Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors model 54 leave it or change it?

picked up a standard model 54 in 270 today and am thinking of swapping out the barrel for a 35 Whelen or something else. any thoughts?
the 270 barrel has been drilled and tapped from forward of the sight boss to the receiver so no collector value there. it is mounted with a side mount T4 and a weaver 330 scope. kinda interesting but not a fan of the 270.
action is smoother than silk as are all 54's i have ever had.

Nothing to lose....

Send it to JES to rebore to .35 Whelen. I had a M/70 in like condition rebored by Randall Redman more than 20 years ago, it is my favorite hunting rifle.

thats kinda what i thought guy's/ though if i can find a cleaner barrel it would be better. this one has more holes drilled in it than Oklahoma.
turns out the little Weaver scope mounted on it is worth more then i paid so i have room.
thanks Tom

If not for the extra holes I would say leave it alone. I wonder why they did that? Are the holes spaced to accommodate target scope blocks? If so, that makes no sense as standard protocol for mounting a Unertl/Fecker/Targetspot back in the day was to use a standard block on the receiver (purpose of the factory holes there), and a block with a dovetail in place of the rear sight.

i really can't figure all the holes gnoahhh. i will take pics and post as soon as i finish my coffee.
it is also mounted with a Lyman 48, probably factory.
then there is the Weaver 330 on a T4 side mount.
someone went trough about every sighting combo possible from 1928 on!

i am starting to think about keeping it as is and spinning a yarn about it being a ww2 sniper rifle!

If you need a new barrel any model 70 pre 64 barrel will fit that action

thanks aguy. as there are extra holes in the receiver also it isn't really worth restoring so i may just leave it what it is , a super bubba special. at least the stock and hook and eye sling are right!

Un-messed with M54 stocks are a treasure....

this stock is a early with the snabel forearm.
i am a sucker for the style and it was cheap at 225.00 so i think i will keep it as my token 270.

with that little into it, send it to turnbull.
all the holes will vanish and a period rust blue will appear

160 partitions and 4831 will hammer things

had forgotten all about Turnbull. that way i could spend 1500.00 or so and have a 1000.00 gun

You could always send it to JES and have it re-bored... Although, from the sounds of it, it may have too many holes in it to make it worth doing. You can find a better barrel on ebay. If AguyinAK is right about any pre 64 model 70 barrel fitting, I'd probably go that route...

just what i had loaded and it shoots them well. tried some 130's also and it shoots to same poa. i have never really warmed up to the 270 even though it is an excellent round.
have had and sold perhaps a dozen over the years in different actions but this is only my second 54. the first i had i gave to a young man as his first firearm when he turned 18. today he is 38 and still cherishes the 54.
as far as i can tell the stock is unmolested as the Lyman was factory installed. it has the last 4 digits of the serial # of the gun punched on the body of the sight. pretty cool to have that i think. the hook and eye sling seems to be original also. if it didn't have all those holes in the barrel it would get me a little more excited.
i also picked up a 1890 22 wrf along with the 54 from the same person for the same price. someone did a butt stroke and broke the butt stock, wired it at the wrist and put the old cloth electricians tape over it. i haven't seen that tape for about 40 years so it was there for a while.
cleaned ti and glued it and it shoots great. it is a nice addition to my 1890 collection. will replace the butt stock sometime if i can find a nice vintage one and not have much in it.
that one might just be a candidate for a Turnbull restoration. or convert to 22 mag.

Yep, same thread and pitch. In fact, barrels with pre-1936 barrel stamps originally intended for use on M54's have shown up on M70's....

good to know! makes that prospect more feasible.
maybe a 35 whelen or 257 bob. will keep me busy as a winter project.

.257 Roberts and .35 Whelen are the calibers of the two M/70's I currently have, those calibers are excellent choices I have always been happy with having selected them. I would forget the original barrel since it has all the holes, pre'64 .30-06 barrels are easy to find and not too costly if you choose to go with a .35 Whelen. If .257 Roberts is your choice I would go with an E.R. Shaw barrel, they're a quality barrel at a reasonable cost. I have always been satisfied with Shaw barrels, They're the only barrel a gunsmith friend uses when building a custom rifle or rebarreling.

have used Shaw barrels myself and always worked well.
used on chambered for 338-06 and that might be the waynto go with this one