Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Scope, ring suggestions for new fwt.

Well, I stood it as long as I could and I finally have my first pre-64 in route. It is a 1954 fwt. in .308. I want to scope this rifle with something that will kind of keep with the age and lines of it, but not really an older vintage scope. I have a VX III in 2.5-8x36 that I'm considering but am concerned that without using extended base/rings that available tube length isn't going to let me get it far enough back on the long action. Am hoping some of you guys will chime in with what has worked for you regarding rings and bases that compliment the gun and a scope that doesn't "overpower" it visually.
Thanks, John

Leupold 2-piece mounts & rings and a 4x or 6x scope. That is what is on my Pre '64 Fwt .30-06. It weighs 7lbs 14oz with a 4x Redfield.

Elk, those rings do seem to blend well. I believe this gun is coming with the Talley steel bases and no rings. I've thought about the Talley rings that clamp around the tube and have the screw on top if anyone has a picture of that. Thanks for the photo.
John

You mean something like this. Talley Lightweights on a Fwt 7x57.



Whoops,these Talleys don't screw on top,but hopefully will give you an idea what they may look like.

BSA here got me on Leupold dual dovetails bases and I love them, I did get a bad batch from Bass Pro, 2 of the front bases cracked thru front hole to front of base when I tightened the cap screw, they were not milled just right where the base mates front reciever ring. Most pre 64 mod 70's are drilled square so you do not need the rear ,rough windage screws. Im a big Leupold fan, fixed and vx3, I really like the 4.5x14 x40 AO scopes for my 60 yr old eyes! very best on a nice gun! WinPoor

You'll need extended rings because of the tube length. It's just too short. I really like the concept of the Leupold 2.5-8x36 and they look damn sharp on any rifle. I just wish the tube mounting length was longer. From the sounds of it, you don't like the higher X's for your rifles and that is an example of how we are all different. I'm like my buddy winpoor and go the other way with power. My shooting eye isn't the best, so I opt for the 3-9, 4-12, 4.5-14 and they work great even for hunting. This topic has been brought up a few times before, but is still a good one. I've thought about installing a Leupold 2.5-8x36 on my fwt more than once but then decided to go with the venerable 3-9x40 instead because of less mounting headache. One more thing, the 2.5-8x36 has mucho eye relief and I would be worried about going the other way with it: Move it far forward instead of further back. Another example of how people are different. There are guys here that have these scopes on their fwt's and many more that have tried them and probably don't car for them too much because of the hassle in mounting them. Battue and shrapnel come to mind in this respect. Here are a few guys that use them. I'm hoping they will post some pics: My buddy raybass, who doesn't post much anymore, battue, BobinNH, keystone ben, rembo (who has the same problem I do in being able to get one of these further away from the eye). He's actually machined the dual dovetail leupold to get a little extra wiggle room when mounting. Talley lightweights are a little more forgiving when mounting the leupold 2.5-8x36. Here is raybass' rifle since I don't think he'll be here to post a picture anytime soon. Talley also makes a front extended ring that moves the front ring back a bit so it's flush with the loading port:





For me, I'd have to use the extended rear base dual dovetail to get the scope further away from my eye to take full advantage of that long eye relief. No scope, but you get the idea:



I don't really care for the idea of having the mount in the loading/ejection port so I opt for a easier to mount scope and regular ol Leupold dual dovetail mounts/rings:



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Here's a Weaver 6X with Talleys. It would be a good combo on the M70. Should be plenty of room to fit on a long-action 70. The Weaver fixed-power scopes aren't bad scopes. The 4X is the same size.
Bob

That's a short action model 700, which isn't exactly a good representation of how it would fit a pre 64 model 70. However, it looks like it would work.

Roger that; most fixed-power scopes will work on a long action rifle. No power adjustment ring and better eye relief. Don't currently have a 70 with Talleys; this was the best I could do. Here's a long-action 700 with Talleys and a 2.5-8X Leupold, which the OP was interested in. Fits the 700 action (barely), but I'm not sure on the Win 70.
Bob

Bob, that is a nice lefty 700. That 2.5-8x36 looks great on there. I also like the steel talleys, as I've used them on the pre 64's.

I would use Weaver alloy bases and rings plus Leupold light weight scope which you already have.

I used Weaver alloy bases but had to settle for mid-height Burris rings because shop did not have Weaver quads of appropriate height.
Not a big deal because rifle is crowbar to begin with:

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The Buehler mounts were really well made.

I have them on some of my pre-64's. The two piece mounts look better to me. I will look for a picture.

Here is one of my pre-64 M70's with Buehler mounts.



That scope looks like an old Bear Cub. I will get the rifle out and put a Leu 2.5-8 alongside the rifle and mounts.

Yes;

A Leupold 2.5-8 will easily fit a pre-64 M70 with those two piece Beuhler mounts.

Here is a close up of the superior finish on Buehler mounts.

Trust me, the tube length on the Kollmorgen bearcub was longer than the leupold 2.5-8x36. I've had them on pre 64's too:


Although this is a real Kollmorgen bear cub scope with the buehler mount:

Thanks a ton for all the pics guys. My eyes keep going back to the steel Talleys with the top screw. Kinda simple and utilitarian. Like I said in op, the gun already has the mounts for those rings, so I'm seriously considering going with those initially with a Leu. VX2 3-9X40 that currently resides on a .243 I don't shoot much and worry about rescoping it later. If you guys are to be believed, this pre-64 is all I'm going to want to shoot anyway:) Thanks for all the help. John

These are too bulky & heavy. I see no point of using them to mount scope on a featherweight. These type would be nice forold South Gate Weatherby though.

Have you considered something better like modern sub $200 fixed power Weaver from Japan? Mounted in alloy Weaver bases and rings of course.

That leupold should fit on there no problem. Great choice in optics as well. That scope gets pretty rave reviews. I've ran the steel talley's as well, but got rid of them for the Leupold DD's because the split rings can be a little bit of a bitch sometimes. Here are a couple fwt's I had steel talleys on:



The rifle on the bottom is scoped with a Leupold 3-9x40...

Here's one of my fwt's when it had a Nikon 2.5-10x42. Believe it or not, these are the lows....: