Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Winchester M70 Super Grade

I have a SuperGrade on 7-08 that will be my daughter's. It's heavy but we'll balanced and is superbly accurate

I really want one of the French walnut SuperGrades

For me the limit is 7 1/2 pounds.....with scope, ammo, sling.

It's why I build my Mausers with Talley one piece mounts, a Leupold 3-9 ultralite, PAWS (aluminim) hinged bottom metal, Douglas or shilen #1 contour barrels, and very thin rubber butt pads.

.Yes, occasionally I vary from this but not too far.

I have two of the Featherweights (308 & 6.5x55) and really like and use them. I also have a Super Grade in 300 Win Mag that belonged to a deceased buddy of mine and it has a heavy Bushnell Elite 3X-9X50 in Leupold mounts and rings and it weighs a ton. I've never taken it hunting. It's a beauty and a reminder of the Newfoundland Moose hunt that we went on together, but it will ride the gun safe until the day they plant me.

I am 64 and I have a fused ankle full of steel plates and screws from my USMC days, have broken bones 33 times and lost at least 50% of my strength from the days I was a young man. But I carry 10 -11 pound rifles all the time and never felt they were all that heavy. And I am not a real big man either.

I do shrink back from 13+ pound guns and I smirk when someone buys a 50 BMG rifle for "hunting" so I do have an upper limit, but 10 pounds is not bad.

Looking at my notes here, I see 14 rifles I own that are 9-1/4 to 12 pounds and none of them burden me much when going uphills after elk or deer.

Remington M81 300 Savage. 9 lb 4 oz
Mauser M98 full-stock 9.3X57 9 lb 6 oz
Winchester M95 270 9 lb 8 oz.
Mossberg MVP 308. 9 lb 7 oz
Mosin Nagant 9lb 10 oz
AR10 308 10 pounds
Mauser 9.3X62 10 pounds
375H&H Mauser 10 pounds
270 Mauser with thumb-hole stock 10 lb 1 oz
270 Mauser with classic stock 10 lb 2 oz
300 H&H Mauser 11 pounds
404 Jeffery 11 pounds.
M1 Garand 11 lb 7 oz
6.8 SPC with Free Float Sleeve 12 lbs.

When I was a Marine I served with an Old Corps Marine who was then a WO4. He was a WW2 vet, Korean War Vet and Vietnam War vet. He was in his late 50s then and was faced with mandatory retirement not much later due to his age. At that age he could still score a 1st class USMC Physical Fitness Test. He was 61 when he was "kicked out" and that was after at least 2 extensions. He told me something I have always held as pure truth when he spoke to me about staying in good shape. He said [color:#009900]"Zihn, remember, it's easier to keep it then to get it back"[/color]

I am no longer in "RECON Condition" but I am not doing all that bad either for an old geezer. It's because I always remembers what he said to me.

I have noticed my rifles have "gained weight" but not so much I fret about taking them out. I just killed my buck antelope with my old M1 a few weeks ago. The thought it was heavy never crossed my mind.

Monday (Day after tomorrow) I and my wife are going up the mountain to see if we can kill our elk. We'll start at 6200 feet and may go up to 8,800 feet. My rifle is 10 pounds, loaded and with sling and her rifle is 10 pounds, 3 Oz with sling, fully loaded.

So not to kick any shins here, but I believe staying in good shape and working out is WAY more important then trying to cut 1-2 pounds off your rifle. If you start to work out 10 minutes EVERY day you will find by the 2021 seasons your rifles will loose a lot of weight.

Try it and see.

Balance is far more important to me than weight.

One of my most favorite hunting rifles is a 700 BDL in 7 mag that wears a 4.5-14 Leupold. I think it balances just fine

Not to discount balance, but really, it only matters when shooting off-hand; if shooting off-hand, then shots are not long, if shooting long, you will be using some form of support/rest, so in the end, balance as it relates to hitting what you aim at, is greatly over-rated, IMHO.

I've carried a lot of heavy rifles, in a lot of difficult terrain, but for the last 20 years or so, given the equipment available, there's just no real need to carry a heavy rifle, unless you just want to do it for some particular reason.

I'm happy with rifles that weigh anywhere from 6.5 to around 7.5 lb, scoped...............all my magnums are gone except for 338 or bigger so no heavy tweeners anymore for me.

JMHO, YMMV

MM

I have dislocated my left shoulder twice and separated it once.I have tendons that are to far separated too be reattached.I do lift weights but am limited to much I can lift.I am trying to make up for lost tendons with stronger muscles.That being said this limits me as too how heavy a rifle I can shoot well off hand.7 to 8 pounds seems to be comfortable but I have even lighter rifles all up.In Wisconsin I hunt in thick swamp and use a Marlin 1894 44Mag with a 16"barrel topped with a Leupold VX-2 1 1/2 -4.All up weight is 6 1/2 pounds loaded ready to hunt.When I was a young man just out of the Military I humped a Browning FN in 375 H&H for my western hunts no problem,but that was 55 years ago.So as I have aged I have gravitated to lighter setups.I guess each guy or gal needs to use what is comfortable for them and it is hard to say what you like applies to anyone else.Just having the ability to still get out there is what counts for me,Huntz

Depends if its a good day or a bad day. Formerly working physically and not knowing I have scoliosis (every guy on the job complained about a bad back never thought I was different) means the bad days make a lighter rifle nice. Depends if its a long walk with a lot of hills or a 10 minute walk to a blind to sit all day. Not complaining about a Featherweight right now.

And if I've slept in a tent with a thin foam mat under the bag

On a good day, a Win 70 Safari Express in 375 was no prob. And a 30-06 class rifle with the heft of a Super Grade must shoot dang smoothly.

I don't know about you folks but I really don't like the new slimmed down profile of the LA Winchester 70 Sporters these days. They list them at 7 lbs 4 oz. The old Classic Sporter and Sporter III were great fitting and handling rifles, to me. Now they feel almost like they have a Featherweight forend. No like.

One carries them for hours and shoot them for seconds. I'd rather have a lighter weight rifle - but to a point. The M70 Featherweight is about perfect for me in that regard. Same for shotguns. A field gun of about 7-7.5 lbs is good for me.

I bought a Model 70 Custom Deluxe n .270 Win. brand new in 1966 just after they screwed 'em up in '64. Damn push feed. I was a young dumb kid and didn't have a clue. Then as I slowly figured out what I had I had killed game with it and it was accurate. The push feed action made it lighter and the bean counters had included aluminum bottom metal and the stock blank was pretty light so the rifle with scope is less than 8 pounds and it's a pure joy to carry. I'm no wimp about weight but it does feel nice. It has worn at least four scopes through the years starting out brand new with a Redfield 4x.It wore a Weaver K-6, a Redfield Revoluton 4-12x40, and now wears a nice Leupold VX-2 4-12x40 with AO. I have at least 12 other rifles in various cartridges and most weigh at least 9 to 10 pounds if not more(Most have 24"-26" barrels and half are and CRF Mausers). I try to hunt them all, but that old light .270 Model 70 gets taken twice as much as any other because it's nice and light and handles like a dream.

However I do want to buy some form of control round feed Model 70 in .270 Winchester some day.

Wasn't trying to convince others to ditch their preference, just stating my own. I shoot offhand a fair bit, particularly when hunting, and as a result spend some time shooting targets offhand as well.

50 yards with a flintlock:


100 yards with a Highwall, .38-55




Not a long shot, 2 shots/target at 50'




Closest I get to a rest position while hunting here in the swamps is leaning against a tree, and 100 yards is a fairly long shot. Not the longest I've made, but it is the norm. I still hunt, period. Weight does not bother me if it's properly balanced.

Nice shooting there Dan. If I practiced more offhand, and was able to shoot like that, I have a lot less excuses come hunting season.

As far as rifle balance goes, I’ve noticed I shoot a lot better groups from the sit position with a rifle which has a slightly forward balance to it, than one butt heavy. The margin of improvement is greater when shooting offhand.

I have a Winchester Super Grade in 338 WM and I like it!

TomM1, forward balance is your friend for offhand work, any position.

Aye!

..........Ah hell. Go the gym....LOL.....My 338-378 Accumark (da beast) weighs nearly 10 lbs with scope. #3 barrel though!

One Super Grade Winchester in the safe, a 270 WSM with outrageous grade III crotch feather that belongs on a bespoke shotgun.

IIRC from 2004 before Winchester closed up shop. Barrel address Super Grade, bottom metal un-marked.

Went out right-a-way and bought a green and black spiderweb B&C Medalist stock and put the factory walnut in the safe. Shoots around .300 for a rifleman, definitely under a half with a competent operator.

Yep.

MM

My go anywhere rifle, aTikkaT3 lite w/ an SS 3-9hd scope all up w/ 5 round mag loaded weighs 8 lbs and I like it. I would like it more if it weighed 6 lbs and cost the same $.


mike r