Bob - I'd agree if you owned dozens BEFORE 1964 and found them all to be excellent. I never took you to be that old. Maybe I am wrong.
The dozens owned since (if you're not ingwe's age) are survivors - guns that shot well, were put together right and not incorrectly repaired or butchered at some point between manufacture and that's why you bought them.
What I was trying to say is that of all the guns made today - the ones left over 50+ years from now will most likely all shoot and feed and be rather nice. Those made today that suck - simply won't be around to purchase as an "original". Similar to pre-64's
Rifle darwinsim might be a term to use....
I believe that the pre-64's you've been buying were the best representation of those that were made because they were good enough to keep 52 years and if they weren't they were either fixed, turned into projects or scrapped.
Eventually all you have left are the top performers. It's a statistical impossibility that all M70's from 1936-1963 were produced as well as the ones you've owned or were retained.
I hate to call bs on this statement, but I know guys that collect pre 64 model 70's. My smith collects them and had 144 rifles at one time. Every one of them worked as they did right off the show room floor. They didn't let them out of the factory unless they worked flawlessly. Yes, maybe they were coddled a bit at the factory, but those were different times and they wanted people to be happy with their product. They also made them with the intention that they would last "forever" and something that could be passed down from generation to generation. That mentality doesn't exist anymore. I've been on other forums and websites where people badmouth Tikkas's for extraction, ejection, and the horrid recoil block that is a PITA to deal with. To each their own, but I'd lay money down that the pre 64 model 70 is going to outlast any Tikka every made..
