Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Opinion on NIB Winchester 70 classic stainless 300wsm

I’m am interested in the above rifle for an upcoming elk/mule deer hunt and have the opportunity to purchase NIB from local shop. This will be my “big rifle” as the only reason I can justify a 300 is a potential nilgai hunt where 300 magnum is minimum allowed.
The gun is $800

Any reason to avoid a classic 300wsm from a quality or feeding standpoint? Bolt cycles as smooth as I could ask for right now.
Will accuracy be acceptable without tinkering beyond a trigger job?
Is $800 a good price?

Thanks!

I’d grab it for 800 bucks myself. If it is NIB that’s a solid score.

It’s really hard to guess with the Classics but by and large I’ve done well with them. Throw an Ernie’s spring into the trigger group and I’m thinking you’ll be good.

Check the feeding and such but my Classics in WSM all have worked well.

That’s a good score in these times.

For $800, I'd be on that one like white on rice.


Okie John

This ^^^^^

Hate to be cynical, but depends on who ya ask. Yes, its a good price, and if ya got a use, id go without question. Its fair.

I've seen extreme weathers chambered in the WSM for less, so I guess the question is which one would be better? Keeping in mind that is a 7 digit classic, which have been known for having some issues. Some of which I've seen personally. I was at one of the small town LGS 2 days ago and ran across an older stainless classic chambered in 7mm rem mag for $600.00. The downfall to that one was it had a boss on it. I realize a lot of guys don't get off their azzes and look around like I do, so a lot of guys go by internet pricing. Places like GB used to be good resources for rifles like the one in question. In 2018 I bought a 7WSM classic stainless with tupperware stock there for $500.00. No one else bid on it. That doesn't happen anymore and GB has been a joke as of late, unless you are selling guns there. Now to answer the OP's question about accuracy. It all depends on what you can live with. Shoot it as is and it will probably be a 1 1/2 moa rifle. Glass bed it, fine tune the trigger, make sure its freefloated and I guarantee groups will shrink. Again, its all about what you can live with..

In the classic stainless the 300 wsm could also be a 6 digit. I’ve seen a handful. Have seen exactly one 6 digit 270 wsm; and zero 6 digit 7 wsm’s.

As to valuation, $800 is probably about right. Used to be $500-$600 as BSA said, but those days are gone. Standard chambering classic stainless are now routinely bringing over a grand.

The 300WSM came out in 2001 I believe. When did the 7 digit's start?

Don't tempt me to go out and prove you wrong... Ha ha. I saw a classic stainless 30-06 featherweight the other day for $600.00, but it was a little rough. A shame too because it looked to have a nice walnut stock, except for some dings and scratches on it..

Sometime shortly after the G38xxxx range - 2002.

Oh no. If anyone could find one, it would be you!
Not disputing you at all. Just stating what they are routinely going for on GunBroker. You can certainly still find good deals … and they have become more common in the last 6 weeks.

Thanks AK. I thought it was right around the time the WSM's came out. Curious as to whether the OP's rifle in question is 6 or 7 digit. More than likely it will be a good rifle either way. I'm sure 79s here has one just like it. Maybe he can comment on how it shoots and functions.

I’d have put bookmarks down your back to grab that SS 06 for 600 bucks myself. The stock doesn’t mean too much to me anyhow. They usually get a McMillan anyhow.

No more than 3 years ago it was common to find clean 300 WSM Classic Stainless M70's in the $500 - $650 range. Generally they have been the most affordable (cheapest) of all the Classic Stainless M70's. The 300 WSM ran its course in terms of popularity, and conventional rounds, both magnum and .473 headstamped cartridges, have remained more stallwart in terms of value in the Classic Stainless. Having said that, I far and away prefer the 300 WSM in an M70 or Kimber 8400 to any other 300 Magnum. In this current climate, yeah, I think $800 is a solid buy, especially NIB.

Lol, both these guys are right, imo. You can still find early classics in the 5 to 6 range, but ya gotta look, and, its not gonna be an everyday thing. You gotta look or just bump into it. And, they're gonna potentially have some bumps and bruises. With that being said, how soon do you need it, and how bad do you want it? I don't believe the price is out of line if you really want one and your going to keep it for awhile. But, if you want a bargain, and its not a big deal then wait. An ew for under that would be a bargain and the route id go if ya had time cause I believe you'll look awhile.

That. I've had M70 Classics in nearly all chamberings, but not a single WSM graces my safe.. There have been feeding issues, chamber issues and reloading issues with WSMs. Yes - all of them can, but the WSMs seem to rule that roost....(in my experience over the last 20+ years)..

Heck, this 7 wsm is almost going to hit a grand.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/927660440

Part of the reason I said they had their issues. Especially the 7 digits. A guy just has to be mindful of that. We've heard of some of them having "oval" chambers and scope mount holes not drilled on the center axis, really bad bedding (which is an easy fix). You could name more things to watch out for, since you worked on tons of them over the years. Would it keep me from buying something like what the op is asking about? Maybe. The thing is when you are looking a rifle over, new or used, there are things you look for. I check them out thoroughly and sometimes even bring a buddy along that is just as versed in buying used rifles. They may see something you don't. There should always be a check list of things you look for when looking at a used rifle. And I'd consider this one a "used" rifle, even though it is described as "NIB". Is $800 a good deal. Probably, but it's not a "money maker" per se. I know a lot of these guys aren't out there buying rifles like some of us, so they stumble across an average deal and buy it with the assertion they are never going to get rid of it. I've heard that 100 times here. I, on the other hand, treat them like they are my savings account or like I remember you saying a time or 2, your "401K". I've even ran across some rifles that, now I wished I would have bought. Last fall, right before elk season a buddy and I were in Cabela's and I spotted an Extreme weather. Dang thing was like new. I looked at the price tag and it was $625.00. I was like wth?? Then I saw it was a 325WSM. That explains it. However, if it had been a standard cartridge it may have been more money. A buddy and I were at the coast, last summer, near where he lives and we stopped in at the LGS there and just for chits and giggles we go and look at the guns. They had a 308W Extreme weather. It had dust on it, it had been there for so long. It was marked clearance: $800.00. I looked at the serial number and it was a 2009 rifle. The same fn, literally, rifle we had looked at 10 years prior. No one likes 308w over there I guess. A lot of guys using 300 RUM's and other magnums in that area. The guy behind the counter said the rifle had been there for at least 10 years that he knew of. They just wanted to move it down the road, so they marked it way down. Like I said before, you just got to get out and see what's out there. The 300WBY XTR in the Mcmillan we were discussing in another thread is only $800.00. That would be a hell of a deal for someone. Yeah, it may need a new barrel, but that's an easy job for someone like you Lee. I've since seen 2 mcmillan winchester winlite stocks on ebay sell for upwards of $500.00.

Must be the week for classic stainless Model 70's, been looking at one in 338 for the last couple. Comes with box and low serial number range.