Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles pre-64 Win M70 .270WCF, finally!

I've been angling for a certain pre-64 Winchester Model 70 in .270 Winchester for the past 15 months and finally landed it! It was a grind but I have the rifle in my mitts and I have to say I am quite satisfied.




It isn't "perfect" by any stretch, but it is going to make a fine hunting rifle for me. I had to swap off two rifles to bring the Model 70 home but it was worth it IMO and now I have a mate for the pre-war M70 in .30 Govt I already own.



The rifle is a 1940's vintage rig and had an El Paso Weaver K4 mounted in Buehler rings and one-piece mount. The rings are also one-piece and are very lightweight and appear to require "spreading" to remove them from the scope tube. The scope is not going to work for me as a hunting scope. I need better optics for my eyesight than the Weaver offers. So, help me decide which of these scopes I should mount and which rings and bases I might utilize. I intend to use this rifle to hunt pronghorn and mule deer, mostly in the southwest.

Here is the scope list:
Leupold 6X in matte or gloss, Leupold Vari X-III 2.5-8X, Leupold Rifleman 2X-7X or Vari X-II in the same magnification, a Nikon Monarch 3X-9X, or an older Burris Signature 6X?

Thanks for your suggestions fellow campers...

Jim

Any Pre-64 purchase is always a wise move. Congrats & enjoy you have a fine rifle there.

AZ: Congrats!Nice rifle. I like the sound of the 6X Leup.Simple, rugged,and well suited to the country and the cartridge.Second choice would be 2.5-8X.

Looks really nice. I am in the process of scoping my Pre-War 70 in 30-06 with a 2.5-8x Leupold. Bases are proving to be a bit of a problem, as I posted on the optics board.

By the way, would love to see a pic or two of your Pre-War.

I have been using Leupold 2.5-8x36mm scopes on my pre-64's (have both VX-III and Vari-X III models on mine). Mine are mounted in older Redfield dovetail/windage screw mounts.

I'd place a vote for the Leupy 6X36 myself. Nice rifle!

I'd have to disagree...

The 2.5-8X or a 6x42.

very nice rifle. classy!

"I've been angling for a certain pre-64 Winchester Model 70 in .270 Winchester for the past 15 months and finally landed it!"

Hmmm, speaking of angling, maybe I need to do that. I have a friend of a friend who has a very nice Pre-64 Model 70 and never uses it, preferring his more modern rifles. He won the 70 in a raffle! Hate to see a good rifle go to waste...

Nice gun... Enjoy it... I personally like them like that... Still real nice but not so nice you are scared to use it....
2.5 x 8 would be the ticket....

Nice.. And that was back when they had good wood available...

'40s vintage? A couple of things tell me later than that. What is serial number? Keep the last 3 digits X'd out.
Great guns and you're in for alot of fun.

WHOA THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't spread those rings you will ruin them...The proper way to remove them is to stand the scope on its eyepeice and carefully remove the eyepiece and adjustments and slide the rings off. In your case the scope is so old it no longer has nitrogen in it anyway, but if it was new nitrogen would be held in place by air if you carefully kept it standing on the ocular lens as air is heavier than nitrogen and pushes down on it...Also you can also have the nitrogen replenished at a Weaver repair center..That said, you have an excellent set of rings on your scope, I would not remove them..

I know this isn't an ideal situation, but the option is the loss of a set of rings as once spread they are sprung and even if you get them back on another scope they just don't work well.

Nice old gun...I have an older pre 64 Fwt. .270 and another in a 300 H&H and I couldn't ask for a better pair of rifles for most hunting.

Since you said you want modern optics get some mounts that will work with a new scope. Check the gear shop at the top of this website for steel Talley bases and rings.

I'd pick one of the scopes from your list that has a long enough tube to avoid needing a front base that offsets the scope ring back toward the ejection port.

Very nice rig, the classic pre 64 fwt. Enjoy and show us some pics this fall with dead stuff.

I don't think it's a Featherweight. All the better, IMO. Great looking Winchester. You have a top notch hunting rifle there.

You might check the classifieds, it seems to me that 721 tomahawk has a couple of scopes that he is trying to sell that may just be what you are looking for: a Leupold 2.5-8 vari-X III and a compact 3-9.

I would too. In the mean time, here's my very minty .30-06 prewar:

I would dump the base and start over. Lots of better ones. I like two piece on those rifles.

Thanks all for your replies!

muleshoe- Yeah, I agree with your disagreement. The rifle really is perfect for what I wanted- a fine hunting rifle.

What I meant was imperfect as in not having a rear sight, no front sight hood, some blue wear on the floorplate, and a ding here and a scratch there kind of things.

ClydeM70- I was persistent, but respectful, and it finally paid off!

338Federal- The SN indicates 1949 manufacture.

atkinson- Used a snap ring plier and the rings popped right off. Looking at the scope, I thought about unscrewing the ocular piece and removing the adjustment turrets, which would allow the rings to slide off as you described; but, I thought, "No way would you want to disassemble the scope stupid, what were you thinking!" Guess I was wrong and should have come here first...

handwerk & The Real Hawkeye- The rifle is a standard model

toltecgriz- What mounts and rings do you recommend? The suppliers I've checked don't list a specific "pre-64" Win M70 in their parts listings. I see Win 70A or Win 70 LA or Win 70 SA.
A base with several slots, like a Picatinny, might be a wise choice to address scope tube length issues.

I'll take a few pics of my pre-war M70 and post here in the next day or two for those interested.

Thanks again fellas!
Jim