I'd love to see all the builds I can't afford...
Also please list the smith.

Pre 64 Mdl 70, 270 Win, stocked in English Walnut with Buffalo horn butt plate and pistol grip cap, checkering is 22 LPI.

Absolutely beautiful. Who did the work?

Pre 64 M70, 7mm Rem Mag, metal and stock work by Len Brownell. Built back in the 70's.

Love the bases on that thing. Who did the work my friend?

All very nice.

I wish I knew. I had all the info and lost it in a move, I guess.

257:That Roberts is very nice. The barrel contour is a Tom Burgess contour. Others copied it.

Very slick rifle!

Thanks Bob. There are no maker markings of any kind.

WOW!

Wow Bob, just wow...

first one I sadly no longer own, a 7x57 by Gary Goudy, still the most beautiful stock I've ever seen in person.


Another, a .270 my dear friend John stocked years ago and passed it on to me, to be enjoyed in my family for generations to come..

That 257 is a thing of beauty. That stock just pops out at you. I like it!!

Thank you. Lots of nice rifles here. Here's a few more pics of the stock.

Looks great!! Now I'm drooling... The m8 4x even looks good on there. I'm going to go and shoot my lowly ol 270 fwt. tomorrow to help get my mind off your rifle... . Very nice rifles guys. I'd love to have a nice stock on any of my pre 64's. One of these days, I hope to get a Biesen or similar. I'd probably be scared to take it into the woods though..

What a jaw-dropper.

Sam Marino of Beaumont Texas back in the 1960's, he's deceased.

Thanks Brad. That rifle is one of my all time favorites. Here's a little more of a full length view.

Geez, very nice Roberto!

Hey Bob, can I borrow that stock?

bsa Len could build them !

You shoulda seen the one I sold! ugh

Oh man. I bet..

Man, those pictures make my heart hurt! Beautiful rifles fellas.

Thanks Randy! Love yours too.

Where is the Goudy!!???

Ya shoulda called me! LOL!

Bob, I sold it to a guy I knew who was quite sick and wanted to leave it to his son...I just couldn't say no to him....while I still made a nice profit he got a great deal.Turned the cash into some tags for my boys and I, like you I'm a hunter first I guess.

I'm really surprised butchlambert1 hasn't filled this thread with fine rifles that will make us all drool...

Randy that was a cool thing to do...

Some great pre-64's guys.....

Al Biesen O'Connor replica:

Beauty Chet. Very nice classic.

A 1952 270 with Burgess metal work including Douglas barrel and a stock by Milliron made in the early 70s:







And a 1954 257 Roberts Ackley I used to own:

Very nice Rick! I handled and fired the Milliron rifle when it was owned by a shady character from Idaho.

270 I built several years ago has become my meat gun

257 Roberts I built in the late 90s

ooohhhh! Nice Rick!

Beautiful rifle Bob! Thanks...Bill.

A 1939 270 WCF.

Ed: Beauty.Love that stock.

A 358 Win carbine.

You don't see many 358's like that! Nice.

I really like the 358 Win. Super pics as well.

A lot of nice stuff here! Everyone deserves at least one great hunk of walnut.

Loving all these great rifles. Now this is the kind of gun porn I'm talking about!

I bought this from Cabelas. I have no idea who built it. reasonable build quality but no where near the previous rifles in this thread. It's a 1937 4 digit serial number in 270 WCF.

1911, that's a damn fine looking rifle that I'd be very proud to own. Thanks for sharing. That old rifle has a lot of class!!

My custom 1953 M70 is still in the ingredients stage.
It will be ready to hunt by October.

What are the specs on your new build. what caliber is the original rifle?

Here's the floorplate & TG, engraved & signed by Master engraver George Sherwood:

Good Gawd that's beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

Change from 308 to 25-06.

Watch feeding. The rails are part of the receiver in the pre 64 action and unique to the cartridge. The longer cartridge will pop off the rails sooner once you swap out the mag box to 30/06 length.

I had a 308 action that I turned into a 270. It fed like crap. Didn't like it at all.

Maybe yours will be Ok....don't know. Good luck.

Uh oh.
I have an old M70 I converted from 30-06 to 270 that works. I will compare those lips to the 308 lips.

Yup. 30/06 to 270 will work. I was not happy with 308 to the 30/06 length.

My one and only so far...

Nice rifle!

Thanks Bob...sold it but here were the specs:
James Kobe built
Pre-64 action
#2 Lilja SS barrel chopped @ 23"
Chambered in the Col's 35
NECG Masterpiece front and rear irons
Custom Talley bases made by Mr. Kobe
Echol's Legend stock with Edge fill
Exterior metal coated with Roguard
Interior metal treated with NP3

35 Whelen.

Original Winchester M70 Featherweight .358 Winchester chamber.

Builder: Winchester

Hey dumb don that's not a custom rifle that's a restocked factory gun


We all know you're to poor to have a custom job done

That's a factory made stock gitem_12.

Here you are in your Sunday best~



gitem_12

That's not.me dummy.

That's the targets our gun club hands out at "open shoot" events

Man.....That turned out nice!

Since it's alright to post plastic stocked Winchesters, I'll post mine now:



1. 1954 H&H receiver
2. Midnight blue cerakote
3. Jewelled bolt body
4. Brown precision pounder stock with red decelerator
5. Holds 4 338 win mag cartridges in the magazine
6. Weight: 7 3/4 pounds all up
7. Gre-Tan stainless barrel


Extremely accurate elk stomper, balances perfectly and handles great.

I'd really like to try a Brown pounder stock. Looks perfect.

My m70 is sporting a Hunters Edge. Like everything but the comb is a bit low.

What is the contour and shank on that barrel? 22"?

Plastic?

OK. PoundR







Legend.

It's a 24" #2 with a 1.25" "exposed" shank. That's one thing about the pounder, it has a long forend as compared to the Mcmillan compact, so it makes the barrel look shorter than it really is. That's why I say if it has a 22" and shorter barrel, the compact looks more fitting. However, the pounder has a higher comb that many like, especially on heavy kickers. The recoil on this 338 is surprisingly tame because this stock really mitigates recoil well. Unlike some of the McMillan edge stocks I've tried on rifles 30-06 and bigger, which perform better with the standard fill stocks IMHO..

Beautiful rifle. That's my sorta hunting rifle.

Sounds like a damn nice rifle to me as well.

I did not know that and was contemplating converting my 308 fwt to a std length cartridge. That project got killed as I made the mistake of shooting the donor!

Pat that 270 conversion "worked"....sort of....but it was freaky watching the cartridge pop off the rails a LOT sooner than in a properly tuned pre 64 M70 set up for the cartridge.

I learned the hard way not to do that. I made that rifle into junk.

Thanks Bob, useful info to know.I still have a build in mind that ends up with a 270 fwt clone on a pre 64 (assuming I don`t run into a decent fwt that is priced reasonably). I will base it on a 270/06 action though to ensure it feeds like a pre 64 should.
That 308 fwt put successive 3 shot groups into less than an inch with very minimal load development and me yanking on the trigger so it will be remaining a 308 with a good synthetic in it`s future.

Pat nothing wrong with the 308. Use it as is.

Very similar to BSA's 338 - here is my 375 H&H

Pre'64 H&H action
Shilen SS #4 @ 23.5"
Brown Precision Stock
Talleys and 6x36 LRD
Will probably add some irons and Black-T later this year.
Balances and points incredibly well, holds 4 down and shucks shells like a dream
Weight: 8lbs scoped

Wow, that turned out great TDN!

This is one that I'm rather fond of, but I've not used it on any game as yet, just range sessions. It features a Danny Pedersen cut rifled barrel and some other metalwork. The stock is by Gary Goudy using a 40 year old stick of English walnut. It's a 9.3x62 and shoots very well.

I like it too. Looks great. Should look awesome with irons and black T too..

That wood is gorgeous. Where did you/he find a 40-year old stick?

It came from the estate of along retired California gunmaker well after he passed. A gunmaker friend of mine in Kentucky had access to them and I made a bid on three blanks and got all three of them. Although this one was the most figured of the three, I had all three used in custom stock jobs. This one and one other turned out very well. The third one really looked great, but had an internal flaw that rendered it unusable.

Wow! Really cool history. Thanks for sharing

That is cool history. Good to see those blanks put to good use. Rifle looks top notch!!!

As always Tom, thanks for sharing another one of your great rifles....

Very nice 9.3 Tsquare has.

Like TDN's 375, too.

I am almost embarrassed to post pic's mine, after seeing all theses fantastic M70's.

But what the heck.
Mine is a 57 vintage featherweight in 270 with an english walnut stock I did myself.

Not really custom, or a build just a simple re-stock.
But then again a pre-64 fwt doesnt need much improvement.

I check this thread twice a day hoping to see another beautiful walnut or even the great utilitarian synthetic custom pre-64s. Thanks to all for sharing.

Thanks BSA, Randy, Bob, et all. She is the definition of utilitarian compared to many of these beauties... But sometimes beauty is as beauty does.

250s @2900 are flat enough for anything and a whole lotta whalop when they arrive!

Very nice,I'd be happy to hunt that one!You build some very nice stocks.

You want "utilitarian", here you go my friend:


375 H&H, damn near bullet proof:


1957 270 fwt:


These 2, along with my 338, are my most utilitarian rifles I have...

You shouldn't be embarrassed over that beautiful rifle. I would consider it priceless if I were you. There's a lot to be said of a man that can do what you did Sir.

270 Win Built by Bob Gipson. I can't say for sure but I think 257Heaven's rifle might be done by Bob also.

That sure is nice...

I ran across a photo of four of my custom pre-64s and thought you guys might like to have a look. I've run this photo on the fire before, but it has been quite some time. Top to bottom, a .270, a Rifle Ranch custom in .375 H&H, a .338 and my .458 Lott. The .270 stock was a bit of a disappointment as the wood looked much better in the blank than it does after being whittled into a stock. Functionally, it is an excellent stick, but the figure showing in the blank largely disappeared in the stocking process.

WOW!

Wow is right.

Beautiful rifles!

Great googly-moogly! Love those red pads!

Timing is everything some wise man once said. I guess that is the case here. A few days back, I posted a photo of four of my pre-64 Model 70 custom jobs. It was a photo that I had posted some time back on the fire. As luck would have it, I received, this morning, a couple photos of my latest and most likely last custom rifle from Gary Goudy (or anyone else). I had a Model 70 action that I believe is one I bought from Alan Day before he left us way too early. I gave it to Danny Pedersen for one of his superb cut-rifled .30 caliber barrels and had him chamber it to .300 Win Mag.

I didn't have a blank in my stash that I wanted to use on the rifle, so it hang on my gunroom wall for a couple years. Then, at a Custom Gunmakers Guild show, I met a new member, Jim Bisio who, in addition to being a fine craftsman, had a wood cutting business. He pulled a blank from under his table that literally knocked my socks off. Although it was priced well above my meager budget at $1500, but I simply had to have it.

Gary Goudy's stock artistry on that blank is pictured here. It still needs another couple costs of finish, and then Gary's Fleur de Lis pattern checkering jobs, and the stock will be finished. I presume the metal is out for rust bluing. At any rate, I'll post photos of the finished rifle when I get it back home.

Wow, that's pretty.

Ditto that's a nice rifle and very nice workmanship.

Wow that is a beautiful blank!

"Almost" Legend
D'Arcy Echols edge stock
#2 Liljia SS 1-10" Twist @ 23"
Winchester G Series Action
custom alluminum bottom metal
Cerekoted midnight blue
Custom bolt handle checkering
Factory trigger tuned to 2-3/4 lbs
Custom bolt jewelling

I really like that one. Good choice on the midnight blue cerakote. I love the brown color stocks with red pad too. Great combo..

Dude, that puppy turned out awesome!!

BSA still wins the prize for the nicest one I've ever seen...the black/grey one. I just pretend it's a 257Roberts. powdr

Sakohunter: What colour for the stock?

Brown with slight texture. It sure feels nice in the hands.

Here is a 7x57 that was built by Clayton Nelson on a pre-64 model 70 action, with an octagon barrel with integral quarter rib, sling point, and front sight base.

Sako, I think he's asking because he's wanting to paint his stock a dark brown like that. Was that one painted by D'Arcy Echols, Mcmillan, or other??

Beautiful rifle Sir. I passed on a Clayton Nelson M70 several years ago at a good price and have been kicking myself ever since. That's an awesome rifle you have.

Thanks, this rifle is actually my dad's. Clayton does some top notch work.

+1

Dang you guys got some gorgeous rifles on this thread!

Sakohunter264 what's that rifle weigh?

Stock was painted by Gene Simillion. Rifle weighs 6-3/4lbs without the scope.

know that is simply awesome!!!!!!!!!

I've always liked this 338. This is a good time for anyone who doesn't own a 338 to take a good hard look and convince themselves they need one

I'm still waiting to buy that one!

This one wins in my estimation!

Thanks guys. But I'm not ready to let this one go yet!!!

I got this custom stocked pre-64 M70 recently and am enjoying shooting it. It's a 300 Win mag with a 22" barrel and is scoped with a 3-9 Conquest presently.

The bullet being used now is the 155 gr Berger VLD. The rifle would be used on deer in the open shot from a stand.

While it has shot small groups my present want from a stand rifle is that it will put it's first shot right on, at range, from a cold barrel.

Here it is on the bench. I will expand on this post later.

Here is a photo showing the work on the stock. Keep in mind that I got this rather nice 70 for a good price.

Beautiful rifles fellas. They are all very nice.

Left to right:
1953 M70 30-06
1953 M70 308
1956 M70 30-06

The 30-06 and 308 feed lips are the same in 1953. There is a small change in 1956.
Some other things do change from 308 to 30-06; the ejector, magazine, magazine follower, magazine spring, and the thing attached to the extractor collar.

A little late to the game but still my nicest Pre 64....257 Roberts by Glen Morovitz of Newell, SD.





It does get hunted too....

It's first kill...



My son's first deer....



It's first elk, last January....

Now that is very cool. I realize that is your "nicest" pre 64 build, but many a person has drooled over your 9.3x62mm in the echols legend as well...

You mean this one? ;-)

Yep, that's the one. Very well put together rifle right there.. I like it..

I've got another, very similar, standard weight stock, maybe for sale.

Wow! 257 bob elk kill.
Beautiful Rifle by the way.

Interesting....I spoke with an experienced smith yesterday about why my 308 to 270 conversion did not work very well. He basically said it's the taper,and "bumps"in the receiver feed rails not being synch'd to the longer 270 cartridge.....something like that.

He had a lot of interesting things to say about feed/function in a Mauser system. Bottom line is I think I will put these conversions in the hands of people who aren't guessing.

You can't always tell what will work by looking at things.

I am curious as to how the tops of the .308 vs. 30-06 followers compare.

I dunno....take a look at Rule's book.

Notice the boxes though....the 308 is tapered toward the front more than the 30/06 box. Reason for that? ......


One thing that smith told me yesterday is that when you change one thing in a CRF system you need to change something else......the "system" is made to interact correctly.

And....there ARE differences between pre 64 boxes and post 64. The pre 64 boxes were tailored more specifically to the individual cartridges.

There were also challenges with the Classics with certain ammo and cartridges as far as function was concerned.

It was an interesting conversation and would make a great article.

Bob, you should fly out there and write that article. Seriously. There should be a book written.

pathfinder I am not the person to do an article like that...it is not my profession and I do not know enough.

But I know someone , a writer, who could!

Maybe he can file the idea away for a future article.

Bob, I realize that of course, but would love your prospective on that type of article.

Not very good pics,but here is the nicest one I own.

Put a Leupold 3x on it recently.

Bob doesn't give himself enough credit. I like his writing style as well. We could all learn a bit from Bob. He knows his pre 64's..

Ken, that is a beautiful sob. I have one just like it. It's one of the most accurate 30-06 rifles I've owned. Carries like a dream and fits like a glove. The reason many a good 30-06 has been sent packing..

It is accurate with 180 gr NP's and H-4350. What animals that cannot be taken with that load is limited in number.

Thought about re-stocking it in a fine piece of walnut,but,figured leave it alone. A Pre '64 Featherweight .30/06 while many were made there are fewer and fewer everyday.

I've had dreams of at least putting mine in a Biesen stock, but it remains in its original aluminum butt plate stock. One of these days, I'll probably end up putting it in a hunters compact like the one on my 270 fwt, but I'm not even sure about that. I kind of like it the way it is... ... You probably know what I mean.. Yours is a fine rifle. If it likes 180gr. Nosler partitions, it will probably like the Winchester powerpoints as well. The beauty in using this semi inexpensive bullet is you can practice more and don't have to touch the setting on the seater die. Try it, you'll be surprised...



This is my jackrabbit load. Works great on deer too...

May have to try the 180 gr PP someday.

Been thinking of putting a fine piece of walnut or a Banser stock on this one.





Right now have enough projects going on,so this rifle will have to wait.

I'd leave that one alone. However, I think it needs more of a sagebrush type camo job... You know those jackrabbits will see that realtree pattern.

Hi elkhunternm,

May I ask why did you put a Leupold 3x instead that great Refield Bear Cub 4x32...?

Thanks!

PH

I put the Redfield 4x on a little Interarms Mark X mini-mauser .223. I think it was a better match for the .223 than the Weaver 6x that was on it. The Leupold 3x was on a .375 RUM and I have Zeiss 4x in the gunsafe,so I took the Leupold off the RUM and put it on the .30/06 and put the Zeiss on the RUM.

Hmmmm......

Sorry for the crap pictures but I was able to strike a deal with Bobs son to get the Brownell 7 Rem Mag..









I’ll get some better pictures soon.

Very nice rifle Scotty.. Congrats. I'm sure Bob would be happy you have it.

That is wonderful news! You know you'll have to share the continuing story of that rifle for years to come.

Wow that’s a beauty!

Can’t wait to get it out and warm it up a little. It’s really amazing how great it feels.

Don’t deserve a rifle this nice…. I’m going to have to go to etiquette school next

Gonna slay an elk with that beauty?

I believe I would like to give it a shot.

Here is a cool write up I found on Brownell, guess this rifle was made in 1965 going by this paper.

https://americansocietyofarmscollec...rd-M-Brownell-1933-1982-A-Custom-Gun.pdf

I have a whole bunch of 7mm Partitions and BBC's so I think I'll be able to find something this rifle likes. Need to check it for twist, but I'd assume it has to be 10 or better.

Scotty that is outstanding! What a great memoir - super cool.

Thanks POC!

I think it’s a 1956. Restocked by Donnie Gemes with ShowMe Gunstocks. Dropped this little pronghorn in its tracks at 280 yards.

Pretty cool..

I have to believe my pre-war 270 and post-war 358 Win are somewhere above. Both very nice rifles by unknown builders. The 358 Win worked well in Africa in 2012.

Two very nice rifles Ed!

Can we get a close up?

Hopefully this is better.

375 H&H AI - I plan on exchanging the recoil suppressor with a sound suppressor.

My 300 H&H pretty much stock, but I love it.

Cool rifle there Bugger.

Love that rifle!

Very nice rifles here..

Threw the Brownell on the scale this morning



Can’t complain a bit about the weight with that darned wood on it.

that Brownell is a beautiful rifle!

Thanks fellas. I can’t even say how happy I am to have it!

Sakohunter:

Do you know if McMillan is still selling the Echols Legend stock?

Thx,

Tarq

McMillan never sold the Echols Legend stock directly to consumers. They were only available from Echols. Not certain they are presently available.

Pre War 30/06

That’s nice!

I’m not either.

And I’ve had a couple on order - along with a few other folks here - for a couple years.

I’m one of the others with a pair on order for a few years now also. Awesome stocks but tough to get.

Fabulous rifle.............I've always admired Len Brownell's work.

MM

Beautiful, beautiful rifle.............at 22", it would be perfect.

MM

Keith Stegall built 270.
The most accurate wood stocked sporter I've owned.....it would pile 3 shots into almost one hole.
Unfortunately, in a moment of weakness, I sold it.

MM

That’s a beauty MM! Danged nice rifle.

Glad this thread was resurrected. Nice trip down memory lane.

I miss a lot of the posters from that thread.

Great stuff guys!

Beretz…glad you got a hold of that rifle. Very cool!

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