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

One last picture, until range report. Took some 0000 steel wool to it today to knock down some of the shiny. Stock feels great and paint should hold up well. Now I need to find a new project. Ha ha..


I also said what the hell and freefloated the barrel, so we will see how she shoots in a few days.

Same here. Need to see for myself if they're a better fit than the Bridges Edge.

The right P64 will get one I believe.

Looking forward to hearing how it shoots.

hey BSA, which model stock is that? It looks great, also I'm looking forward to a range report.

Thanks buddy. It is the Mcmillan supergrade stock. It feels pretty good when shouldered. I'm curious to see how it handles the recoil. I'm thinking it will do well.

I've got my stainless classic .375 in a Mcm Supergrade stock. It's kind of chunky but I find it fits me just right, and is useful with a scope or irons. A very pleasant rifle to shoot. I predict you will like it.

I thought it might be a Supergrade. I have handled a McMillan Supergrade a little but not spent any real time with it, and that was in a heavier target barrel. Stock seemed to handle recoil well for me (of course the weight helped), so I'm curious how that works for you with a FW.
Thanks

Sounds good. I'm cleaning the bore out right now. Already have some ammo to try out in it, but will eventually work up a load in the old girl. I'll let you guys know what I think of the stock. I will probably take my old original '56 out and do a side by side comparison..

Had to take a couple 30-06 rifles to the range today. This one in the OP and my stainless classic featherweight. Both newer rifles to me. I had recently corrected the bedding at the tang on this rifle, as the previous smith had his head in his azz and didn't even glass bed that area. I see it mentioned here sometimes. Trust me, it makes a difference to glass bed the tang and the recoil lug. 2 points of contact. It's fu cking useless to not properly bed a rifle. Anyway, the stainless rifle is shooting notably better after its treatment. Who woulda thunk???
Now:



Before:

Now that is a difference you can see^^^^^^^

Now, here's the new one out in the sun at the range:


Next to his grandson:



Well, I wish I had some loads that were developed for this rifle, but this is what we had today. Keep in mind, I always keep it honest:

This was 2 loads from the new rifle (1961 fwt). You can see the 200gr Nosler partition load drops quite a bit lower than the 180. Also, The stainless classic spanked its azz. Now, one thing I can say about shooting these 2 rifles side by side today is the Pre 64 didn't kick nearly as hard as the Classic. That classic has a hard/solid factory recoil pad that does not absorb any recoil!!!! The other thing I noticed was the triggers felt nearly identical. Both set at 2.5 pounds, but one I did and the other, some smith did in Carson City. The bedding isn't perfect on the pre 64 yet. I need to totally freefloat the barrel and I think accuracy will improve a bit. Even if it's another 1/4", I'll take it. But I believe it will shoot more consistently as the barrel heats up, with the barrel freefloated all the way to the front of the recoil lug, or start of the barrel, like I normally do wit these featherweight rifles. My '56 is shooting mother. However, that is one I glass bedded and fine tuned. It's damn near perfect:


Yes, it's a "sleeper":


Actually the loads I shot today were developed for this old girl^^ I think I have to add that the Mcmillan supergrade, while it is an awesome stock, doesn't mitigate recoil nearly as well as my Brown PoundR. It is also slightly butt heavy on this 1961 featherweight rifle in the OP. I did carry it to the target stand to see how it felt when carried and that is when I noticed the butt heavy feeling. Balances slightly behind the front action screw, which is right at the floor plate. Not bad in all, just something I noticed. Weight is less than the stainless classic featherweight by 1/2 pound. Sorry, I haven't put it on a scale yet. In all, I'm very happy with how the rifle functions. Even though the classic is smooth in operation, the pre is smoother. That was a no brainer, but figured I'd say it. Hopefully this has been an interesting thread for you guys and I will definitely keep you informed on the next range visit, after the barrel is fully freefloated..

Great range day!

Tell that to my shoulder. ha ha.. I was just in the shop freefloating the barrel on the pre 64. There was some pressure on it. As I relieved that area under the chamber, it lowered the barrel near the tip of the forend. Had to get the dremel out to speed things up a bit. Sanding that bedding out of the barrel channel is tedious work, even with 40grit paper over a deep well socket. Now it is completely freefloated. I'm thinking accuracy will be better now. In all, I agree it was a good day at the range. I found out what I wanted to know and am happy the stainless classic is shooting better now too. Its too pretty to not shoot well!!! The pre should do better next time out as well too.

Looks like both of them will come around. Nice guns.

Thanks Scotty. Pretty much just a preliminary for both rifles. A good baseline anyway. Kind of sad, I've had that stainless classic for almost exactly a year now and have not shown it much love. Besides just fixing the glass bedding, freefloating the barrel, sealing up the barrel channel, tuning the trigger, throwing a set of DD's and an old Nikon that came off of my Tikka 7mm08. I didn't even realize I had made that switch until I got it to the range yesterday and realized it was not a burris 3-9x40. I guess it fit well on the classic that I left it there. I think I made the swap because I took the Tikka elk hunting last year and prefer the Burris ffII with ballistic plex. Good thing I had a dime to adjust those 2 old scopes at the range yesterday. Oh and I was wrong: the leupold has click adjustments. I'm actually surprised how bright and clear that scope is. As long as it keeps working, I'll leave it on there. It looks good on this old rifle and is lightweight. Seems to be adjusting properly.

Those older Leupold’s with coin adjustment clicks work fine for me. It’s the new ones that haven’t been worth a [bleep]. I’ve got a 2.5x8 on a 280 7600 that works well. Optically they kinda suck early and late but they are usable.

Alright, I tweeked the bedding a little more and messed with the torque on the middle action screw. Sadly, I was in a hurry today and grabbed the wrong box of ammo (actually empty brass), that I thought was my partial box of180gr Nosler partitions. So I only shot the 180gr Winchester power point load and the 200gr Nosler partition load. That 200gr Partition load has always worked damned well in all of my other 30-06 rifles. I've also shot elk with it. I refer to it as my "elk load". Here are the results from today. Cut it short because I had to meet with someone about 20 acres I want to buy.

180gr Winchester power point. Load worked up for '56 fwt:


200gr Nosler partition. Load worked up in m1917 enfield and '56 fwt and 6 digit classic:


It was windy today, but it was pretty steady when I shot the 200gr load. I think the rifle is showing some promise. Should be elk capable..

I have a question for your guys. Do you ever just have a "FUN" day at the range. I'm not talking good. I'm talking FUN!! Well, I took the new rifle out today with its new scope mounted. Had a little quirkiness going on with the old Leupold. I really hate to be a damn Leupold basher, but damn if there are some issues with them that I just don't like to put up with quite frankly. Now that that is out of the way. The new/old scope that I put on the old rifle is one I've had for years. Its not as old as my American made first Burris FFII 3-9x40 with ballistic plex reticle scope, but it's an old one nonetheless. The cool thing about this one is its gloss. Burris didn't make a lot of these gloss FFII's with the ballistic plex reticle:

(The Leupold did look better, but this scope tracks much better and I can trust it)

Most of them were matte finish. My other gloss with ballistic plex rides on the 22-250 XTR I bought at the beginning of the year. Anyway, I go to the range with some fresh ammo I loaded last night while you guys were sleeping. Its an old tried and true load with 180gr Winchester power points and good ol H4350. Its not the most accurate load I've tried in this rifle, but it shoots moa for 3 shots pretty consistently:


I also tried some Hornady 165gr BTSP with Big Game powder. Still on the fence about that powder. I may give it another try with magnum primers. I'm just not used to running magnums primers in the old warhorse:

I may throw another 1/2-1 grain at it as well. I think this rifle likes stiff loads. Anyway, after firing off the 180gr winchester power point load I decide to go to the 400 yard range. That thread about do groups really matter in a hunting rifle had me stirred up. Some guys get some weird azzed ideas that a rifle is going to shoot better the further the distance is. I set up a single target at 200 yards, 300 and 400 yards. Thinking it would shoot about a 2" group at 200, 3" at 300 and 4" at 400. Yeah, that is just about what it did. I don't feel like I was as focused as I am when I'm shooting my precision rifles, because I was there just having fun with my "hunting" rifle topped with my favorite hunting scope. Also, I couldn't see the fn target like I can with my 7-35x56 ATACR. ha ha just sayin.. Here's the range. I've shown pics of it before:

(This is an older pic, sorry I didn't take a pic of the '61 fwt on the bench, but you get the idea)^^^

Moment of truth at the 200 yard line, using the ballistic plex the way it was intended:

That powerpoint, as unsleak as it may be, did it's job^^^ Right around a 2" group, like I had predicted... No deer or elk would have survived that shidt...

300 yard line:

(Almost 4", damn!!) I blame it on my shooting and not focusing like I should. Still, in the kill zone though. That reticle is doing a damn fine job.

400 yards:



Of course, the wind decides to start gusting when I'm shooting my target at the 400 yard line, but I'll take it. Still easily in the kill zone of a deer. This is why I like this scope. I've used them on many rifles, most of my 30-06's and all of my hunting rifles, except for my 338wm. That one has a nice older 3.5-10x44 Conquest on top. That scope is great for those dark timber shots with the big 338. But the Burris FFII 3-9x40 with ballistic plex never fails me. I am going to look for an older American made matte finish one and put this glossy sob back on the Tikka T3x 300WSM It came off of. It looks better on that shiny Tikka with the deluxe grade walnut stock:


I'm also still on the fence about those Conetrols. They sure are nice looking, but require a little more thought for scope installation than my favorite DD's. I have been zeroing the scope optically for windage and then adjusting POI more with the windage adjust screws on the side. Right or wrong??That way, theoretically, the scope will be on the centerline of the bore axis. Another reason I wanted to shoot 400 yards today, to see if anything was way off, but it seemed to be spot on for windage. Or at least close enough for my needs. I see some good potential in this new rifle, as I haven't even started load development for it yet. Except for the Hornady 165 BTSP load I posted a pic of above. That is the only work up so far and that was very minimal. I'm wanting to work up some 165 TTSX in this old girl, since I have a few hundred of those laying around. Load workup with that bullet may prove pretty promising. We will see though. This was posted because sometimes you just got to have fun out there. Its not always about putting every bullet in the same hole, its about finding out what your rifle is capable of and making the best of what you have to work with..

I seriously considered letting this barreled action go to you, but I think it's going to shoot too good as a 30-06 to be re chambered. I'll keep my eye out for something that you may be interested in buddy. You know me, I run across some pretty good deals. The last one I sold to 79s here for $800.00 shipped.

No worries. I’m sure the right one will come along eventually.

They eventually do. I had to upgrade a few things on my new rifle:

$900.00
(-) 345.00 (Leupold)
(-) 200 (Conetrols)

Total: $355.00. Somehow I thought I was doing pretty well when I was at the shop. Now I need to go back and look at more of their stuff. Got to hit up a few pawn shops along the way as well..