Just setting up a pre 64 I bought from Yar and I have forgotten how nice a rifle they are after having 3 or so over the years. It will be my last rifle and I am shocked at how I ever sold the ones I had. Wonderful trigger, stock, and natural fit. Quality we will never see again. Buy one for your kid.

You are right in your observations. Especially in your observation of "quality we will never see again"

You are right about that. A lot of the younger generation think the Browning model 70's are the chidt. We'll just let them keep thinking that... I'd take a pre 64 over any of the new chidt these days.. However, if I had the funds, I'd be buying your 270 fwt classic model 70.

That’s for sure. I have good rifles but none better than my P64’s.

Agreed, every BG rifle I have is a pre 64 M70 of some sort.

When you buy one from Yar….it will arrive better than he described it. 😉

Gone through maybe 100 hunting rifles and have pretty much settled on pre 64s (the right mauser would get a chance) myself. Currently have a couple fwts in synthetic stocks (mcmillan and Pacific Research) and a project 300 H&H in the works. For me and my style of hunting they just work! Always looking for another one for the next generation or two!

I've got a couple other rifles but they don't see much air time anymore. I keep a Kimber and a Vanguard around for dirty work but my p64's are about all that gets out much any more.

I was toying with the idea of selling one of my 50's vintage FW 06's and now I may fall in love with it all over again.

Does it look like this one?


And shoot like this?


One of the reasons I like my pre 64's so much. They always worked when they came out of the factory too. You can't say that about the new rifles you get now days..

Dusty246: I have "retired" all of my original condition pre-64 Winchester Model 70's Hunting Rifles and Varmint Rifles from their decades of use from Alaska and Alberta to Utah and Wyoming and from Oregon to the Dakotas.
I have some customized Model 70's that I still use for Big Game and Varmint Hunting though.
Indeed the quality and reliability of the pre-64 Winchester Models 70's is highly commendable but one thing most folks often fail to commend and comment on is their "safety"!
I have NEVER had a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 ever come off the safe position - where I can NOT say the say for multiple other brands/styles of Rifles I have owned and used.
Strength, reliability, classic lines and looks along with the quality of manufacture and the safety factor are just some of this wonderful Rifle genre that makes it a true "classic"!
Long live the Riflemans Rifle.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I agree with the sentiment, guys! The M70 Featherweights are just so nice to carry and shoot.

I've got a deer tag for a season that starts on Oct. 30th and was just debating which rifle to take. Lots to choose from. I thought about my M70 Classic stainless in 270 WCF, but it is set up for my boy with a shorter stock, so I don't want to mess with that one. Then I have my other M70 Classic Stainless Featherweight in 270 WCF. That one if pretty nice, but I wasn't sure. Then I considered my lightweight mountain rifle, the Kimber Montana in 270 WSM. Nice, but I'd have to fool with the scope a bit since it is new. Then I considered my CZ Model 3 (Montana Rifle Company M70 clone) in 7mm WSM. That one is tad heavy, so maybe not. I've got a new to me 30-06 M70 Classic Featherweight like Dusty's, but it isn't sighted in yet and I'm not sure what loads I have available for it. Then, it came down to my pre-64 M70 Featherweight in 270 WCF. Nice rifle! However, I have a fixed 4X scope on it and I'm anticipating a long range shot where I'm hunting, so that put doubts into my head. I've already shot one deer with that rifle, so maybe I don't need to take that one. Then, lastly, is my Dad's old pre-64 M70 Westerner in 264 WM. A little heavier than the Featherweight, but not too bad. I've got a nice Burris scope on it and already have handloads ready to go that I used on Antelope a few years back. The Antelope buck was shot at around 400 yards, so I know it will do the trick for long range.

So...I'm thinking the 264 now. But who knows, I could change my mind again?!

That is an impressive group! As for what it looks like and shoots like I can't say. I haven't looked at any of them in a long time and rarely shoot. I am just not a shooter but I sure like my model 70's and have an embarrassing amount of them.

The safety of the pre64 is rarely discussed I guess because we've never been bit. I hunt up in Remington country and my childhood buddy and I still hunt at his cabin near Cooperstown. His uncles worked in the Remington factory and built him a beautiful 1100 back in the early 70s. Locals come by and have a beer with us "City kids", and to my surprise they carry Tikkas. lol. Won't be caught dead with a 700. I love 700s btw. One year I had a Savage and they looked at me like I was from mars. The local LLama farm sell awesome socks, damn warm.

You sound like a lot of us here.