Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Drop a Win 70 pre-war action into Win 70 pre-64 but post war McMillan stock??

Can (or should) a Win 70 pre-64 post war McMillan stock be fitted with a 70 pre-war action?

I want to restock a Win 70 pre-war action (clover leaf / dolls head tang) hunting rifle. I was just offered a nice used McMillan pre-64 post war standard tang painted stock that in theory should work well for my project, but I can't visualize how much work and material is required to fit & bed the tang?

Unfortunately I don't have a standard stock available to just drop my action into and see. I have seen a long time ago a pre-war action bedded into a factory post-war wood stock, and my recollection was that it was noticeable at tang but not especially hateful... The McMillan is painted, so my thought is that a repaint after bedding should take clean up the looks.

I am concerned about functionality, will it sit right and hold up to hunting and & 30-06 recoil. And if it takes 5 lbs of material, that might throw the balance off a bit ;-)

Has anyone done this?

Thanks,
Tim

I did just this a few years ago on a Wildcat stock.
You will have to move the front guard screw rearward about 1/4" and mill a new slot for the recoil lug.
After it's all bedded and finished you can't tell.
Bedding the clover leaf tang should not be a big deal.....Stuart at Wildcat stocks did the bedding..:-)
There might be some work required on the rear of the trigger guard also.
Some stock patterns don't mesh well with the Pre'64 metal in this area.
"greydog" who's a member here is the guy who knows all there is to know, (and then some) about your question.

Hi rembo, I am no expert but was that possibly a post 64 stock fitted to a pre-64? My understanding is the pre-64 action bottom metal bolt location stayed same for pre & post war. thanks

Rembo, I think you got your wires crossed here. Pre-64's, whether pre-war or post was had the same footprint. The only issue is the rear tang, it would need a bunch of fill and then paint or some type of finish. I think you may have mistook a pre vs. post 64.

I see...I read Pre'64 post as post 64....it was a post 64 Wildcat blank I fitted to a Pre 64

It should drop right in but the tang will stand a little proud and will require some building up of the stock. Be sure and provide some clearance behind the tang (a couple layers of tape worth) or the stock will chip out behind the tang.
I put a model 54 (with Model 70 bottom metal) into a McMillan post-64 stock and it worked out well. Same requirement for building up around the tang and had to re-locate the front screw and recoil lug mortise. I have done numerous pre-war and transition models into post war stocks and this also works fine. GD

thank you everyone!

I have a pre war/pre 64 that McMillan sent me a post war stock for.

I had Redneck bed it while he was rebarreling the gun. Looks like a bit of fill work for the tang and the TG was a bit proud and he fixed that as well, IIRC.

Shoot him a PM. I’ll try and post a pick.

Madmooner, thank you very much for the picture - allows me to visualize this idea much better!