I always have been partial to the Featherweights. The "sightless" variations were "something special" as the Gopher Supply ad said. So here are the two I currently have. Sorry, no mountains in the background, only Honey Crisp apple trees.

The first is a .270WCF Fwt. from an estate sale. The departed owner hunted deer in Minnesota all his life and went to Wyoming to hunt mulies and pronghorns. The only son who knew something of his exploits said he probably shot 25 - 30 mulies/pronghorns over the years. Equal that of whitetails in Minnesota. I wish I could have gotten any photos of him and the rifle. That is an El Paso Weaver 3x on top.
Still shoots sub MOA with H4831SC.


The second is from another estate from the Midwest. I understand that the owner was a doctor and had Winchester build this .270WCF Fwt. with a factory pad on it. That style is in the Madis book. The doctor never hunted with it - suffering from some debilitating medical situation.
I haven't shot it either. Just an official "looker".

Very neat that it has a factory installed pad.

Does a 375 without a rear sight count? This is a transition model that does nto have a rear sight from the factory and has a Lyman 48 on it that required the stock to be cut which IMHO debunks all those who say that Wichester didn't cut the stock for Lyman 48's.

OK and here's one without any sights. This is a 358 with a 24" standard weight barrel without sights. This is the only 358 I have ever heard of that wasn't a 22" Featherweight barrel. The guy I got it from also had a early 4 digit M70 in 25/35! I didn't even bother asking how much he wanted for the 25/35 but a couple months later I saw one (had to be the same one as how many could there be?) in Gun List being advertised for $25K.



And yes I know I need to work on improving my photgraphy skills!

Anytime you are offered a variant that is super rare - there better be supportive paperwork. We all know the creativity and talent with Model 70's is directly proportional to the price tag.
While wild variants exist, it is buyer beware!

Here is a transition 300HH with a sightless stainless steel barrel. The barrel does not have a rear sight boss or a front sight. The stock is clearly a custom stock. The barrel has the proof mark near the top of the barrel and there is a 4 digit number stamped on the underside of the barrel along with the yr. and 300M.

That is good advice except that the supportive paper work you speak of is 1000 times rarer than the rarest of M70's. The 25/35 I spoke of very likely had a barrel from a M54 on it as do the couple 30/30 M70's I've seen as this was common in the first couple years of M70 production. It seemed that Winchester used whatever barrels they had on hand to complete rifles be they M54 or M70 barrels. Of course the problem is how does one know if the M54 barrel on a M70 is factory or not? Then again how many 25/35 M54's have you heard of?

Could my 358 be a fake? I suppose so but the marking on the barrel are perfect as is everything else about the rifle. If someone faked it they did a pretty darn good job of it, is there really any way of knowing for sure that anything is not a fake?

Wow! Really nice old M70's here! I have only seen a handful of Gopher Specials but never owned one, myself.

I think Ringman is right about the early M54/70 overlap....I have seen a couple of strange barrel action pairings myself.

I've really been blown away by the fine and rare rifles that have been posted

We are lucky to have the Winchester records we have. The Rule and Madis books not only put a good deal of organization to the years of production, but document what was commonly made and what were "custom variations".
With those benchmarks in place, the further a rifle gets from the "known factor" the more questions need to be asked. Never underestimate the willingness of some unscrupulous seller to take your money.

Good thread. Don't see alot of those gopher specials anywhere. Now it is the norm to have a rifle barrel with no sights. Wish I had one for the collection though. Maybe one of these days.

Slightly off topic, but I have seen Winchester M54s with M70
bolts installed in them.