Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Dakota 76 . . . . . . just a nicer Model 70 ???

If the price is really low then of course its a deal.

Things have changed over the decades on hunting rifles. I used to read and talk of having a custom built and I did. These days there are stainless steel actions and barrels and function seems to taken precident over perfect checkering.

If you have the money get it. I have some safe queens and they are precious to hold and think about.

I looked at the prices and many are $4000 and up. To be frank I would rather spend it on another pre 64 70 that looks great.

Factory Ruger Express in 270 W. I paid about $900.

If the price is right they can be a good deal if not a bargain. I gave $2900 for this early 416 Rigby a few years ago. It shoots great and looks OK too. I guess I could have bought a CZ or Ruger for less though...

I went up to the gun room and got out my Dakota, a '50 m70 Super Grade in VG condition and a mid '80's custom built on a '52 m70 action. The Dakota's action is as smoth as the custom & better than the super grade. The trigger is better on the Dakota. The bottom metal is better on the Dakota. The bolt stop is MUCH nicer on the Dakota. The custom has XXX grade wood, the super grade and Dakota are close to each other but not nearly as nice. The Dakota's stock fits me better than the other 2. The Super with a Lyman Perma Center 4x is a 2" Rifle, I have not glass bedded it. The Custom is a 1" rifle but weighs over 10# because I studidly used a #4 Shilen barrel. I have not mounted a scope on the Dakota yer. My take after buying 1 is that a Dakota 76 in VG condition in a usable round should sell for $3,000-3,500. If you think a using hunting rifle is worth that much buy 1 and enjoy it.

Oh yes. It has enhancements over the Model 70 (e.g., the bolt release), and they're more perfectly manufactured even than the pre-war Model 70s. They are like custom rifles, essentially. I have a 76 in .30-06. Bought it new for well under MSRP back in the late 1990s.

Years ago I thought about buying a Dakota the they started a just under $3000. I work for a living and have a family. That said I do make a pretty good living so I could afford one. But I also hunt very hard I will backpack in and stay a week at a time hunt daylight to dark rain, snow, sleet or whatever I have been out all day and have found that I could not open the bolt on my rifle as it was raining most of the day and then turned cold and froze the bolt shut. The short of it is they are to nice a piece of work to treat like that and I am not willing to come in out of the weather. So I hunt with less expensive rifles so when I fall down in a creek and ding them I do not cry quite so much.


8mmwapiti

I guess I do not want a safe queen.

Me neither;mine's in a Bansner .I bought it to hunt.

And, I promise ya, Bob will beat the crap out of it too....

It's his if he wants to he can.

Thanks everbody for the opinions. A lot of good points were made.

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on this, and it's on the way to me. So if anybody cares, here's my take on it.

When it comes right down to it, I am a wood and blued steel guy, and it's time to quit trying to make myself like stainless and fiberglass. Doesn't matter how much I spend on the rifle, if it's wearing a synthetic stock I can appreciate it's functionality, but I can't truly like it.

As was said, there are some good/great deals to be had, like gahuntertom's $2,140 7Mag. and Tony's $2,900 Rigby. My rifle is a 7Mag. from the Don Allen days, NIB. It has nice medium dark wood with decent figure. I paid about 60% of current list price for it. Maybe not as good a deal as the others got, but not too bad.



I went this route before, but it didn't work out for me. I got a good deal on a mint 1949 30-06 Super Grade, thinking it would become my go-to gun. In the end, I couldn't like the stock shape (designed for open sights), the cluttered barrel bothered me, the wood wasn't anything special, it weighed too much, and I knew if I changed it to my liking it wouldn't be worth half what I had in it.

If I was into nostalgia I could have liked the rifle, but my perception of a hunting rifle includes an optical sight, a clean barrel, and a trim stock shaped for optical sight use. It just didn't work for me.

So, I tried a pre-64 Featherweight with a Obermeyer barrel and a synthetic stock, but couldn't be happy with the synthetic stock.

Figuring a good pre-64 action with a good quality barrel on it will run about $1000, a wood/blue custom by a name builder would probably run at least 30-50% more (decent wood - nothing special) than the Dakota.

Sure wish I viewed a rifle as merely a tool. A fiberglass stock would make the pre-64 build really attractive. Of course, if that's how I saw things, then the CM action would be buggin the pi$$ out of me.

Durability? If I hunt for another 30 years my nice wood/blue rifles will still look better (to me) than the stainless synthetic does on day one. And no costly paint jobs required.

Stability? Some are, some aren't. We'll find out.

_

I tried the weather was too nice; not enough rocks in Alberta......I will work on it but I hunted the thing for 2 weeks and it still looks new......

It needs a horseback elk hunt for 14 days......I mount a 4X Conquest on it tomorrow. Yahoo!

Got two of them.Both bought used.They are not light weight,but are so well ballanced they feel right.I was not getting the groups I thought I should with the 06.I called them up and explained that I had bought it used and would appreciate them looking at it.They replaced the barrel and refinished the stock.I was not charged 1 cent.They even picked up shipping.How great is that!!!!!!!

I guess they include exceptional service in the up-front price, but on a used rifle that is incredible.


_

Is that ding-bat Charlie what's his name still running Dakota Arms?

Nice guns, I've always wanted a model 10 in .257Roberts. Maybe one day.

Terry

Terry,
There's one on Gunbroker right now!!! http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=121933699

The thing I like about them is,when you order them, there is nothing to worry about;no action modifications,receiver holes are 8x40 and aligned correctly,trigger is M70 style,magazines correctly dimensioned,safety works great...they are built "trued up"so don't require anything that way......

In short, they are completely "ready" as built,much like a pre 64 M70.

Yea, but I'm on a cash lock down right now. If you can't eat it, I'm not buying it.

Terry

I'm there with you, brother...

I have a 76 Alpine .250-3000. A joy to shoot, carry, and (if there's no game around) look at.