Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors The model 70 gods smile occasionally

Hey guys,

I'm mostly a lurker, I just like reading the posts and occasionally throwing in my two cents. Today however was a banner worthy day in terms of my model 70 acquisitions. It marks both the purchase of a gun I've been looking for for five years and the first supergrade I have ever owned. Today I found and purchased a model 70 in 370H&H. It was born in 1953 and still wheres the original dusl folding leaf rear site. On top it is graced by a Lyman All-American four power scope with a German post mounted with Weaver flip off rings. Sorry for the marginal picture quality. I'll repost better pics if anyone is interested.

Nice, congrats!

Sweet geezus. Nice rifle. You will love that one!!! Congrats..

Congrats! That's a beauty!

What a sweet rifle!

FANTASTIC!

Wonderful rifle for Alaskan wilderness. If you plan on shooting the gun on regular basis I would get replacement stock. Winchester boys do not like non-factory X-bolts or cracked stocks. Not sure if they ship to Alaska but rumor is Cheaperthandirt and SWVA have premium ammo loaded with Swift A Frame bullets at $40 per 20 rounds. I haven't seen prices like that in years. When I had my Classic Safari PMP 300 gr soft points were $17 per 20 pack.

I handload all of my ammo anyway. So I will just eventually figure out what it likes.thanks for the advice on the stock, I have a friend that has a bell and Carlson carbalight for a long. So maybe I'll get that stock.

Nice rifle. A 375 in Alaska. What could be better than that?

I looked at my 53 and it has the same blued bright barrel as yours along with the matte receiver.

Your stocks swivels look like Super Grade!

375 H&H in Alaska!

Fantastic rig! Milky tits ... U will be able to really put it to work as intended ....... very best WinPoor

Crossbolts are the best thing for a 375 H&H stock. I agree with you about cracked stocks though. However,That stock has an aftermarket pad. If it's been shortened any, 1/2 the value is gone in that stock. If that's the case, I'd glass bed the dang thing with some good ol Devcon 10110 and hunt the hell out of it. It's inevitable that the stock will crack over time due to excessive recoil. A good Micky is in order if the OP isn't willing to glass bed the original stock. I've read somewhere that the pre 64 model 70 is Alaska's state rifle, and that is a prime example of a fine pre 64 model 70.

No kidding my friend ...:

http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/firearms/ak_bolt_action_rifle.htm

I have yet to see anyone hunting with a pre 64 in Ak I have run into a lot hunters, truth be told I seen more rugers, and kimbers in action in Ak than pre64 model 70's.

Are you saying most Alaskans don't have good sense or taste in rifles?

No just better sense than you boys in the lower 48.

I guarantee you OP probably won't hunt that rifle it will probably make couple trips to birch wood shooting park. If I'm wrong I'm wrong

Very nice rifle sir!

That's a nice one! How did you "find" it, as you put it?

I can believe that could be the case today, because pre-64 70s have gone up in value and Alaska hunting conditions are very hard on gear, especially along the coast. Pre-64s were not available in stainless, as are Rugers and Winchester Classics.

As a former investor in Kimber, I will not buy one so I do not follow them today. Rugers are relatively cheap and sturdy but bulky. I've had several and can't get excited about them.

That said, an awful lot of game was taken with big and medium bore Model 70s. The late, legendary Alaskan guide Hal Waugh had his rebarrelled to .375 Weatherby. I myself have several 70s, both pre-64 and CRF Classics, and love them all. Handling has a lot to do with that.

The .375 H&H shown here looks weathered already and I wouldn't hesitate to hunt with it anywhere in the world. I saw a lot of them in Africa, usually in the same condition, because folks hunted the hell out of them.

I'm pretty sure Phil Shoemaker still uses pre 64 rifles. Isn't he still living in AK? :

One of the few if he still does. I know he uses a Ruger 77 in a 06 and his primary gun is a 458 win mag built on a Mauser iirc.

It would be very hard if not impossible to improve on functional classic Mauser like the one he bought. All it needs is couple of x-bolts, quality modern scope plus perhaps newer recoil pad.

OP - Congrats on your new rifle!!! I'd hunt the heck out of it and serve up some crow here!!

Eric

What a sweet find! That rifle is absolutely gorgeous.

I think a lot of us here have a sweet spot in our heart for a rifle like that. My 2 most prized pre 64's are my 338 Alaskan and my 375 H&H and those are the 2 rifles that have seen the most use (well definitely carried the most and shot little). I shot 40 rounds from my 338 the other day and left with a smile on my face . I need to take my 375 out more often though..

I get the same feeling when I eat jelly donuts

Good catch - yeah, that style pad didn't occur until '59 or so, and from the pic it does look like that stock was cut a bit to keep LOP..

Beautiful rifle though overall..

If I'm not mistaken the standard LOP is 13.5. This one measures 13.75 with a 1 inch pad which is what they came with. I do have atleast have one hunt that this beauty will go on I am super excited.

Beautiful rifle, but the pad is not original to that rifle. I'm not trying to discredit the rifle or put it down in anyway, just stating facts. Like redneck said, the ventilated recoil pads weren't used until after '59. The 1953 supergrade 375H&H had a solid red recoil pad. This is according to Rule: Page 169 of "The rifleman's Rifle" book:

"Recoil pads: There were no changes from those of the standard rifle. The 375 H&H Magnum super grade was phansed out about the same time that the webbed recoil pad was introduced. Since the African lasted through the end of production many of those serial numbered above 460,000 feature the ventilated style."

You are a real Debbie downer

Ohh no the pad is totally not original its a whiteline, which were never used that I know of, but as far as I can tell the stock has not been cut to put a different pad on. I'm getting it replaced with a decelerator so I can hunt it, but the fact that it came with one originally is nice so you don't have to cut a stock. Like most of the standards that had the curved metal butt plate.

Yep, I agree. You could go with a Galazan (Winchester reproduction) on that rifle too. It won't be original per se, but it will look almost original. The red decelerators are nice too and soak up a little more recoil than the reproduction pad. Sweet rifle!!

Mr. 79S: I just returned from an Alaskan goat hunt and I used a re-barreled pre-64 model 70. My son worked for Phil Shoemaker in both the spring and fall hunts this year and Phil allowed him to carry his 9.3x62 as a back-up rifle which is a re-barreled pre-64 model 70. One of Phil's guides is a model 70 man. I spent a couple hours looking over his bear rifles when I was in Kodiak and while he uses the classics, he's wanting to put a pre-64 together in .35 Whelen. He thinks it just might be the ultimate back-up rifle. Then there is Dick Rohr who has outfitted on Kodiak for many years. According to his son Sam, his dad still uses his old 70 in .375 as his back-up rifle. Perhaps there might be more old 70s being used up north than you might think.

I'm sure there are a lot more old model 70's in use than 79s might think...Much more..