner. they made feather weights and they made westerners. westerners were only made in .264 and .300 win mags. they were the same thing as a standard only they had 26 inch barrels. featherweights have a 22 inch pencil barrel, alluminum magazine plate and trigger guard and butt plate. they also have a couple holes drilled 6-8 inches into the butt under the plate to lighten them up even more. they did make a .264 featherweight, but it wasn't a westerner. i have one of each of these also.
and the deal about not being able to drop a round into the barrel and close it just ain't so. that was one of the main selling points of the 70 over the 54 and the mausers. i've read it numerous times.
 
RLH, I have original articles saying not to close the bolt on a round in the chamber, yes it can be done but it wasn't recomended on the earlier guns. I'll see if I can find one of those articles and post it, it may be more opinion than anything else but that's what they wrote. in the later guns it even says in the owners manual that you can close the bolt on a round but I don't like to out of habit I suppose.

Yes they made a featherweight westerner and it was the .264 featherwieght, I have an original 1963 ad using that name and Roger Rule refers to it as the featherweight westerner in his book also. I have boxes of original advertising and brochures.

The only westerner ever made was the 264 win mag, 300 win mag was never called a westerner.

The early style saftey you're talking about was only on the pre war type 1 action made until 1947 ( no production during the war of course). that style action also had clip slots which the type 2 transition and type 3 didn't.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-24-08 AT 09:14PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jan-24-08 AT 09:08?PM (MST)

Dude & RLH;

I do not have the early advertisement for the Win.M-70 like Dude has and am not sure about the Westerner. What I do have is a collection of "Gun Traders" guides for researching the values of firearms. My guides do state that the Pre-64 Westerner was made in both .264 Win. Mag. and 300 Win. Mag. from 1960 to 1963. The .264 had a 26 inch barrel, while the 300 mag came with a 24 inch barrel. For what it is worth.
My Gun trader guides do not show a "Westerner" being made as a Featherweight. It does show that the Featherweight Sporter was made in .264 Win. mag. as one of the 6 calibers offered from 1952 to 1963. It had a 22 inch barrel instead of the 26 inch barrel.
The early type safety, First model, was made from 1937 to 1942 and ended near serial number 80,000.It was factory drilled for Lyman #57W or #48 WJS receiver peep sights. The second model came out after WWII in 1947 with the improved new safety and integral front-sight ramp and continued until 1954 ending at around serial number 350,000. There was "5" model changes made from 1937 to 1963 prior to the post 64 model.

RELH
 
Rules book the Riflemans rifle is the bible for 70 collectors so that's what I go by, a far better book than Wittaker's and more accurate.

No where ever have I seen the 300 win mag called the westerner by winchester but several times Rule does call it the Westerner-Alaskan, no where have I ever seen that in winchester print either but if Rule says it then it could be. I just dug out my 1963 catalog and it introduces the new 300 win mag and even has the 500,000th model 70 chambered in the new 300 win mag but no where is it ever called anything. if winchester named it that after 1964 I suppose it could be but that's news to me.

The 264 featherweight was definetly called the featherweight westerner , no question about that.

Every pre-64 m-70 was drilled for a peep sight for what it's worth, but the pre wars weren't drilled for a scope.

None of this matters really but that's ok, I like talking about 70's.
 
Dude;
My books states that the first model, made from 1937 to 1942 was drilled and tapped for a scope sometimes. It was drilled and tapped for the Lyman or Fecker scope sight-block.
But the one you really want is the very rare Super Grade Featherweight discontinued in 1960. Commands 4-5 times the value of a standard grade Featherweight if properly documented.

RELH
 
Yes I have one in 30-06, 1 of only 321 made. I sold quite a few of my guns a few years ago because insurance was killing me ( and I wanted a '70 Challenger ) but I kept this gun because it's mint original, only problem is the bore looks like a rusty pipe, I've never seen such a beutiful gun with a bore you couldn't fire a round down. it still has value but not enough to get me to turn lose of it. I used to have a supergrade carbine also, rare gun but a stupid idea.

Yes the receiver ring was drilled and tapped on the pre war but not the rear bridge. sad how many were screwed up by holes in the barrel for the front block. probably less than I've seen ruined by the Griffin & Howe side mount though. why would anyone put that mess on a rifle? even many post war guns drilled for a regular scope have them, I've never figured that out.
 
Dude;
You are the last person I need to tell to hang on to them. Damn nice rifles to handle and look at, and a very good investment on dollar return if needed. You will be like me, won,t sell the best guns, will die one day and what does not go to the kids will get sold by the wife for bingo money in their old age. Just make sure she knows the true value of them and not end up getting taken by a sharp gun dealer paying her pennies on the dollars for them.
If that super grade featherweight gets stolen, I confess, RLH did it, not me. If he does not have that model, bury it deep in the locked safe and never invite him over for dinner.

RELH
 
Jef;

I know for sure that you are GOP, you have a darn memory like a elephant. I forgot about RLH not liking the 7mm/08 caliber, or as I call him, Mr. 270 man.

RELH
 
well, hate to start a pissin' match, but you are flat wrong. the "westerner" was made in only the .264 and .300 win mag. no other calibers. just those two. like the alaskan was only made in .338 and .375 and the african was only made in .458. both these models had 25 inch barrels. the difference between the westerner and the other standard rifles was the 26" inch standard barrel. and it says "westerner" on the barrel. they never made a "westerner" fetherweight. the made a featherweight in .264, but it was not a westerner. just a featherweight. my featherweights all say featherweight on em. even my .264 says featherweight. say whatever you want, you are wrong here. not tryin' to make anyone look bad, just trying to correct a mistake. the spatula sight was made to obstruct the line of sight when it was on full safe. it was only on the first rifles, before they were made to be more scope friendly. for years, after they changed the safety put the wavy lines on the reciever where the bases go, they weren't even drilled and tapped. you had to have it done. they were drilled and tapped on the left side to accept a peep sight. i've read that all the pre-war model 70's were not drilled and tapped, but i have a couple and they appear to be. niether had a scope when i bought em, they didn't appear to have ever had a scope, but they were drilled and tapped for one. as far as being able to safely drop a round in the chamber and close the bolt, until i can find something saying i'm right, and i know i am, we'll hafta disagree. and no matter what else, the pre64 model 70 is the best action ever made. look at what the pro hunters in africa use. doubles and model 70's. and one of the main reasons they use a model 70 is becuase they can drop a round in the barrel and close the bolt. not a good thing to have to load a round in the magazine before you can shoot a charging rhyno.
here is what it says right on the winchester model 70 information page. i cut and pasted it for ya:
Westerner:
The Westerner was available in either the 264 or 300 Win. Mag. with a 26" barrel.

Featherweight:
The Featherweight was introduced in 1952 & used a shorter barrel, 22", with no rear sight hump, & the guard bow (trigger guard) & magazine cover were made of black annodized aluminum. The buttplate was also aluminum. The stock had 2 holes drilled about 7" deep under the buttplate. All other metal parts interchanged with the standard gun.

Alaskan:
The Alaskan could be had in either a 338 Win mag. or the 375 H&H mag. It came with a 25" barrel.

African:
The Afican was available only in the 458 Win Mag with a 25" barrel.

so i guess you oughta call winchester up and tell em they made a mistake.


if i'm correct in my recollection, i could be wrong tho, they also made the .300, .338 and .375 in the standard and super grade, with 24 inch barrels. maybe even the .264, but i've never seen one. but that doesn't mean it's so. and they never, ever, ever made a pre'64 in 7mm/08 and i hope to hell the new ones ain't chambered in it either.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-28-08 AT 11:07AM (MST)[p]I stand behind what I've said with 30 years collecting and a collection of original winchester advertising you've probably never seen before. I don't care what anyone wrote except Winchester before 1964 and Roger Rule in his book, if you want to get your information off of cereal boxes be my guest but I'm basing what I say off these two sources. I'll give my opinions on a few things you wrote here and then I'm done arguing, I know I'm right I've got the documentation and opinions of long time freinds who are top collectors in the game.

I own two Westerners and have owned several others and NONE of them ever said Westerner on the barrel, none ever did. the only model name ever printed on a 70 was Super Grade on the floor plate.

I have a FEATHERWEIGHT WESTERNER and it also doesn't say westerner on it, but thats what they were called BY WINCHESTER.

Pre war rifles were drilled and tapped in the reciever ring and for a side mount only and ALL came with the early first generation saftey, if it has a later style then it was change post production.

The Westerner was only available in 264 and was made in the 26" standard and the 22" featherweight. the 300 win MAY have been called the Westerner-Alaskan but I can't find where Winchester ever said it. the 300 Win was made ONLY with a 24" barrel


The Alaskan was the 338, Rule does refer to the 375 a few times as an Alaskan , but here again in my 25 or so original Winchester catologs I can't find that anywhere, decide for yourself.

Where did I argue with you about the featherwieght? a couple things to add though. the early featherwieghts, mostly 308 caliber had solid bolt handles . then they started drilling the hole in the knob for featherwieghts only,but before long all 70's were drilled until the end of production. The aluminum butt was replaced with plastic starting in 1958 as was the steel but on standard rifles. the 264 featherweight westerner has a vented recoil pad, the only featherweight to have one.

Where did I say the African wasn't a 25" barrel?

They made 375 Super Grades clear through production until 1959 when all super grades were discontinued. no 300 win, 338 or 264 super grades were produced and if they had been barrels would have been the same as standard grade unless special ordered. there are however a few super grades in these calibers around that MAY be real, if the are they were custom shop orders .

The 7mm/08 didn't exist in 1964 we were just kidding, but they did chamber the 7mm in most variations for quite a while.
.
 
blah, blah, blah, whatever you wanna spew. they never made a featherweight westerner. period. whine all ya want, mr expert. you-are-wrong. and i have a westerner that says westerner right on the barrel. don't care what ya say. and it was made in the .300 mag. i've shot one. my good friend has one. in fact his dad has it's mate, in .264. bought the same day off the same rack. i've seen several others, and the .300 is listed in the westerner in any old catalog that had 70's in it and in the winchester info. sorry mr expert, but you are WROOOOOONG. i'll say it again, the westerner had a 26 inch barrel, only, and it was offerd in the .264 "and" the .300. they might not all say westerner on the barrel, but all of em i've seen do. they made so many different variations, it's pretty hard to say exactly what they all say. and no featherweight westerners. featherweights were featherweights. just because it's a .264 doesn't make it a westerner. and now you're gonna compound your misinformation by saying maybe they didn't offer the .375 in the alaskan? i guess the last one i looked at was a figment too? and that they made a "westerner/alaskan" in .300 mag? you're plum comical. how long you been escaped from the "home"? the alaskan was offerd in only the .338 and .375. not to say they didn't offer those calibers in other models, i'm pretty sure i've seen em both in standards, but the "ALASKAN" was in these 2 cartridges only. don't care what you say. i've seen em. they made em. wish i had one of each. and winchester "NEVER" said you couldn't or shouldn't drop a round in the barrel. it was one of the main selling points over mausers and more traditional mauser type actions. the bolt has an eccentric head (sorta like you i 'spect) that facilitates this function. the 70 was an improvement on the 54 which was a sporting style improvement on the mauser. they continually "improved" the 70, as the needs and desires of the shooters changed. things like scopes becoming popular, folks wanting lighter rifles, target rifles, fancier rifles, etc. there are over a dozen different model 70 styles. bull guns, target guns, even military sniper rifles, half a dozen or more sporting models, and in 19 or 20 different cartridges. i've seen some, from the factory, in some crazy calibers i'd never heard of. the custom shop would build about anything. i guess maybe you oughta eat the kinda cereal i do, because the boxes seem to have better info than you. anyone who claims to be "the" authority on model 70's is foolish to make the claim. they made too many styles and calibers and combinations to ever keep track of em all. hell, i saw a takedown model 70, from the factory. and when do you think i was born? i kinda know that the 7mm/08 is a recent invention and was never offerd. dang. as far as the 25" barrel, i was just listing a little info. wasn't trying to insult your superior model 70 knowledge any more than you already have. poor guy. get a life. here's a real handy little website that might enlighten you. of course, they're probably wrong too. just like me. check it out. for a guy who claims to be the alpha and omega on model 70's, why don't ya know some o' the most basic info about em? it don't look good when a poor, illiterate, ol' cowboy from the sticks can find this info and you can't. model 70's are almost holy to me. i can't stand to see folks be mistaken about the finest rifle ever made. and i ain't by no means an expert on anything, 'specially not model 70's. there's a lot i don't know about em. but i do know a little. http://www.wisnersinc.com/additional_info/winchester_model_70.htm
 
Whatever, you said enough here for me to know you're a total hack who doesn't know anything. I never claimed to be " the authority " on model 70's but Roger Rule is, that's where I get my information word for word. the Rifleman's Rifle is the bible of models 70's if you're to stupid to know that take it up with Roger. your random web sites are better I suppose?

Show a picture of westerner written on the barrel of ANY 70 and I won't call you a liar, anything is possible from the custom shop but prove it. I will call you a liar on the 26" 300 win mag unless it was a special order also, by the way the 300 win mag was made ONLY in 1963 so " any old catalog " shows how full of BS you are, and I have that catolog. the rest of your incoherent rambling isn't worthy of a response.
 
I got to thinking a picture is worth a thousand words . I know as much about computers as you do about model 70's so if anyone following this pissin match is interested I'll email them the pictures to post since I can't make it work. I'll show the the 1963 introduction of the model 70 300 win mag and the wholesale-retail catalog listings covering the models we have in dispute here. I don't know any better source of information we can use than original winchester do you? then I'd love to see that Westerner stamped barrel picture in return, as a collector I'd love to own that very special gun. you'll make me a good deal on it right?
 
so, just because "you" say it ain't so, it aint' so? one thing i learned a long time ago was that i ain't an authority on anything and to think i was would be real ingnernt on my part. but when i do know something to be true, i hold on worse than a snappin' turtle with lockjaw. i refuse to let someone try and make me believe BS. here's a litle tip for ya, mr model 70. the .300 win mag wasn't available in "anything" until the last half of 1963. as in the last year of "pre-64". it was what was called the "later" pre64 version. different than any other pre64. only available in the last part of 1963, too. did ya know that, mr expert? the ones i've seen all had lighter colored stocks than any other pre64's i've seen, and they didn't seem to be as well fit as other pre 64's. the tops of the forepiece were almost flat, not rounded, next to the barrel. just not as well fit it doesn't seem. don't know why, but that's what i've experienced. they may or may have all been that way. they looked to be black walnut, but a lighter color. (black walnut is named for the nut, not the color of the wood, by the way. i lernt that in skool) and the ones i've seen all had serial numbers over 580,xxx. i don't know how many were made in .300, but it wasn't a lot. i have a 1963 shooters bible and it doesn't list not even one model 70 in .300 win mag. because they weren't available when the book was published. but they dang sure had em out before they quit making the pre64. and they were available in the "westerner". and they do list the alaskan in .375 h&h. right there in black and white. of course i'm sure they're wrong. after all it is only the shooters "bible". they list a featherweight, no featherweight westerner. because they never made one. the also don't list a westerner/alaskan, whatever the hell that is. i called my ol' pal last night, who is by the way an authority on model 70's. and he has the guns to look at, not just stuff in a book. i think having a gun is even a little better than a book, myself. i'm sure you don't agree. he laughed at what you said. this guy owns several hundred model 70's right now. it's a religious experience to go into his safe. which is a secured, fireproof, 800 sq ft room in his house. they made so many different pre 64 model 70s that there is no way to know em all. but i sorta think this guy comes as close as anyone. at least he knows more than i do, and i can accept that. but what do i know? not much it sounds like. so i'm a hack. at least i ain't an idiot who thinks he's an authority. you've stated around half a dozen "facts" that are pure and simple BS. believe what ya want. they made the westerner in .300 mag. did you happen to look at the site i sent ya? they did not make a featherweight westerner. this is complete BS and fabrication. they did not make a westerner/alaskan. another attempted smoke screen. they made the alaskan in .375. don't care what rule did or did not include in his stuff. the spatula safety was changed way before you say it was, so you could use a scope easier. and not all of em were changed and bunch of em were retro'd after the fact. and winchester never said you shouldn't drop a round in the barrel. never. oh yeah, you never said they didn't make the alaskan a 25 inch barrel. i just added that as a little info and for some reason you thought i was correcting you. and then you didn't read afterward where i told ya that again. so you weren't wrong there. but for some reason thought i said ya wuz. there is nothing worse than someone who refuses to learn. well, i have work to do. it's apparant you ain't willing to learn, so adios dummy. oh yeah, .270's are the best cartridge ever and 7mm/08's suck. signed, the cereal box readin' hack.
 
I could care less about a pre-64 model 70. I am purely a "plastic" stocked, Stainless Steel guy. I just want to say POST THE PICTURES!!! There always seems to be someone claiming they have something no one has ever seen or a buck, bull, horn larger then any known. They just never seem to post the pictures. Now that being said I have no idea how to post them, but email them to me and I will try.
 
Canhunter if you pm me with your email I'll take the best pictures I can of the ORIGINAL WINCHESTER 1963 sales information. if that's not better than the shooters bible, random web sites and RLH's buddy then I give up.

I'm also waiting for a picure of that Westerner barrel there guy, any caliber I don't care . I said the shell in the chamber deal was in old magazine articles and I didn't say winchester voided your warranty if you did it. maybe my old magazines gave less than credible information just like you random books,web sites and cereal boxes?
 
OK, my Pre-'64 .264 mag, with 26" barrel doesn't say "Westerner" anywhere on it. And I've got pictures to prove it.
_____________________________
Farmers harvest. Hunters kill
 
.264, is it a rare featherweight westerner? rare as in, they never made one. (sorry i did that because i know your a good dude, plus you shoot a .264. just couldn't help myself) or is it the mythical alaskan-westerner, or whatever that thing is huntndude says they made? you know they never made it huntndude and you can't show me anything that substantiates it. and they made the westerner in the .300 and i showed ya info that backs it up. but "rule" doesn't say anything about it, so i guess it doesn't exist. when was his stuff published anyway? could it have been maybe before the latter part of 1963? when the .300 mag was introduced. i sorta suspect maybe it was. .264 mag, do you have one of the model 70's that you can't drop a round in the barrel? man, i'd really like to see one o' them, too, huntndude. wait, i know, i think i just figgerd it out, they only made the "non-able to drop a round in the barre style" in the featherweight-westerner-alaskan model with a 23 inch barrel and a secret little orphan annie decoder ring in the stock. i might be a hack huntdude, but i ain't a phony expert authority. i just know a little, but what i do know, i know well. and i'm waitin' for ya to prove wrong. i mean other than your opinion. i love bein' right
 
I said if someone will post them I'll email the picures of the listing of the featherweight westerner, westerner and the Alaskan. the Westerner-Alaskan was what Rule says MAY be the intended name for the 300 I didn't say I could back that up as I can the other model names. my original wholesale-retail catalog says the 300 win mag would be available Feb 1,1963 and I've killed quite a few with mine and it says Westerner nowhere as well, imagine that. again you can't seem to understand I don't claim to be the all knowing expert just that I have print to back what I've said.

I'm not going to dig through boxes of old magazines to prove the shell in the chamber thing just drop it I already,I said it could be done on most guns and winchester made no formal objection so I'll conceed it can be done.

So back to that barrel picture where is it? and if anyone will post my ORIGINAL WINCHESTER CATALOG pictures I think we can wrap this up, so put up or shut up .
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-29-08 AT 03:38PM (MST)[p]264 I sent them to you, 2 of the 3 are pretty dark if you don't think they'll work let me know and I'll try again. thanks.
 
Oooooh the plot thickens.

6596m701.jpg

9630m702.jpg

8347m703.jpg

_____________________________
Farmers harvest. Hunters kill
 
Thanks 264, I have to figure out how to run a computer someday .

OK RLH, where's that barrel picture?
 
I want one of those .264 mag Westerners for $115.90. Actually for that price, go ahead and order me 4 or 5.
_____________________________
Farmers harvest. Hunters kill
 
Aren't those prices crazy, and you could probably knock a few bucks off that if you haggled a little.

Even at those prices they only sold 20,998 Westerners, 3,116 Featherweight Westerners and 4,916 300 Win Mags.
 
Dude;
None of my buyers value guides show a listing for value on a
"Featherweight-Westerner" only for the Westerner in .264 & 300 mag. In the Featherweight catagory they do list .264 as one of the calibers in that model, but do not refer to it as a "Featherweight-Westerner" for the .264 Cal.
Could Winchester have failed to bring it out in production after the writeup prior to production? The reason I ask this, it would be a very rare model, like the Supergrade-Featherweight and would command a very high price. It seems to me that if it was put in production, it would be covered in the various buyers guides listing for a rare high priced collector model.
Does any of your material have any information on this as being put into production and being sold to customers?

RELH
 
RELH if you look at post 41 where 264 posted the pictures of the 1963 wholesale-retail catalog I sent him, in the featherweight section it clearly list a featherweight with Westerner in bold print, the price was even higher in fact the same as the standard westerner.

I think where much of the confusion about all of this comes from is since it was the last year with new models and calibers Winchester never really established anything solid and stuck with it. shooters bible and other publications just looked at a few ads or something and ran with it, in my opinion the only publication that really matters is winchester itself, after all they made the rifle they can call it what they want. sometimes that isn't cystal clear but if they listed the 264 win mag featherweight with bold WESTERNER behind it, and never called the 300 win mag a westerner even in it's introduction then I think we can only say the buyers guides wrote their own interpretation.
 
RLH, the battery dead in your camera or something? still waiting for the picture of that barrel you discribed in post 30.

Ok I'll drop it now.
 
dude, not entering the argument, but i hunt with a guy who uses a pre 64 in 264, and i think i can remember it saying westerner on the barrel? will see if i can get a hold of it for a pic if i am remembering correctly.
 
Anything is possible from the custom shop or aftermarket but I've never seen one or heard of one until now. if he does have one I'd love to see it but it would probably be like an aftermarket recoil pad, the shop would do them on an order but without the original special order labeled box no collector would accept it as original. no where in my catalogs, the Rifleman's Rifle or Whitaker's book is there one mention of any model stamping other than super grade, ever.
 
I will go to his place hopefully within a week and see, if it is stamped would a serial # help? with the plant closing and all, who would you contact too see if it is original?
 
The factory hasn't been much help for years. I'm not sure how you'd verify it, probably showing it to a well known collector and getting him to buy into the originality would be about the only way. all the markings on a 70 barrel are from roll stamps except the proof mark and under barrel ID and year marks, so to even hope to get a collector to accept it couldn't look hand stamped, Winchester just did not spend the time to do this kind of thing after all these we standard grade production guns. I really doubt you'll see anything on it, I have an early iron oxide coated stainless first run, smokey blue stainless one and had a late run carbon barreled Westerner and never have I seen or heard of a marked barrel. let us know.
 
DSCF0583.jpg


There, case closed.
_____________________________
Farmers harvest. Hunters kill
 
Probably a really dumb question, But how is the easiest way to identify a pre-64? Is there a date? Or, do you go by serial #?
 
LAST EDITED ON Feb-01-08 AT 07:27PM (MST)[p]There are many differences but the easiest way to explain it would be the serial number, if it's less than 600,000 with no prefix letter it's a pre-64.
 
My books state that the post 64 started at about serial number 570,000. The pre-64 can be easly recognized from the flat metal claw extractor that runs along side the right side of the bolt.

RELH
 
Last pre-64 was SN 581471 and the first post-64 was SN 700000, I'm not sure when they started the prefix letters or how many different ones they used.
 
Mine is in the 270,000s. Do you have an estimate about the year. I didnt give exact numbers so someone could say that it was theirs. Thanks, You guys are sure knowledgeable. oh yeah Its a 30-06 too.
Craig
 
According to my information if your serial number is in the 270,000 range, you have what is called the second model M-70. This model started in 1947 with about serial # 80,000 and produced to 1954 ending at around serial #350,000. It has the improved safety and integral front sight ramp. I would GUESS that your rifle was made around 1951-52 with that serial number.

RELH
 
270,000-280,000 would have been the last 3 months of 1953.

RELH is right you should be in that era with the integral front sight , your bolt may or may not be drilled also. if you have a monte carlo you should have the Marbles 69 rear sight rather than the Lyman 16B. '52-'57 have always been my favorite years, a modern gun but still with the highest quality.
 
>Thanks. Anyone have a pic of
>a pre-64 bolt?

Let me know if you need a more specific picture of anything.

2379DSCF0589.JPG

9821DSCF0591.JPG


_____________________________
Farmers harvest. Hunters kill
 
Thank you guys for the information. Mine does not have a Monte Carlo stock. The rear sight had been removed before I got it. It does have the sloping front sight like you said. My dad was telling me that my "adoptive" Grandma has a 4 digit serial # pre-64 that belonged to her late husbands father. He had bought it in Hayfork Ca of all places. It definitely has some stories for sure.
When I go home again I will have to go look at it and get back to you guys. Thanks again, Craig
 
sorry i was gone awhile. believe it or not, but i had better and funner things to do. what kinda photo did .264 post? who's question did it pertain to? all i see is a red x. also, is it just my eyes, or does it list a .300 mag westerner on that catalog page? and does it also list a .375 alaskan? dang, didn't somebody tell me i was fulla bs when i said that? also, it isn't listing a westerner-alaskan there, it is listing the westerner and the alaskan in the same collumn. i see it says the .300 has a 24 inch barrel tho. and i do see where is has a featherweight westerner listed. talked again with the ol' guy i know that is a model 70 expert. he said the .300 westerner was only in 26 inch and the 24 inch .300 was a standard. said he thought the listing was somehow mistaken. also said the featherweight westerner was definitely not correct and if they did have one he really wanted one because it's worth a lot. i guess maybe when i rebarrelled my featherweight .264 i ruined the value, if it was a featherweight westerner. he has a lot of old winchester info that tells the story on most of this stuff. he also said what i've said, if you even think they made a model 70 a certain way, they probably did. he said they made them in at least 5 calibers that were never listed as available. we all know they used left over model 54 barrels on some of the german calibers. i guess they are a real rare deal. also asked him about westerner on the barrel. he has some that are and some that aren't. i got out my .264 westerner, and it isn't. i thought it was. i would have bet on it. i called 2 guys that i know that have westerners, one in each caliber, and both of them are marked westerner on the barrel. i'm thinking that maybe lusting after the .264 one guy has so much and looking at it so much sorta burned the name in my head. and the guy with the .300 said it is a 26 inch. me and him are trying to get together in the next couple weeks and i'll take a photo. then somebody will have to post it for me. later.
 
Look at post 41, it answers everything. I said Rule claimed the Westerner - Alaskan MIGHT be a possible name but winchester never gave the 300 an official name. the catalog does not call the 300 anything nor the 375 an Alaskan. I will give you this though, when the Alaskan ( 338 ) came out they did raise the price on the 375 to match it for what that's worth.

The catolog clearly list a Featherweight Westerner and the price is even higher, end of debate.

No 26" barreled 300 win mags were made, and just as the 264 none were ever marked westerner. show me a picture or I call BS.

If your expert knows more than Winchester catalogs and Roger Rule I'm impressed but I don't beleive him without proof. we all have opinions on some not too well documented issues and those can be debated, but where original Winchester print can be found that's the end of the story.
 
>sorry i was gone awhile.
>believe it or not, but
>i had better and funner
>things to do. what kinda
>photo did .264 post?
>who's question did it pertain
>to? all i see
>is a red x.

Right click and hit view image.



_____________________________
Farmers harvest. Hunters kill
 
i guess you're just gonna believe in what you wanna believe in. you put the info on here and won't even believe it yourself. what it says in the listing is "westerner" then it shows .264 and .300. then is says "alaskan" and it shows .338 and .375. if you can't figure that out for yourself, i don't know what to tell you. like i said earlier, you're a phony "expert" who has no business claimin' he's an expert. good hell, if you won't even believe your own stuff, i don't know what to tell you. so anyway, wallow in stupidity. i'll check back in from time to time to see if you need anymore correcting. idiot.
 
The listing is not intended to show the 300 Win as a westerner, or the 375 as an Alaskan, the bold print denotes the name behind the gun. just as the featherweight westerner you said doesn't exist does.

I never said I was an expert you just jumped to that conclusion yourself when you figured out I knew more than you did. I said I was an avid collector with a collection of winchester advertising, that's all I said.

Show me a picture of a 26" 300 win mag and Westerner marked on any barrel now or we have that resolved as well. I won't resort to petty name calling and I'm willing to talk 70's with anyone, not as a expert but an avid enthusiast. good day.
 
Talk about knowledgable guys on pre 64 model 70's. Ive always wanted one but they were always priced too high. Well I recently bought 2, one is a 264 Winchester mag with a 26 inch barrel and it does not say Westerner on the barrel. According to the serial number it was built in 1961. The blue is about 95-98% but someone modified the stock and put a rollover cheekpiece and a Morgan adjustable buttplate on it. I shot it the other day and with my first load of 130gr Accubonds it shot 2 three shot groups under 1 1/4 inches at 100 yards. The other one is a 30-06 built in 1941 that I picked up at a pawn shop for 300 bucks. Took it to Cabelas the other day and they offered me 500 bucks but I didn't sell it. While at Cabelas they had a 264 with a stainless barrel that they wanted 1700 bucks for and it also didn't say westerner on the barrel. From the catalog it looks to me like they just called the 264 a Westerner in either 22 inch or 26 inch barrel versions. It was the caliber of 264 that made it a westerner. Just my 2 cents.
 
Yes you're correct, the 264 was the cartridge the westerner rifle was all about.

If your Westerner was built in '61 it should have the smokey blue stainless barrel, the first year or so ( late '59 and 1960 ) they iron oxide coated the barrel then blued that just like the 220 Swift. in 61 they started a new blue on the stainless barrel that has a smokey color and did that until all the stainless barrels were gone. only the last year or so did they use any carbon steel barrels on the 264, all Featherwight Westerners are carbon steel but again they were only made the last year or so.
 
The serial number is 538XXX according to the information that I found online it was made in 1961. The barrel and receiver have the exact same finish, the barrel crown is blue also. It sure looks like a chrome molly barrel to me. The one stainless rifle I looked at you could see a very different finish on the barrel compared to the receiver. In any case it shoots good, I'll just have to keep it clean and not heat it up to extend barrel life.
 
It was made in October '61 so it very well could be one of the earlier carbon barrels though I've never seen one before mid '62. most stainless barrels were stamped ST on the bottom near the recoil lug.
 
The 30-06 has a red recoil pad on it, black spacer next to stock and white spacer next to pad, but it says White Line vertically down the middle of the pad. Could this be original or was it added after it was produced? It was built in 49 with a serial number of 125XXX I think.
 
You could special order just about anything and the white line pad was an option. without the special order original box you'd never convince any collector it was original though. probably only 1 in 5,000 pads on calibers they weren't standard on were done at the factory. more rifles were screwed up with pads than anything else, you're not alone.
 
Damn!! Dude that is the same thing I would say about you. Guess we are even on that score. I know a little about the "Rifleman's Rifle", but I would not be surprised if your knowlege on them exceeds mine. I always preferred the commercial Mauser action, which the M-70 is copied from with a few changes.
Could be a very interesting thread.

RELH
Is there anyone on here that's a model 70 expert? This one is a mistery
 

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos
Back
Top Bottom