Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors New to me model 70. Pick this one apart.

I would test this gun with ammo that will be used for hunting. Nice hunting gun that could benefit from new scope of better optical performance. I had one of those old Redfields on Browning Safari Grade Mauser. Optical performance was pretty bad even when compared to inexpensive (<$200) modern Nikon, Redfield, Burris,.....

I like it and would love to have it...I have a weakness for standard grade 70s, especially in '06. Love the Supergrade swivels. I'd probably ditch the alum buttplate and put a Galazan's Win repro pad on it...then leave it alone. That Redfield 3-9X scope, coupled with a 700 Rem, killed A LOT of bad guys in the RVN...I'd keep it.
Bob

My buddy picked up second hand like new Pentax 3-10x50 (Burris Made in USA) for $185. For love of God I do not understand why people put money into refinishing old guns and leave old scopes on that are optically equal to $80 Simmons from Walmart.

I've owned more than a half dozen of those Redfields and back in 1975-1980 they were likely the best scope America had to offer.

I had a 4X16,at least 4 different 3X9's and a couple 2X7's
I retired my last 3X9 with rangefinder about 4 years ago.
My 2X7 is still going strong.

I've never owned an $80.00 Simmons from Walmart but I doubt like hell it could ever match those Redfields.

Since you helped out us "strugglers" on the recoil pad question, let me return the favor.

You refinish old guns to make them nice to look at. The operative word is "at." People enjoy looking at them. You look through scopes, not at them, and the optical performance of them is not really all that important. The sole purpose of rifle scope is to help you direct bullets to where you want them to go. It needs to gather light well enough and have enough resolution to allow you to aim well (and sometimes quickly), but beyond that, reliability and durability are what you need. If you are a "turret twister", you also need it to track precisely and repeatably. You don't need to resolve the rings of Saturn with the damn thing. Why the hell do I care if there is a bit of distortion on the edge of the field?! Optical performance matters a lot with binoculars and spotting scopes. Good optics here prevents eye strain, and allows you to resolve things that need resolving, like bullet holes at long distance, or the eyes of that leopard when it looks right at you. Here, great optical performance is a joy to use. With rifle scopes, not so much. However, if you are a genuine sniper, who spends a huge amount of time watching things through a scope, optical performance can become more important.

I didn't refinish it nor did I mount the scope on it. I bought it just the way you see it. The scope is clear and works fine. I like it.

I don't think an old rifle looks right with a new scope on it.

I have many Leupold scopes on rifles, and others lying in the safe. While I appreciate good optics, most of my deer hunting is done with lever rifles and irons.

I had several older scopes: Meopta, B. Nickel, Browning (made by Redfield) and Tasco World class. While all fall short when compared to my modern Zeiss or Nikon Monarch the Tasco was best of that bunch.
The best scope I ever owned was Khales Helia 1,5-6x42.