Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors your 2 favorite Pre64 M70 chamberings?

My current fav pre-64, is a FWT JES rebored .358 Win. Started out as a shot out .243.

DF

[quote=lundtroller]

Favorite I own but don't shoot... 2 digit 30-GOVT-06 assembled the end of the first day of production,

DAAAAMN!!!

Ha!

Great gun. Don’t think I’d shoot that one either.

DF

Love to see a couple pics!

Calibers..

.308 & .270 currently.

Here you go. My pics leave a little to be desired!

























She has been loved and used gently over the years, a lot like the other pre-war 70 '06 offered for sale here on the 'fire recently. I will add again, not bad for almost 90 years old! The story of how I discovered her just adds to the allure... barrel down stuffed in with a bunch of other guns in a pawn shop safe! I am a bigger fan of "transition" 70s and featherweights BUT when I saw the serial # my stomach quivered and my knees began to feel weak (just like a little kid!!!) so I finally became a pre-war owner...

I'm not sure how this gun ended up where it did in "coal country" central Utah but my limited knowledge suggests that it may have originated in Wyoming or Colorado and may have "moved" to Utah sometime later. Will never know for sure though. Not sure where she will go next either... almost seems like it should be in a museum, ie. Cody, or something similar. I need to go check that place out as my family are not "loonies" like me, sadly.

For those "loonier" than me, I should correct my earlier description of the production date of the gun. The receiver was "stamped" late in the first day of production 1936 or early in the second day. As I understand, the first 100 rifles were 30-GOVT-06.

I probably should have bought a couple of other pre-war 70s over the years including the one mentioned earlier sold on the' fire. Interestingly, ALL of those were '06's, too!

Enjoy and never pass by a pawn or gun shop w/o a "look"! You never know...

Good Stuff! Thank You

My two favorites are .257 Roberts and .338 Winchester Magnum.

That is cool Lundtroller!

270 W.C.F and 375 "Magnum"

And another.
👍👍

Lundtroller: Thank you for sharing the great pictures and the great story of your "1st day" Model 70!
Good for you and take care of that prized firearm.
Love me some pre-war charcoal blued Model 70's!
Long live the Riflemans Rifle.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

300 H&H has always seemed just right for a pre 64 M70 to me.

22 hornet and a 3006

Yes thank you Lundtroller That was nice to see! Great gun! Nice pics!!

Yep.

And I appreciate him looking for the ultimate long term custodian of that historical gun. It ultimately needs to be a museum following Lundtroller’s tenure as caretaker.

DF

In my younger days I dreamed of Africa with a 300 and a 375 H&H in the gun racks. Nowadays a .257 and 7x57 Mauser would be preferable - and if that 257 were a custom rifle in a Featherweight configuration I'd smile even more.

Thanks for the nice comments and glad that the "gun" resonates with M70 lovers.

Really stupid luck that I ended up with it even though I do certainly spend time "looking". I had been in the specific "pawn shop" many times as I lived in that community for close to 10 years. There was actually another shop in town where I had scored many more "finds" including a Colt 2nd series "Woodsman", Win 64 30/30, and a pre64 308 FWT, all for amazing prices! Those are the ones that stand out anyway. The "pawn shop" where I got the '06 in the pictures did not display their guns very nicely AND had the reputation of calling and letting the local LEOs sift through everything first before putting them up for sale! That was fine but I never really had my hopes up for purchasing anything worthwhile there... until the day I walked in and spied the '06 sitting as described in the cluttered safe. When I saw it was a pre-war '06, I really was not that excited as I don't find them optimal for "using" unless they have been drilled/tapped/"altered", etc. This one had an old rubber slip on pad on it as well so I wondered, too, if it had been "cut". As mentioned before, I was totally unprepared/in disbelief when I turned it over and saw the SN. I'm lucky I did not drop the gun trying to rub my eyes!!! I told the owner I was "really interested" in the gun and asked if I could try to take the slip on pad off... he said yes and it literally just crumbled off leaving that beautiful steel buttplate in full view. I didn't "dicker" on price (like I usually do!) and could not get my wallet out fast enough (it would have been on a very fair price on any '06 (std. or fwt) at the time).

Luck? or something was shining down on mw that day... I also bought a NIB Colt CLR '06 that was standing in the safe, too! That gun was later sold to a member of the 'fire here. I should have directly driven 4 hours to Colorado or Idaho to buy a lottery ticket!!!

Wrt the M70, I happened to know one of the local LEOs (mentioned earlier) who had purchased some nice Winchester levers and Colt pistols over the years at this pawn shop over the years. He was a good guy for sure but pretty "competitive", too! When I told him about the '06, he did not believe me... when I showed it too him he just went silent, smiled and shook his head. I think he was a little pissed!

Will close by saying that I liked how Melvin Forbes said his guns were on ?"temporary loan" to their new owners like he still retained a significant "interest" in them! That said a lot about the man and his commitment to his craft/skill. I feel the same way about the "70" mentioned when I pull it out of the safe to hold and stare at occasionally. Not sure who "loaned" it to me but it will likely be around long after me, hopefully serving a purpose of some sort greater than what it was doing in that old safe. ACTUALLY, it would have been "BEST" if the original owner's family knew what they were getting rid of but that is another mystery.

308 Win
300 Win Mag.

I would like to se the .270 worked over by RJ Reiner!