Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors I found a nice little rifle yesterday

Nice score BSA. I am a fan of the 30-06 too. I have to find a featherweight Pre-64, I have never owned one!

It’s bullshit. I search all over hell for a great 35 rebore candidate and you scoop them all up in the NW.

Ah well, I’ll keep searching

Oh man, no featherweight 30-06? That is like sacrilege. Every red blooded American should own at least 1..
You will have first dibs on this one, if I decide to let it go. Wait, what happened to your fwt 30-06?

Sweet shooter ya got there!

I still have it. Won’t mess with that one.

I want a Featherweight to make into a Whelen though so I figured a beat up P64 or a later model like yours would be perfect for that sorta plan.

Yeah, that makes sense. Bobin said the later ones were his preference too because they were least desirable, so it wasn't as much of a big deal to make a custom out of it. Its not like an aluminum butt plate '55 or '56 anyway. Or even an early classic fwt would probably do the trick? Funny thing is I was headed over to buy that 6 digit classic featherweight you said I should have bought last month. Even though the stock had some dings in it, you are right that it was well worth $600.00... I just generally buy stuff in better condition. But if a guy was going to replace the stock with a Micky, it really doesn't matter what condition the stock is in and you can still sell the walnut stock on ebay to recoup some money. I wasn't really thinking on that one. I may still go and see if its over there. Had to buy another car though because of all the driving around I've been doing. Love the new 4Runner, but it only gets 21 MPG if I'm lucky going down hill and with a tail wind. I got 32 with the Accord the other day, which isn't too bad.

Congrats! Nice rifle and super fun thread to read!

Thanks buddy. I am glad you are enjoying it. I have to admit, I got in a hurry today with the paint because I wanted to put the rifle back together and show you guys, but I leaned the stock up against the wall when the clear wasn't dry yet. Ha ha. You know the rest of the story. It may be another day before I can put the action back in..

Thanks for the pics and congrats on another classy rifle...I never tire of looking at them.

Thanks handwerk. I always enjoy looking at your rifles too. Now I just need to start hunting my old rifles more. Truth be told, I had been wanting to buy a Mcmillan for my all original pre 64 30-06 fwt, because I didn't want to scratch the original up. Its in very good condition. I know, they were made to hunt, but I'm a little apprehensive about it. I think that is one of the reasons you like the rifles with recoil pads added and such. Shooters may not be as collectable, but they sure are more desirable out in the field. Most of mine are shooters, but the '56 fwt:

Its a sweetheart. I bought it because both my parents were born in '56. Kind of a keepsake. That damn rifle shoots good though. Its really a shame I don't take it out in the field. The reason I had been looking for a Mcmillan for it, but then this rifle came along and you know the rest of the story. It will work great and I can keep my '56 in like new condition. Win win.

As usual bsa, good score. I'd like to hunt in you're neck of the woods. For rifles that is, lol.

Ha ha. Yeah, this one was funny. I saw it and it looked kind of grungy. I didn't even know it was a pre 64 at first. It was nestled in with a bunch of other rifles. So, I pulled it out and looked it over and said, it's kind of dirty, but that just requires a good clean up. Then I saw it looked like it had a Mcmillan on it. That is a bonus! Not being a huge Leupold fan, I had to pull the old tattered butler creek flip up off and see what generation of Leupy it was. An older one, that is a plus in my book, as I've had some issues with the VX3's. And it's in excellent condition. The older Leupolds seem to be better. And another bonus, it's sitting in Conetrol's! I've always wanted to try the Conetrols, just never wanted to lay the money down for a set. Well, lets get down to the brass tacks. I have been working on the stock this morning and making sure all the parts fit like a glove or the way they should. Mag box was tight, so I had to relieve the bedding the previous smith left. Removed some paint so the trigger guard and floor plate would fit. Removed paint in the barrel channel. Don't want that to affect accuracy. Like I said before, I may properly freefloat the barrel, but want to shoot it first to see what it is going to do. So, the paint turned out decent and I have 5 coats of clear over that. After it totally cures, in about a week, I will likely hit it with something to take down the shine a bit. Here are some more pics of some of the work I did this morning and the completed project. Hope you guys enjoy:

Ain’t enough wear on that bolt knob to speak of. Nice grab.

Yeah, I don't think it's been shot much. I'm curious to see how it shoots. I'll just run some of the loads I already have worked up: That will be the 200gr partition, 180gr partition, 180gr Winchester power points, 168TTSX and maybe some 165gr Hornady btsp. I need to shoot my classic stainless to see how it does after I bedded the rear tang, as well. That gives me the perfect opportunity to shoot both of my newer to me 30-06 rifles. I've been messing with the Tikka's so much lately that the Winchesters don't get much love.

the red pad would make it pop, but, hard to ditch whats there.

I agree. My finger is on the order button. Almost. Those dang red pads are hard to find sometimes. I should have a few on hand!!!

That is a great score in my opinion. My favorite heavy duty hunting rifle is pretty much a twin to that one. 1961 FWT. in 270. Conetrol mounts w/ Leupold in a McMillan stock

Very nice sticks fellas!

Looks nice bsa.
You don’t see many supergrades inlet for pre-64’s - especially for featherweights.
Good work on the paint, as usual.
👍

Very nice rifle. Thanks for sharing. Looks very much like mine. Yours appears to have a 2.5-8x36. Those are nice and light scopes. There's a lot of utility in rifles set up like these 2.