Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Your favorite Pre64 M70 caliber

I don't really have a real favorite because I love them all, but this is how I see it from my own personal experience:

1. Dislike 308. Just couldn't learn to like it!! No benefits of owing one. Especially in a long action pre 64... It's like building a m1917 243win. Or a tank that shoots 22-250...

2. Grew up with the 30-06 (from age 12). Love it...

3. Was recently talked into (thanks Raybass and BobinNH) buying a 270 after many years of not wanting anything to do with the "gay" cartridge. Best friend growing up wouldn't shut up about how good it is, so it was always a turn off especially when I was using the venerable 06. Now it's still not my favorite because when I take it to the range with my 30-06 fwt, it becomes a battle of which one is more accurate. The 270 usually wins, no matter how hard I try the 270 will come out the victor . I don't know what goes on in the gunsafe, but I probably shouldn't sit these 2 rifles next to each other in there....

4. 300 H&H is a sweet heart. I've shot them in the pre 64 model 70's and they are slick, accurate and don't kick much harder than a comparable 06. Problem with the 300 H&H is they are hard on brass because of the extreme taper of the case. Ammo is harder to find vs. other 300 magnums.

5. 338 win mag is one of my favorites and it does everything I ask of it. Accurate, slick feeding (not as slick as the 300 H&H or 375 but good for a belted magnum), and hard hitting. I've shot 50 rounds off the bench, at 1 sitting, with the Alaskan rifle I recently sold to EricM and loved it. Field positions are a breeze and the cartridge really hammers elk. I've never seen an elk brought down as fast with anything else.

6. 375 H&H: Big enough (maybe too big) for anything in NA. Heavy hitter and very manageable in a heavy rifle like a pre 64 model 70. Mine weighs 10 pounds in its coyote bomber swirly and is very manageable off the bench and in field positions. Rule said they made about 10 standard barreled 375's and I saw (and posted the ad) one for sale last year. I'm still kicking myself in the azz for not buying the damn thing. I think it would have been perfect for my needs. Even though I've never really worried about how much a rifle weighs, the factory pre 64 375 H&H is honestly too heavy...

Here's how I see the other cartridge/rifle offerings:

1. Why the hell didn't they make a 257 Bob fwt??????????? A standard 257 Bob weighing 9+ pounds makes no sense to me. Sorry guys, just how I see it.

2. 7x57 would be awesome as a fwt as well.

3. A 300 savage fwt would have been damn cool too...

How's that for "favorite pre 64 model 70 caliber"???

Actually, you might as well be talking tractors if you compare what you want with what Winchester made. When these model 70's were being made, they didn't worry about lightweight rifles because hunters in those days carried what was available. If you think a model 70 is heavy, you should try a Sharps sometime.

Cartridges were used to satisfy the buyer's needs and the ability to sell more rifles when there were more chamberings offered. Model 70's weren't made to be collectors guns, they became that through years of proven accuracy and simplicity. We like them for what they are not for what they could be...

Whats not to like with a 308? It will do everything 06 will

I'm not fan of the 06 never have been. I can't explain it, I have nice FWT and just bought a std from WP.

The 270 is a great round but bullet selection Is limited. If I had to choose between the 270 and a 280 I'd pick the 280.

I like my M70 300 and 375 H&H's I don't shoot the 300 enough to have brass issues.

My 338 is the ugly gun a Ruger stainless synthetic. I have taken a number of big critters with this from all over the place. A better Elk round doesn't exist IMHO.

Seeing as Winchester didn't have the foresight to make a 7X57 in a FWT I'm having one custom made. The Roberts and the Savage would have been grate in a FWT.

I only have deer to hunt here basically. I drew an Elk tag for a cow in 2001 and used the 338. I wish I lived in an area I could hunt more big gam an birds.

Mr BSA, If you ever take the time to work with a 308 you will end up liking it, It is a step below the unbeatable 30-06 BUT I swear they are inherently accurate. I have a tang safe Ruger 77V that ROBAR in AZ reworked for me in the early 90's, full meal deal, Schneider fluted barrel in Marine contour, reworked trigger, floated, pillars, 1 in 12 and tuned for Fed match 168 gr ammo. If you shot it you would smile,you may not fall in love but you would smile, It was explained to me that it is a perfect powder to bore,bullet combo. I just bought my first mid 50's 308 fwt, I will post range reports.I nailed many whitetails with a sweet 308 mod 100 win that I gave my Dad. Ammo is everywhere and that is a plus! Long story short its ALMOST as good as the 30 GOV'T 06! LOL, very best WinPoor

Very true. Just like winning the lottery it's fun to go the what if route sometimes.

Ive never paid much attention to gay or queer, I liked the women to much but Ive never been able to equate a .270win with gay? Will someone please explain that concept to my thick uncultured head? Ive zeroed many a 270 for friends, none were homo. Last year I bought a fantastic military bring back 50's custom 270 Mauser 'C' ring with Ziess quick release mounts and a Heinsolt 6X scope, custom stock gun that is very accurate, I also bought a nice std mid 50's mod 70 in 270 win. Ive yet to hunt either but know without a doubt either will drop a 225# whitetail buck like a sack of cattle mineral. very best winpoor

Many of us are not fortunate enough to shoot all these great calibers so it is nice to here some good insight into them. Thanks BSA and everyone else who share their experiences on the forum.

The pre 64 70 was dead in Winchester's eyes for many years beginning in the early '50s, consistently losing money every year. This is according to a very elderly metallurgical engineer, formerly employed with Winchester during this time frame...its death in 1963 was coming for some time....

There is nothing wrong with a 270 Winchester. I never owned one because my dad, as a big game guide in Montana in the 1940's, had no use for the 270. He told me he never guided a hunter that shot an elk with the 270 that he didn't have to finish the elk off later due to the inadequacies of the 270.

Mind you, that was in the 1940's when there were less bullets available to shoot in the 270 and that most were shot with the 130 grain bullet of the day.

I decided a few years ago, I should have a pre-64 model 70. I looked specifically for a 270 due to the history of that cartridge and the model 70. I got a bunch of factory Winchester 130 grain Ballistic Silvertip ammunition and went antelope hunting.

I have since killed plenty of deer and antelope with that combination and have since, put away my 25-06, which was my deer/antelope gun before I got the 270.

Today, I would consider the 270 with the 130 Ballistic Silvertip ammunition to be the best midsized big game chambering available. It started out with no chance of ever becoming a gun I would own, to the go-to gun I will grab if I am serious about shooting deer or antelope...

One of the finest shots and most successful hunters I have ever known spent most of his 50+ years of shooting BC big game hunting the once fabulous "East Kootenays" here.

He shot many big Elk, Moose, BH Sheep, RN Goats and scads of deer and B Bears with his one rifle, a P-64 std. .270win, with his final scope, especially, an early Leupold 3x9.

I once saw him while I was working in "The Flathead" kill a good sized Grizzly with one shot with this rifle and he really did not need the second shot he used for "insurance".

I knew several guys like this in the late '50s and into the '70s and have a reverence for the .270Win. and .280Rem. as they work and most can learn to shoot them well, which is, with a decent bullet, what really counts.

I'm in the love em all camp but for me if I had to rank it would be 270 fwt, 30-06, 300 H&H, 338 win mag, 375 H&H

I should have tried to dis-cypher your handle, I take it GSP stands for German Shorthaired Pointer? That would have explained the best quality shotgun attraction for me.

A couple pre-74 7x57's would be gold to have, very nice.

Gunner you are correct. I'm down to one now, Crazy Daisy is 10 but shows no signs of slowing down.
My best GSP and "My Little Buddy" for almost 15 years was named Gunner.

The pre 64 70's are gold to have and it almost took gold to get them.

God Bless 'Crazy Daisy'

M 70 westerner 264 mag.

300 H&H

donsm70