The LGS has a 1939 Pre-War Model 70 30/06 with a lyman 48 peep sight in a conservative 95% condition at 2K. It is very smooth as if the bolt has been worked a lot but it doesn't look like it has been hunted as much or likely at all. The condition is superb. I guess without pictures, it is useless. I am interested in the rifle but the price is a little steep.

For an unmolested prewar M/70 .30-06 $2K is certainly more than just a "little steep". If the price is not negotiable I'd pass.

Well, I don’t think that an unmolested Pre War in a conservative 95% condition is more than a little steep. It may be a little, but if I was holding one that was all correct in my hands in that condition and I wanted one, I would be thinking about it for sure! In my area, I don’t see a lot of really high condition ones.

If uncut/undrilled/untapped I don’t either, especially based on what has sold recently

Was the stock cut to accommodate the Lyman? If not I would agree with knives and AK. Those prewar model 70’s have in great or even good condition have been bringing good prices lately.

Factory.

Unmolestered Pre-wars are getting tough to find. Most have been drilled in the back or side, have been cut for a pad or some genius sunk a compass in the stock. If it truly is 95% $2k is obviously on the upper end but that is their ASKING price too.

Kaboku68: The pre-war Model 70's are virtually all "very slick" when the bolt is worked.
I have a mint condition first year production Model 70 "Bull Gun" that's bolt operation is so smooth its like butter compared to my latter vintage Model 70's!
I don't know the secret to this but I am not surprised by the comparative smoothness of the pre-war Model 70's bolt operation anymore.
Indeed the $2,000.00 asking price is "strong" but if all original and the bore is shiney - I say go for it with your cash in hand offer, starting at $1,750.00 and work up slowly.
Our monies (United States dollars!) are becoming less and less valuable monthly under china joe biden and his ho - as of now $2,000.00 is only worth what $1,860.00 was just last year!
I say buy that rarish Rifle at the best price you can finagle and enjoy the pride of ownership in that classy Rifle.
I bought my first pre-war Model 70 years ago and it has beaten inflation in its appreciation - noticeably!
Finding a factory original unmolested 95% condition pre-war Model 70 is getting to be VERY hard to do.
Best of luck to you with what ever you decide to do.
Long live the Riflemans Rifle.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

For better or worse, I am putting it on layaway today. I will try to get some pictures. He sold me a model 71 for 1100 last Spring so I am unlikely to welch on the offer.

Pre-war Lyman 48's required the stock to be cut. The 48WJS debuted 1947 and was contoured to fit around the stock.

Many of you can throw stones at it but we don't have a lot of old guns that are local that are in this shape. Like I said..I may be paying a premium but I like the shop and he lets me pay in installments. He has given me some of the nicest deals and firearms so I am not grumbling.

It looks like you are paying a premium for a premium rifle. Whatever you gave it is not too much. It may be too early, but it will be that that and more down the road. I think you did great, not just OK, but great.

I agree. They aren’t making anymore of them and they’re rifles that can be used and still gain value. The P64 is the best rifle ever in my opinion and that’s a gem you’ve got right there.

Different Strokes!
I like your purchase, and I would have, and have done in the past, the same type of purchase! They are getting harder to find, and more people are realizing that, for what they are.
I would love to see you put the pics up, and ask on the WACA Forum site. There's a particular gentleman over there,(Louis Luttrell) that is second to none, and really is an Expert in pre 64 model 70's! A lot of good comments above, that I agree with, and a few that I don't. Again Different Strokes! I'm an old school Wood Guy, vs. today's plastic stocks, which do have their place, don't get me wrong.
IMO! This was a great find, for you, and, you have a great working relationship with your LGS, Enjoy!

Seems a bit pricy. I bought this one last year. A March 1938 build one, for $900. It is not original though as it had been drilled and tapped and a Tilden safety installed but it and the 2.5X Lyman Alaskan are certainly period correct. Overall I'd say NRA Very good condition (on the antique guns scale)



Other pics and thread @ https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...bought-a-time-capsule-today#Post15446868

I would say yours is half the gun, based on the photos.

Unmolested... illustrated on page 60 in Roger Rules "The Rifleman's Rifle"

Well, now we're talking pinnacle. That is a beauty Whitebird, you have some exceptional Winchesters.

You’re just horrible!

Keeping it real... .

You’re doing well then.

In this day of thousand dollar Marlins and high dollar Remingtons, lots of things make sense. I think I’d have bought it too. Good for the OP. He can always make more money, but won’t always be able to find such a rifle.

My thoughts Exactly!

I can barely afford jc Higgins any more


I think you did great on the 3006

Howdy,
Congrats on the purchase! Nice rifle!

I've had my '39 carbine up for sale in the past and receive occasional offers, but I haven't accepted them. I've seen prices all over the place, but no where like this!

https://www.gunsinternational.com/g...iver-sight---cool--.cfm?gun_id=101872235

Pluses & Misuses. As noted (honest) 95% condition gun IF all original, pretty uncommon in those factors.. Moreover the price curve in respect of such "high condition" all original specimens is steep. Conversely the most common chambering of the most common "Standard Model" configuration of the 70".
A formula I often applied as a collector, when the next such likely comparable "opportunity" and value of my own time IF needing to seek. I would buy such a gun as reflected here and definitely not spend any time looking back to "post-mortem" the transaction! Not the matter of someone, somewhere getting a better deal. the question of your positioning and how it 'fits' your budget, whims & needs. "Disposable income to accommodate!
I appreciate the above referenced Lew as the Model 70 expert's expert. All as true and I've recommended him before. But here not exactly a true Winchester expert question involving Model 70 rare sub-model evaluation. Where common model & config "value", nowadays all over the board and also vary by such factors of whom as seller, method of sale, competition, urgency, regional price and particular collector interest factor variations, etc. Objective evaluation one matter, personal subjective factors" as beyond normal expertise. The value gamble, a 'pay to play' game. Simply that! I'm not knowledgeable of contemporary prices but that always second for me, as noted. My own criteria and desires. as often "grab it" while available!

The saddest words of tongue and pen, are those that say "it might have been..."

Just my take!
Best!
John

no one makes land so the price you pay for land is what it is , no one makes pre World War 2 Winchester model 70`s either so it is what it is i think its a fare price 10 years from now you will be glad you purchased this rifle. enjoy,Pete53

That may be questionable, in regards to value. A lot of things actually depreciate after a while, when the "demand" goes down. I'm starting to see that with some things Winchester related. The old guys die off and the new generation like the plastic rifles better. As for the rifle in question, it is not a "95% condition" specimen. Nice rifle, for sure, but not what someone who collects these would consider that prime of a condition %. The rifle in question is not even complete, as it is missing the front sight hood ($50) and rear sight (22G 3C elevator: $150). That's only based off of 1 picture. I realize in this day and age, it's nice if everyone gets a trophy, but facts is facts... The main thing to take away from this is if the OP is happy with it, then that is the important thing.

We are getting close to the time when the next crew will reply, “O’Connor?”

Dad rebuilt a Model A Ford and a 39 Dodge…finally sold them for decent money. You would be hard pressed to find a buyer today. The old guys want muscle cars from the 60’s, and they will shorty see the same….when the new old guys will be wanting rice rockets

Not necessarily missing the rear sight, if the Lyman 48 WJS is factory a Lyman 12S flat top blank would be supplied in the rear dovetail.

Something about that buttstock looks refinished to me. The dark staining around the buttplate and lighter color..Hard to tell from the one pic but I'd take a closer look.

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Personally I like his approach to this and I think he's handling it honestly, with facts. He must be connecting with a lot of Americans because people are listening. Vastly different approach compared to Trump, who spews misinformation, doesn't understand the facts, deflects on how he mishandled it early on, can't take responsibility and who's biggest highlight everyday is getting to call it the CHinese virus on national tv. He can hear his base applauding. What a horrible leader, truly, not capable.

Its missing the rear sight. No ifs and or buts about it. That is a deduction of approximately $150.00 in todays prices. Very nice rifle, but not complete by any means..

I moved on- its in the gun room. I am buying a small frame marlin 1881 in 32-40 at 45% for 850.00 today. Bore isn't bad and the piece has character that pushes it towards me. Pretty hard to find a decent operating lever manufactured in 1886 for that. I know that this is a Winchester Collectors sub-forum so I will desist.

You 100% sure about that?? On the model 54’s if a Lyman 48 was factory installed it still came with a rear sight. But Winchester changed that when they introduced the model 70. Like poconojack stated if the Lyman 48 is factory installed then it would have the Lyman 12S.

Ok John, let me try to explain to you guys my reasoning: First, the OP claims the stock, was not cut or in his words "factory", to allow for the Lyman 48 rear sight. That means that sight is not correct for the age of that rifle. In fact the 48WJS sight was such that in 1939 you had to cut the stock in order to fit it to the rifle. Again, only going off of what the op is telling us here:


I'm not trying to be a di ck and prove pocono wrong here. Just pointing out the facts given on this rifle. See, this is the issue you have with these rifles at times. Either the OP is wrong in his evaluation and the information he is giving us and the stock has in fact been cut, or it is not an original sight, or it is not a "lyman 48". I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume what they are telling us is factual, so I'm going with what the op originally told us. I'd like to ask you guys how many of you have bought used rifles with these sights installed? I have many times guys. You can also buy an aperture and anyone can install it. That DOES NOT mean the rear sight is original and how the rifle was issued. In this case, with the information given to us, the rear sight is not original, thus it should in fact have the 22G/3C rear sight on it, like I had previously stated. Yes, it could also have a 1c or 2c elevator, but that was not as common. Now, had the OP said, the rear sight is a Lyman 57W, which was a cheaper version of the 48WJS, we can all agree that there would be a blank installed where the rear sight would go, but the op did not make that statement. He in fact states it is a "lyman 48 peep sight". Now, to be clear: the question about the stock being cut was asked:


Here was the response:
That is like a Jen Psaki response to a question. Does that mean it's been cut or has it not been cut for the rear sight? I took it as uncut, unmolested factory stock.. I may be wrong here? This is a "collectors forum", the op says he has a "95%" condition rifle he is interested in. We should in fact be pointing out all we can to aid in the decision. Otherwise why ask the question?

Chopped or not I care less. Every Alaskan better have the state gun if you want to consider yourself a proper Alaskan. The Pre-War Model 70 in 30-06 was voted to be Alaska's State Gun so I better have one.

This is the standard model 71. I wanted one for a shooter. This will do fine. I have other guns that can serve in this purpose but when I move out to Basin where I grew up I like having very good guns in calibers that nobody can get ammo for. The reason is that then nobody will try to steal it if they can't find ammo. I did this when I was living in the Bush and growing up. I had zero problems with gun theft while others lost every gun that they had. There is not as much of an interest in guns in weird calibers.

The forend of this old gal is beat up and has been repaired. It was made in 1886 but it is a small frame 1881 Marlin deluxe (checkering) in 32-40 caliber. They only made about 1700 of them. The fact that this has been up in Alaska since at least the 1950s from an old collection probably has something to do with me liking it. It has an silver plate on the buttstock that has a cursive G. It is a pretty interesting old gun.

Yo L train calm down..I was outside planting our garden or I should say potatoe field. Anyhow I did more reading and that is a 3rd model made 48WJS on that prewar, so you be correct the rear sight was removed. Some reason I had it in my head those came out sooner. I got my 54 with a 48WJS confused with my pre64 that had a 48WJS on it my bad.

The updated pics on page 4 do not qualify the gun as 95%. The gun is nice, real nice, but altered. It definitely has the 1947 and later Lyman 48WJS receiver sight, it shows at least one "Extra hole" in the rear bridge and has the stub of a Winchester 22G rear sight in the dovetail. It is still a minimum of $1,500.00 in that condition / configuration. Enjoy it. As has been stated, you can get money anywhere; you can't get a nice Winchester anywhere. Again it has been altered. It isn't 95% anymore. It may have 95% original finish, but it has been altered. Nice gun!

I had this prewar Carbine in 22 Hornet. I saw something else I wanted more and I sold it for $8,000.00...

Wow.

no picture here from me but from a well known loony on 24 hr. Campfire he sold me a pre -war 257 Roberts in good shape from a nice agreement but mine ain`t for sale its going to my wife`s / kids garage sale when i die .