Thanks gents. Mine is a 308 WIN made in 1963. This one is my second one; the first was an early one from 55/56 - it was more prone to jamming as it lacked the cartridge lifter on the bolt head and had the flat bottom magazine. I traded it for this one about 25 years ago (1995 at Shuman's Guns in PA). This one is very accurate with a handload - Hornady Interlock 165 grain BTSP and IMR4064. It will not shoot worth a damn with any factory ammo I tried. The finish is getting thin on the wood but it is in overall good shape - however when you examine it closely you can see the finish is gone near the buttplate. I am guessing the rifle got the new style stock in 1964 (transition era) or that a prior owner broke the original stock and ordered a new one after the checkering change. Serial number is from 1963. It's been my favorite deer rifle a long time - I own one Ruger M77 in 270 WIN and three pre-64 M70's (270 WIN, 308 WIN, and 30-06 SPRG) but deer hunt almost exclusively with this rifle.
