The Holy Grail Of Winchester Model 70's

Nice rifle for sure. I wonder how accurate it is.

Does the wood look polyurethaned?

Someone can keep it too...Just sayin.

Nice gun but it's not a pre-war, it's a Transition model.

you are correct,I saw that too..looks too nice

Never buy USED hot varmint cals.
Cisco

I noted the same thing when I peeked at it a minute ago..

I'm not believin' that stock either re: finish..

+1 as regards the stock being refinished, notice the rounded edges where the wood curves up near the front receiver ring. The pores of the wood are filled with finish and the finish looks thick around the borders of the checkering.

The rounded edge at the front of the ejection port is normal for Winchester. My money would bet on it being an original finish, both wood and metal although a buyer should insist on a hands on inspection period. I have examined mint Super Grades of that era and they were exceedingly well finished with proper filling of the wood grain.

Serial No. 77 would not be a transition

Safety is wrong to be a pre war. Maybe changed later if #77.

I thought the same thing at first glance till I re-read the ad and saw it's serial number 77xxx

Not to hi-jack, but my old M-70 300 Magnum SG is serial # 57XXX, anyone know what year it is?

Thanks,
Gunner

You bettcha....May of '46...How's that???

Thanks BSA, preshade it , is it a transition gun?

Gunner

Nope, one year too early....Transition serial #'s start at 60,500 and go to approx. 87,700 for the standard actions and 63,200 to approx. 121,700 for the H&H magnum actions....Hope that helps gunner...

Roger, yes it helps, so's i have a plain ole pre-64 Super-Grade 300 Magnum? [H&H]

Gunner

Nope, yours is the "holy grail", wanna sell it :

, I'd sooner sell a gonad to a monk , but thanks for the info BSA, aughta take it's litter mate in 22 Hornet out this year and pop a deer wit it.

Gunner

bsa looked it up so I won't dispute it....but I thought the lines got fuzzy moving from pre war to transition,and pre war receivers were used in some transition models.The safety is clearly transition.

Another thing is the rear receiver ring is tapped and drilled...many pre war's were not.

Edited to Add: It's a Type II,Transition receiver.Not pre war.Smooth rear bridge and drilled and tapped.

In clarification of my above statement, I should have said "rounded over". My original Supergrades finish differs from the rifle in question, therefor I am sticking with my judgement that the stock has been refinished.

The finish looks correct to me. There is usually a light crack in the finish where the forend cap meets walnut. To tell for sure you'd need an inspection period. I've often wondered, if it's done well enough one can't even tell, does it matter? Sometimes there's just no way to be sure if one's been "cleaned up".

This is a nice rifle for sure....before dumping $3k a guy would want to see it in person, or get the inspection period.

Finish I dunno...from here it looks OK and the SG's had better finish than the regular models.

I had the "Holy Grail" of Super Grades.....from a rarity standpoint this one is "common".Redneck knows the story ....I really screwed up on that one It was so unusual I bought it "knowing" it was not original and eventually sold it at profit.Big Boo-Boo!

Oh well!

Well...what was it Bob?

Horsman it was a SG 264 Win Mag.The SG was dropped as a catalog item the year the 264 was introduced...Rule's book does not list a 264SG;and says the SG was made from 1937 to 1959...so,supposedly,the 264(introduced in 1960)was not made as a catalog item in SG.

The fellow I bought the rifle from and I,both "knew" this....I could not be assured the rifle was factory original but bought it anyway(it was mint),at no where near the price a SG would bring.

Figuring it was not original,I loaded for and shot it,brought it to Alberta to hunt,gouged the checkering in one spot

Later I sold the rifle,made a small profit....and forgot about it until I saw a picture of another 264 SG in Whitaker's book.(evidence that they did make some;possibly custom shop)...my heart sank and I knew right away I had screwed the pooch.

A year or so later,I saw the rifle on GunsAmerica or GunsInternational(I forget which) for about $7-8k.It was mine alright,as I recognized the wood,and the gouge in the checkering... I wish I had kept it,not for the value, but I liked the rifle and cartridge. It was very accurate and had lovely wood.

Bob, you talking about gunners 300 H&H or the op's rifle in question??? Thanks buddy..

bsa I was talking about the SG 220 Swift shown here.Were you on Gunners rifle?

Gets confusing sometimes...

Yeah, Gunner asked me a question about his rifle and then you said something to the effect that it wasn't......

Hi fellows, I'm new to this forum. I have some interest in this rifle on Gunbroker. I was wondering what this rifle should sell for assuming it was original? Any help is appreciated.

Bob there's an alleged Super Grade 264 on Gunbroker right now for starting bid $5700.

Horseman thanks I will take a look.

+1

Have a question....why start at $0.01 and set the blind reserve at over $3,000 ?

I'd guess he's hoping for interest from folks who'd move along if they saw a $3000 reserve.

Because they are a [bleep] idiot.....

Doesn't rock my boat.

Lots of seller's run their auctions this way... and usually receive a poor result. The item goes unsold and lots of people who take a look move on and don't look back. People get real excited and real involved with the auctions that start at a penny and have no reserve. On a popular and desirable item (such as this rifle) this usually works very very well.

This man's rifle did not sell.

I agree with above. Yeah it's a type II transition model- safety gives it away. FWIW many of the cloverleafs were used in magnum length actions even after the calender "transition" period.FWIW as far as Pre War safety conversions is concerned one can guestimate the date of converion by the lever used, eg I have a Pre War 375 H&H with a Tilden safety and my transitions IIRC I think with both the type I/II safeties.

I see the auction has been relisted and the bidding is about $400 more than the end of the previous auction. It's sort of like someone has a gun for sale, they show it to you and you ask, "what do you want for it?" And they don't answer you...

i would not buy a model 70 without knowing it's provenance. nfw.
Gunbroker? nfw,

I think a lot of guys are hiding a super inflated reserve and listing a gun on auction to get an "appraisal" by the buying public. Auction ends, stick it back in the safe with a copy of the auction for the wife/widow to help with liquidation later. Lends a degree of credibility to a rifle's value for insurance purposes too, don't you think? I won't even waste my time on a hidden reserve auction for these reasons. I hesitated to expound on this in public, but I urge you tempted to use some scruples and resist this tactic.

Interesting concept and there may be some truth to it. I've often wondered the same thing myself...

Another common technique, or tactic or ploy (take your pick) with reserve auctions is to have one or more shills bid it up to just short of the reserve. An intrepid bidder sees what looks like a lot of bidding activity and this helps him believe the gun is actually worth that much. He enters his bid and the reserve is tripped and surprise, surprise, no one bids after him. He becomes the, "winner" Many auctions have what looks like a lot of bids when in fact there is only one actual bid Caveat Emptor.

Seems like a big waste of time for everyone.

I had a guy tell me he uses the tactic above.

I see the seller shut the auction down early... someone here successful with making an offer?

Yeah, I told him "GFY", he must have conceded.....

I have often wondered how it seems that many guns get put up for very low initial bids.

I think there is a lot of shill bidding

Local guy here in town has an original like that one that is pretty pristine.. claims his grand dad bought it new in 1941, and used it for ALL of his hunting needs... from Elk down to deer...

it has a 6 power early "Alaskan" scope mounted on top...can't remember if it is a Lyman or Leupold...

He sure loves to run into me at the range, so he can have someone drool over it... he no longer hunts, just collects rifles and restores them, mainly Military Surplus stuff...

The Model 70 is chambered in 220 Swift....

In 1984 my wife's uncle in MT had a big safe full of M70s.
He said that when he went to the Vegas show to try to buy more, there was nothing any good, and guys were trying to buy his.

I can only imagine things have gotten more competitive in the last 28 years.

I shot a lot of his prairie dogs with his 220 Swift and his 243.