Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors refinished stocks on pre64 model 70's

Gundoc, at some point, it's almost better to just slap a McMillan stock on a good rifle and hunt the hell out of it without worry of ruining a lot of collector value. I find the thing that has the tendency of getting ruined out in the field is the stock/wood and not the bluing or steel. This is the reason I have most of my pre 64's stocked in Mcmillans and brown precision stocks right now. I will probably keep my '56 30-06 fwt as original as possible, but really hate dragging it through the brush around here. I see your guys' point about refinishing a "messed with" stock. It does absolutely no harm to refinish a stock that has been glass bedded or one that has been cut for a pad. I always consider these stocks to be "hunters" and I much prefer using them out in the woods or even off the bench for that matter than the original fwt stock (aluminum or plastic plates). Hell, I sold my original 375 H&H stock to throw it into a "shooter" stock and now it's on to another stock now (Mcmillan coyote bomber swirly). Trust me, I'll always be able to sell the rifle for more than I have into it. The moral of the story is to buy them cheap and sell for a little profit or break even if you are selling to a good buddy/friend. Right EricM....

Here is the only Model 70, bolt gun or scoped gun I've ever had. I had wanted a 30-'06 or 270 to shoot and ended up with this. The wood had a glossy clear coat over top of what was left of the original finish. The clear coat was flaking and it was not very appealing to my eyes. Good news was it hadn't been cut for a pad or to fit a receiver sight. I don't think it was sanded before the clear coat and I didn't use sandpaper on the wood(I used stripper and an old toothbrush). I know I'm an amateur and it's not perfect but I like it. I wanted to make it look used and not new. Maybe the scope mounts aren't super pretty either, but I like the old K4 with the range finder reticule. It seems to work just fine.


I made an effort to keep the wear as it was and left the scratches and dents. I tried to wear off my refinish in the normal wear areas also. I have taken it out in the rain a few times. I like to layer on several coats of wax prior. If it hadn't had the extra finish I would have left it alone.





I also got into it fair because the bore is rough with some pitting from the throat to the crown, but the crown itself looks good and I thought I could make it work. I had erratic accuracy from the start with various factory ammo. It was really getting frustrating and I was thinking there might have been some good reasons this rifle had been for sale! I bounced some ideas back and forth with BSA1917 last summer and got a few pointers from him. I also read a lot of older books and remembered reading in a Jack O'Connor book about shimming the barrel off the stock a little. I ended up putting .030" total under the front of the action and .010" at the forearm tip. I saved this target from last year because I now had better results. There are about 16-17 shots in there as I worked my way up from the bottom of the target making scope adjustments and writing down notes about the various 165 and 180 grain hand loads I had been working on.


Eventually after reading over on the reloading forum I tried IMR 4831 and 180 grain Partitions and started getting five shot groups around 1-1 1/2" regularly. Yesterday I worked on some 150 grain bullet loads but first shot three of the factory rounds I had been using last year and then three hand loads. I know it doesn't do this every time but it was a good target to remind me of where I had been with it and seeing some improvement. I'm very happy if I can get five shot groups around 1" at 100 yards. The 150s with IMR 4064 best group was five at 1 3/8" so I think I have a start there too.


You guys seem to talk about Model 70s a lot over here. I had been reading about refinish so I'd thought I'd share. I try to be persistent with stuff and doing a lot of reading here and on the reloading forum helped. Thanks!

That looks great. Very nice job!

Eric

I agree, that rifle is a beauty!! It shoots great too for a rough bore. I love the old scope too. Did you buy that scope from bushmaster1313?? Looks great!!

Thanks for the compliments on the rifle guys.
The scope was on the rifle when I got it. I shoot tang sight lever action rifles otherwise. I know right next to nothing about scopes and since this is what was on there I use it. I would be happy to hear some suggestions for a better post-war vintage scope I should look out for. Thanks!

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Why?

There still is something to be said to shoot an old rifle as it was made to shoot. I do the same with a 1950 30-06 and still use the Stith Bearcub that was on it...

Minty 4X on a '55 M70 in .30-06. Mounts are older Redfield steel rings on a Jr base. Very retro, but still usable.

Has anyone here ever used "Winchester Restorations pre 64 red-brown stock oil" or "French Red stock filler" ? If so how did it work out?