Lots of good posts here...I don't profess to be any expert on these things as guys like Greydog and JB know far more than me about all these various rifles.
I am not a collector...I am a user and been fortunate to own quite a few of all of them.Part of my afinity for pre 64's is that I have used them successfully for years and so I trust them, the same way some people have lucky hats,or wear mismatched socks when they pitch a baseball game...
I have also had good semi-custom rifles built on the Classic action that were just as good and just as trustworthy in every way.
My new Mashburn is built on Classic action,and after seeing the job Gene Simillion did on it,have to sayit is as nice,or nicer in every way as any pre 64 M70.
The 7RM Classic the Redneck here put together for me is a fabulously accurate rifle that has never bobbled. He also did a great job on the trigger,which is reliable and safe and breaks like ice.
I have posted a bunch on how much I like the new SC M70's,and how impressed I have been with the out of the box function and accuracy,and feel of the trigger.
So,in the end when the OP asks which I prefer, I say I prefer the pre 64,and "here's why".....this is far different from an objective analysis of which is "best". I have my own notions,but that is all they are...
And this is not to say the others are junk;the design is fundamentally the same,and if care is taken to make sure they work first time/every time, I doubt a guy can really go wrong with any of them...the stuff I have shot with the Classics has wound up just as dead as the one's killed with the pre 64...
With any of the three, I think after a few hundred rounds of trouble free use, a guy could hunt very confidently with any of them and not worry
