Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Which ones would you let go and which ones would you keep?

Hey guys, you know me I love my pre 64 model 70's. This brings up the question of which ones I'd hold on to forever and which ones I'd give up to go to a better home. I'm curious as to which ones you'd hang on to and never get rid of, if that's something you do. This question isn't for the ones that hang on to every rifle they have ever had. But more for the ones that trade and sell on occasion like I've been know to do... Here's my list along with some pictures and reasons I would hang on to them or get rid of them:

First one up front and center. I would never get rid of my 30-06 fwt. I've said this on numerous occasions, this rifle has kicked many a damn good 30-06 rifle out of the safe, and for good reason:



Next one up is my 338 win mag. Almost since I started elk hunting back in the mid 90's, I've had a 338 win mag. My first elk fell to the mighty cartridge and it made a believer out of me. Also most guys around here think it's not an elk rifle, unless it has "338 Winchester magnum" stamped on the barrel.. . This one is cool because it holds 4 in the magazine, weighs in at 8 pounds on the nose and balances and packs wonderfully. The ergo's of the Brown pounder really help to mitigate recoil too.


Now here are the ones I will probably end up sending down the road eventually:

375 H&H. Beautiful rifle in every regard. I packed it for 4 days during last years elk hunt. It handled very well for a heavy rifle. I like the balance and is perfect for carrying for a big heavy rifle. If I were going to Africa, this is the one I'd take. Realistically, I'll never go to Africa, so this one is far too powerful for anything in north America with the exception of big bears in Alaska. The 375 H&H is something I wanted for a long time, because it is iconic and has mucho cool factor. However, the cold hard truth of the matter is I don't need anything this large/powerful for hunting around here. The rifle is damned accurate and I can always count on it to nail the orange dot on the first shot. Something I've come to expect from this rifle. No one has dibbs on it yet, however I believe powder (or maybe someone else here) loves the stock . Which, by the way, is the oldstle "coyote bomber". :


Second on the list of not needed:
Bobin is going to be mad, but I have no sentimental attachment to the 270 Winchester cartridge. I've tried it and really like it. It's probably the cleanest pre 64 model 70 I've had in my hands. Besides the new in the box 270 fwt that I could have bought at the same time I bought this one, but passed. Even though it was only $350.00 more at the time... This one was said to be, "my most accurate 270 Winchester", by my friend that I bought it from. It does indeed shoot very well and as it stands, is the best handling Winchester model 70 I own. I love the McMillan hunters compact stock. The rifle weighs in at around 7 1/2 pounds as it sits now, maybe a tad less. I need to re-weigh it with the lighter K4. This rifle rocks, but do I really need it when I have a 30-06? You know the love hate relationship between those 2 cartridges . Gunnut308 has dibbs on this one:


Now that you guys know how I really feel, what is your take on what you can live without? Thanks fellow Winchester loons...

I'd keep the 375. It's a very useful caliber and never say never to not going to Africa. A plains game hunt is cheaper than a guided Elk hunt. I'll load my 375 down and shoot deer with it. Then again I'm a few grains shy of a full charge My new deer rifle is a Heym double rifle in 500 B.P.E. IF I could have only one rifle it would be a 375 H&H.

You didn't ask but I'd ditch those plastic stocks:)

Were it me...the .30-06 would never go anywhere and the one most prone to disappear would be the .270, but that's just my personal prejudice. The magnums, I dunno. I'd probably have to hang onto at least one for sure---the .375, because it's just a very cool classic cartridge. I'm not so sure I'd really want to give ANY of them up, though.

I wouldn't get rid of the 270 either. If I were going on a deer hunt and had to pack a rifle and the 270FWt and the 06 FWT were side by side the 06 would get left home.

The .375 H&H goes hand in glove with the .30-06, not only because of rather similar trajectories, but because it takes over beyond the '06's ability on dangerous game.

Paired with your never-getting-rid-of '06, the .375 H&H and a .243 Winchester would make just about a perfect 3-gun set.

I've been through this drill. More than once actually.

I always end up with a 270 and a 375.

I've ended up with that very combo but there are days I end up with a 7x57 and the 375 H&H.
So I have all three.

But---but, your sig line!??!??

Damn hard choices BSA, I'd have to go '06 and 375 buddy, equally hard to beat those two for anything anywhere.

For myself, in your situation, I'd move the 375 along. I'd try to keep the rest!
If you keep the 06 and sell the 270 (exactly the opposite of what I'd do) I would swap stocks!
That 270 is a lot of rifle, I'd happily hunt that the rest of my days.

I wouldn't part with any, but if I had to it would be the 338

30-06 and a 375 would cover just about everything....
What I would do is keep them all...

Oh.....that? Those are what I play with. I answered the question like someone asked me to reduce it to just two....I still like 7 mags.

In real life though, I have been through a purge...about 1994 or so I sold EVERYTHING. All 300's, 338's,280, 30/06, 7 RM's,257's, etc etc ad nauseum.

When the dust settled, there were two left....a pre 64 M70 FW in 270,and a 375 H&H.

I have built things up a bit since then but never in the numbers and variety I used to own. Likely a 270 would be the last one standing.

Somehow, I knew Bob was going to say that.. I too went through a reduction of rifles back in 2001. Got rid of all but 1 300 win mag and it was a left hand Ruger m77MKII. I had a beautiful 300WBY, 2 stainless 338's, 4 30-06's, a beautiful mauser 98 sporterized 8mm mauser that was one of my most accurate rifles, a 270 Winchester, 308 Winchester model 70 and a boat paddle 300 win magnum. All went down the road. I had major regrets letting some of them go, as I just had to try to force myself to use the lefty rifle and what I thought to be the best all around cartridge for deer and elk hunting in my area. Was it a learning experience. Hell yes! I learned that I did not like the 300 win mag as much as I'd hoped, frowned on the amount of recoil it produced and didn't like how it tore up a lot of meat (I know bullet selection, bullet selection). I also found out I hated the lefty rifle. Bolt handle dug into my back when it was slung on those rare occasions, bolt manipulation was like a monkey fu cking a football. It's taken me a while to get the rifle collection back up and running, but one thing I've learned is I still prefer the m1917 over just about any other rifle action and I still prefer the 30-06 and 338 win mag over all cartridges for my style of hunting. I make reference to coming back full circle sometimes and for me, that means good ol 30-06 and the rifle I grew up becoming so accustomed to. Some old habits are very hard to break.

I'm glad those are decisions I don't need/want to make at this point. I've added several rifles this year and only have one that will get adopted out. I have a spare pre64 M70 270 FWT that will eventually (sooner than later) need to find a new home.

[quote=bsa1917hunter]Hey guys, you know me I love my pre 64 model 70's. This brings up the question of which ones I'd hold on to forever and which ones I'd give up to go to a better home. I'm curious as to which ones you'd hang on to and never get rid of, if that's something you do. This question isn't for the ones that hang on to every rifle they have ever had. But more for the ones that trade and sell on occasion like I've been know to do... Here's my list along with some pictures and reasons I would hang on to them or get rid of them:

First one up front and center. I would never get rid of my 30-06 fwt. I've said this on numerous occasions, this rifle has kicked many a damn good 30-06 rifle out of the safe, and for good reason:





Given where you live and quality of todays factory ammunition I would keep the .30-06 Featherweight. This rifle can compete with todays featherweights which is remarkable.

I would dump the rest in following order from first to last: .375H&H, .270, .338WinMag.

I hope that helps.

I only have one rifle .300 Magnum Winchester, therefore, I have nothing to dump. I don't hunt little stuff or very large stuff so buying anything else would be waste of money and space.

A good shooting '06 always has a place in the rack.

For me, it's the '51 30-06 standard grade that shoots lights out, and the '59 338 Win Mag that you sold me, BSA.

I thought I had dibs on the 270 FWT?!

Eric

I ended up with a custom 35 Whelen,.....and a 270 Fwt.

Funny, I thought you had dibbs on my 30-06 fwt?? . Damn, I can't keep this stuff straight...