Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Nothing special model 70

So Danny L said he had model 70 in a 270 Winchester, when Fotis was looking for a rifle for his son and once Fotis found a rifle. I sent Danny a PM and asking him if the stock on this Winchester had the W pressed into it and he replied back it did and he sent me pictures and I asked him how much he take for it? So here is the rest of the story….

When I was stationed at Fort Huachuca back in 2001; I went to Walmart and put a 270 like this on layaway. So back in the day Walmart had these model 70s you probably heard them referred to as the Walmart model 70s because they were plain Jane no bottom metal plastic stock with the W pressed into the stock they were chambered in seven mag 30-06, 300 win mag and the 270.

I forget how much they were maybe $299 bucks but I was a Lowly E4 with a young family and so I had to put it on layaway. So I get it out of layway put cheap Weaver rings on it, i put a Simmons eight point they were selling for $49.99 and put it all together went to the desert and shot it off the hood of my truck the trigger was atrocious, at the time I had no idea how easy it was to work on model 70 triggers.

I think i was shooting 130 grain Hornady spire points maybe 140s hornady’s it did group pretty decent from what I remember, anyhow deer season came and off I went. I can’t remember how many days I’ve been hurting might have been just open the morning, i do remember i hiked up a hill more like a mountain had a good vantage point glassing with my rifle scope, (I know only the unrefined do that) I couldn’t afford binoculars.

I didn’t see anything so I start making my way back down the hill and I kick up a deer. I shouldered my rifle look through the scope it’s a buck I shot and I hit, make my way down and put finishing shot in it. I gutted it. I got to dragging it a good distance then stopped by a road threw my flannel shirt on it. I got to my truck made my way back to the deer loaded it up and headed to check in station ie sportsman’s center we had to check the deer in and they weighed them, how many points they had and age it all that stuff. I skinned it there and all that took it home and processed it. The deer weighed like 65lbs lol. I was told it was good size deer.

Well Dove season came around and I got the fever bad I was shooting 835 multi mag. That thing was beating me up pretty bad I think this might’ve been the second year I’ve been Dove hunting so 2004. I didn’t hunt in 2003 i was in Iraq. So the following dove season i was shooting that 835 in a 12 gauge.

So i decided to trade that 270 off because I wanted a Remington 1187 and I didn’t have the money to buy one was going to use that rifle as trade material there was a gun shop in Sierra Vista that had 1187. The reason I wanted a 11-87 another guy that was dove hunting with us let me shoot hits 1187 and it was something else so I had to have one. Off i went too that gun shop with a Ruger Blackhawk and that model 70 that guy would not give me the time of day he said he can sell that shotgun faster than that rifle and pistol.

So I went down the road to another gun shop and they had a Mossberg 500, 20 gauge so I settle for that and they traded me straight across for that model 70, the safety on that Mossberg broke and I left it at my dads in Oregon when i came up here in 2008 and I haven’t seen it since. So buying this was more for nostalgia for me I guess since i shot my first course deer with a rifle identical to this one. I probably should’ve never got rid of it.. thanks to Danny for helping bring back good ol memories when I was in hell of lot better shape hunting the gray Ghost of the desert..

Great story and I understand the nostalgia. I did the same with a Rem 760 Carbine, thought I needed a longer barrel. I always lamented that trade and made it right when I found a carbine 40 years later about 100 numbers from the one I traded off so I bought it. Now that carbine is my go to deer rifle in the woods of northern Wisconsin.

This was at a time of dial up internet, cell phones?? Hardly anyone had those things.. crazy how far we progressed in gear but the ol model 70 keeps on going..

Geez j. You sound like me when I was younger. Also, were you using 3 1/2" magnums in that damn 835, on dove? Poor things. Ha ha. Wait till I post a pic of the slow twist 22-250 xtr fwt I pm'd you about. If I dont like it, it may come up for sale.

Lol nope I was buying that bulk federal dove load stuff 7 1/2 from wal mart 100rds for $25 something like that. Finally started buying it by the case. Before I left Arizona I got to be a decent shot when
It came to dove hunting.

Excellent. Dove are fun aren't they. I learned with my single shot 20 gauge. Fun times... You'll have to keep us posted on how this rifle shoots for you.

Ha! Great story John. I have a similar one but with a Ruger M77RBZ 300 Win.

How many times have we paid someone or did something rash when if we had todays brain we could’ve done it ourselves or at least known that it was possible.

That's one of those rifles that are near impossible to find these days. I ended up making a 20" 270 Win with a 760, but I still keep my eyes open for the right 30-06.

The OP's rifle in .30-'06 with Leupold DD rings and a VX-II 3-9x40 is my "go to" rifle from another thread. The more I use it, the better I like it. It shoots better than it should by a wide margin.

Glad it worked out for you. That correcting of an earlier poor gun selling decision hasn't always worked as well for me. Over time, I tended to ascribe mythical qualities to long departed favorite guns. Then upon replacement I found them to possess the qualities that allowed me to rationalize their sale/trade in the first place. I've stopped doing that. Like Thomas Wolfe said, "you can't go home again."

Way back in the 80's I snagged one of the first M70 XTR Fwt's in 6.5x55. One of those in that first batch made which were purportedly an over-run of an order for a Scandinavian outlet. At the time the only 6.5x55's to be found were old Swedish Mausers and the thought of a new American rifle chambered for it was overwhelming for me, a real fanboy of the cartridge. My dealer buddy moved heaven and earth and found me one, and I never cherished a rifle more than I did that one. Many deer succumbed to its vicious crack. Ten years later in a weak moment I horse traded it on something else, and the remorse immediately set in. I searched halfheartedly for 20 years for a replacement (it had to be one of those very early Fwt's) until a new Ruger #1A in 6.5x55 fell into my lap and finally chased away the demons created by that fateful M70 swap. Now I'm back at peace with myself for I dearly love this little Ruger - and I doubt I would swap it for that long gone M70 Fwt.

Edit: If anybody here now has that rifle, it's easily identified by my having installed a Lyman 48 as backup for the scope. I used a minty pre-war sight which, horrors, required wood removal to make it fit. (The inletting I did was so close that the sight looked like it grew out of the wood.) I don't want it back, but would like to know of its journey since it left my hands!

I have the OP’s exact rifle in 7mm rem mag 26” tube. Straight out 3/4 moa rifle with about anything ran thru it.
Gave 300.00 used and naked. Put Weaver bases and rings and. Leupold VXII 3x9x40 . If I ever make it Antelope hunting that’s my gun.

Well I put one of those bushnell trophy xlt’s 4-12 on it picked it up if eBay while back for $119 bucks I think. Made in China scope.. only reason I bought was I read they were made in the Philippines well they aren’t lol.. I had a rings and bases already even though I have some Talley lightweights coming in the mail. Have a meeting this morning then off to the range I go.

Totally "utilitarian". But there is beauty in that..

Geez gnoahhh, I can almost see the boot print in your azz for getting rid of that XTR FWT. Damn... Those particular rifles always just pop out at me when I'm at a gunshop looking through the used rifle section. Just something about them that is alluring to me...

Sounds like fun... Let us know how it does. Thanks!

Well started snowing will go tomorrow, I just need to test fire some 300 BO. Making cases for it make sure they run through my 300 BO. Have couple 22 pistols to sight back in.. then shoot this 270 see how it does. I haven’t done anything to it. No bedding or floating the barrel. I did none of that with the other rifle. Will post results tomorrow.

Shooting in the snow does suck brother. Here are some pics to get you in the mood.

One of my favorite model 70's, doing its thing...:

I like a rifle not hard to load for 😁 150gr hornady sp, 60.6gr mag pro, WLR primers 3.205
I should’ve stopped at 3 😁

It has potential J. How's that hot glue bedding? Looks good to me.. Which shot was the one that is out of the cluster?

Either the 4th or 5th.. the first 3 shots I could see them in a cluster. That thrown one could’ve been me. My feets were getting cold and the temps were dropping. So I started rushing myself. I haven’t pulled it out of the stock to see the hot glue bedding.