Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors EricM and I are thinking about having this one refinished...

It's already EricM's. He paid for it yesterday .... He's been very excited about getting this one. He's been in Africa for the last year and a half, but we've been talking about this for a while and I finally decided to let him have it since I have my new custom pre 64 338. A man can only have so many good 338's and then he starts feeling a little guilty

I can't think of a downside to owning and using a properly refinished M70 that shoots well, looks good and has a better finish on it than when it was new. I wouldn't get a pre-64 in 7mm or .358 redone, but I wouldn't own a 70 in a rare caliber, either. I like the plain old standard grades for looks and shooting; a good refresh of the original finish, which wasn't all that great, isn't a crime.
Bob

Now you got me drooling and dreaming!!!!! That one sure is nice!!

Roger that; been thinking of opening a home for wayward and abused M70s that need a 2nd chance at life.
Bob

Sounds like a fun project. Where do you plan on hunting it? If your not planning on going anywhere crazy wet. I wouldn't worry about the wood stock.

Ask Mr. Beretz how rainy it was down here 2 years ago during elk season. When it's like that, I don't even think about taking my pre 64's out in the weather. I hunted this rifle last elk season and it got wet for a few days and some of the finish wanted to flake off. This is a bad thing about the old pre 64 finish. I'm thinking a good refinish job on this stock will protect the wood and take some of the worry out of using it in inclement weather..

My comment was pro refinish/keeping the factory stock vs a synthetic.

Even though a legend would be pretty slick.

Gottcha Ben. I really like the wood stocks (Monte Carlo's) on these pre 64's. I've been thinking about selling my swirly on my 30-06 fwt and slapping it back into the factory wood. Kind of on the fence about it though..

I may do the same with mine. Glass bed and refinish.

Hoooowever, it is so damn lucky the way it sits, I'm afraid it may lose its mojo.

Don't do anything to it battue!!! NOT worth taking the chance of losing good mojo. Good mojo is hard to find these days

Yep, I have a pair of fwt 06's. A factory stocked rifle and an edged synthetic.

I leave the rifle in the truck and on the tractor so I bought the edge to toughen the rifle up a little bit....grin

Yes sir. I know all about those. The hunters compact and the fwt are a winning combination. I love mine, even though it doesn't have the edge fill, it balance perfectly with the standard fill. I'm not too concerned about shaving a few more ounces off the total weight, so the standard fill works out nicely.. Sometimes balance wins out to lighter, as I don't like a barrel heavy feeling rifle..

If I look real hard at those swirls, it becomes much like a Rorschach ink blot and I see a striking Cobra.


Well only on days when it is really slow, but I see it.

Oh yea, there it is, plain as day; A Black Widow.

Probably a Yankee thing. We have this sixth sense when it comes to rifles....

Ha ha, that's what I've been hearing.... You and Ben are stirring up trouble aren't you?

No, Ben is a good guy. He doesn't drive a Subaru.

I'm fu cked then because I've been driving an AWD Ford Escape. It's kind of my incognito commuter... Just don't tell anyone...

Ford????

I always knew you weren't right.

Seems to me things are getting confused, and more information/clarification is needed.

First, it seems clear Justin McMillan does beautiful work, but what exactly does he do? It sounds like he cleans up the checkering, maybe does what he can with the dings, and then puts a more durable finish on. Not exactly a professional restoration in that he is not trying to duplicate the not so durable original finish, but is improving on the durability of the finish. This sounds very nice, but what are you going to end up with compared to what you are planning on doing with the rifle?

I think it all boils down to how hard you plan to hunt it. If you are going to hunt in the wet, and use that stock, then a more durable finish is a given.

But the other question is how dinged up is the stock now, how likely is it that it will continue to get handling marks, and how much is it worth to get the handling marks fixed up only to start right back putting more on it?

Early on, I said that it looks like Mr. McMillan could turn a "nice but user" stock back into an almost "safe queen" stock. If he does, then what? Hence my comment that depending on how nicely it is refinished, and how hard you plan to hunt it, you might start planning for "the other" stock, be it a synthetic or a more beat up wood one with a durable finish.