In about 1990 I was about 20 years old and was starting to get into fox and coyote hunting with a group of guys and I was using a variety of different guns from a Ruger #3 in 223 to a 80's Featherweight in 270. My dad surprised me with a P64 M70 Varmint rifle in 243 with a 6.5-20x Leupold on it and said that if I was going to fox hunt I had to have the right rifle for it! I lugged that tank of a gun many a miles through snow field (we hunted them by driving with both dogs and people and since I was one of the young ones I always was the driver). I still have the gun and it still shoots light bullets into tiny little holes. This was the gun that got me interested in M70s.
It didn't take me long to realize thought that while it was a super accurate and classy rifle there were much better options for a walking fox gun. I was the first of the crew to buy and use an AR15 which I found to be perfect. I no longer hunt with the crew but the guys who still do all gave up their heavy barrels for AR's.
