Are they special? Seems like I remember some of you guys making favorable comments about them? Do I have that right?

I think I've found one...serial number G505xx, M70 Stainless, black synthetic stock with a Winchester black recoil pad, .270, with SS Burris rings/bases. Barrel is stamped "Stainless Classic" on the RH side. Might have been a 24" barrel, it kinda felt long, but I did not measure it. Good shape, a clean-up would make it quite nice. Felt a bit heavier than my M70 XTR Featherweight .30-06 which I like a lot.

Still...I liked it...please enlighten me, what should I know.

What's it worth?

Thanks,
Fenton

Fenton
Save yourself, run from it while you can.
Then pm me the contact info for the rifle...😆

All joking aside, 5 - 6 digits are popular, best of the post-64 70’s.
The standard model alone in decent condition, think 750 - 800.
Good luck !

800+

5 and 6 digit Classic Stainless in 270 could be a 24" Sporter or 22" Featherweight barrel, they made 'em both ways. I prefer Sporter weight barrels for my 270's.

They are absolutely "special" in my eyes. The best there is. If I didn't have any I'd be all over it, up to the neighborhood of $1200 for as new condition. Lightly used maybe 850+. Less than those numbers and it's a great deal, but they're worth every penny of that. They ain't making 'em like that ever again.

Go buy it.

Good shootin'

Just to confirm I'm learning here...G plus the five numbers is "5 digit" correct?

Yes sir.

Any of the Classics CAN be very good rifles. The early ones with 5 digit SN's were pretty much all very nice rifles made before about 2000. Starting around 2000 is where the 7 digit SN's start. Many of those are every bit as good as the early ones, but there are some with issues too. Especially the closer you get to the ones made in 2006, the last year of production.

Can't say for sure about 270, but I have a 5 digit SS Classic 30-06 that as near as I can tell was made in or near 1994. It has a 22" barrel. I know later guns had 24", but don't know when they made the change.

Late last year, I bought a blued and wood one after it sat for a few months in the classifieds in super clean condition for $650. 5 or 6 digits both are spotty regarding quality in my experience. Winchester's quality control was pretty bad during this era. The one I just bought on here is one of the better ones that I have owned and shoots reasonbly well until it fouls, which only takes a few shots in that the barrel fouls like crazy. I personally wouldn't pay more than $600-$700 in that I mainly consider them a donor action that will need some work.

They can make really nice custom rifles if worked over by the right craftsman.

Actually, they went from 5 to 6 digits in late 1994. And were 6 digits through 2002, at about G382000. Then merged with the original Model 70 serial run (push feed at that time) at about G2400000 in 2003.

The Classic Stainless in 270 and '06 was made with both Sporter and Featherweight barrels throughout the 90's.

If I remember correctly Allen Day considered the M70 Classics with serial numbers less than about 250000 to be a better bet than those made later. So a 5 digit one should be a good bet.

Went back and looked at some past correspondence, Allen considered those with G300,000 or less to be most desirable.

Good post Jerry. I have 2 7 digit classics that are damn nice. For the life of me, I can't find a damn thing wrong with my latest one that is chambered in 7mm08, must be a very early 2000 built one. The wood on it is extra nice. I'm going to take a better picture of the rifle here pretty soon, with my camera instead of my dang phone, but this one is sweet. I'm planning on glass bedding it and taking it to the range, as soon as things settle down around here. Been juggling 2 jobs. Well working my regular job and then training for my new job on the side... Still not enough hours in the day to get things done, like I want to... Here's my most recent 7 digit, and I don't even know if I have a picture of my 7 digit stainless 7WSM... :

Alan was right. The 5 and 6 digits were the most desirable. Like Bobin used to always attest to as well. However, Like Jerry just mentioned, there were some very good 7 digit rifles that were manufactured as well. It was just more of a chip shoot with those, since it seemed like their QC was going down hill and fast after about 2003-2006...

That is good news, I have a 7 STW that meets that criteria. I have never known much about Winchesters, this is good info. So is my Model 70 Featherweight in the same serial number guidelines?

Any 4,5,or 6 digit Classic, all the way up till the very last one about G382000 (2002), is a jewel that should be kept.

And yes, there were plenty of good 7 digits made 2003-2006, but that is when a lot left the factory that should not have.

Sweet featherweight BSA. Very nice wood.

In my expierance the 6 digits do not compare to the five digit classics. All of them are project guns and at a min require a trigger job and bedding. That said i am still a model 70 guy.

I wouldn't know what to do, If I didn't fine tune the trigger and re-do the bedding. The only rifles I haven't redone the bedding on were semi customs that already had nice bedding. Those were not from the factory though. I would not trust the classic's bedding jobs anymore than I could throw them though... I know I've posted pictures of some of the ones I've seen where more of the bedding was stuck on the recoil lug than in the stock...

The fancy hot glue factory bedding loved to crumble too

Yep, it is pretty brittle.

Add a re-barrel for many of them also. I had a really early production Stainless Classic. I think my dad purchased it in 1993, though I can't remember for sure, and I some way ended up with it a few months later when he got tired of trying to make it shoot. What a piece of junk that gun was, though, unfortunately I bought another one around 1999 that was even worse and for which Winchester eventually refunded my money.

I remember reading two or three years after the 1993 gun in Shooting Times or some similar magazine the saga of a gunwriter going through the same issues my gun had and his gun was pretty much identical, including chambering and production time frame. I think the article was about how he finally resolved the problems by having a high-end barrel and McMillan stock installed and turned it into a nice rifle.

I sold mine to guy that worked for my dad to partially fund a ring for my soon-to-be wife. I warned him before he bought it that it would only shoot 4"-5" three-shot groups at 100. He took it as a selling point. "Wow! 5" groups. I will definitely take it."

You all sure 7 digits were after 2000? I have a 6mm that I know for sure my dad bought new(he bought 2) before him and my mother got divorced. They divorced in early 2000.

I never had one that absolutley required a new barrel. Some were scarry accurate. Some took alot of work to onky shoot average. Never had one that woukdnt shoot an inch at 100 with handloads.

One thing that bugs me about the 6 digit guns are the tool marks. My main hunting rifle is a 6 digit classic in 300 ultra. It has tool marks galore. The ejector slot looks like it was cut with a dull butter knife at way to fast a feed rate. It was also one of the most accurate classics I have had. After I burnt out the first barrel I rebarreled with a #3 Rock and its a .5" gun with many different handloads.
The pther thi g that bugs me is the serial number was stamped crooked.

Bought two of the six digit new quite some time ago- can't remember exactly when but IIRC, in the mid nineties. Mine is a 338 WM and my brother's is a 300 WM and both have been terrific shooters. I handload for both and they have been very responsive to minimum loading recipes. Not particularly picky in what they shoot well and both approach .5" on a regular basis with my handloads. I believe both are in the G111XXX serial number range, which is fairly early with these. Mine now has a McMillan swirly stock on it and my brother has a Mcmillan Model 70 sporter stock with one of Rick's paint jobs. The stocks helped slightly in groups, but made the stock much stiffer and easier to get a consistent grip when shooting- bags or offhand. I've been extremely happy with both of these rifles and would grab another one in a minute if I needed one.

Bob

I should add that the 300 ultra I mentioned above was bought for $299 on closeout NIB.Great gun for that money.

Wow really suprised at the prices folks throwing out there for an early classic. A 91-92, yeah, but...

I remember when these were still in prodction, all every did was biotch about them; bad trigger, tooling marks, wont shoot, tupperware stocks, project in a box, collared bolt handle, etc. etc. Now that production has stopped they are held in higher regards from a price perspective than a Pre-64! Sequels arent equals fellas, If Im gonna own a sequel, gimme a push feed xtr or SC/FN gun. I dont have to change the MIM extractor and retune hoping it will feed and extract correctly.

Prices for 5 digits are still reasonable. I would not pay more than $800 for one unless it was a special chambering. The best bargin in 5 digit guns are the ones with that god awful BOSS system.
Honestly the South Carolina guns are way better.

I know where there is a five digit 270 with the BOSS knob. It's kinda rough but at 500 I need to get it just for a donor action.

Have another one headed this way. I think it's going straight to the gunsmith for a re-barrel to something interesting. I have another .300 that I think is a 6-digit. It shoots OK-- plus or minus an inch for three with select loads but fouls badly, causing accuracy to decrease. I am going to experiment with Dyna Bore Coat on that one.

BWalker, we tried everything short of rebarrel with the 1993 gun. Finally, we took some cast bullets and Veral Smith's fire lapping compound and got it to shoot 3" sometimes. That helped more than anything.