I bet at least part of the problem Winchester had with the pre 64 is the amount of coddling they got by skilled hands. It must have been tough to replace those people as years went by.
Read Rule. It's apparent the rifle got a lot of hands on attention before they left the factory,not to make them"fancy" but to make the shoot and work as a unit.
Despite its virtues you simply do not get this with current manufactured rifles and even with the Classics and post 64's, and even if they did with the Classics,they still did not work at the same level as the pre 64.
I recall something I was told recently,that when the Classic in 416 Remington was being developed,Winchester had to hire two skilled smiths as outside consultants to get the rifles to feed(!!)
You heard it....Winchester workers could not get the rifles to feed and I recall most of tis work started in the Custom shop. I was astonished that there was not enough rifle savy within the 4 walls of Winchester to get a 416 Remington to feed from a M70 action.
But after years with enough Classics, looking back I understand why.
Contrast this to the old engineers and workers at Winchester who were able to get flawless feeding from one action length modified to feed everything from the 22 Hornet to the 375H&h and 458 Winchester, with at least a few odd ball cartridges along the way.
No wonder they work....it ain't nostalgia.
Last edited by BobinNH; 09/20/16.
