Just Bought a pre war 70 wearing scope bases and assumed it was drilled on the rear bridge but upon removal the holes look factory to me. The rifle has a stripper clip slot and also has supergrade swivel and bases? Could you order rifles set up for scope bases in 1941?
Thanks Chris
Dunno, I was too young to be ordering rifles back in 1941.
What kind of bases were on the gun? Pics of the rear bridge would be very helpful....
I have a pre-War .30-06 from that era with a number in the 43000 range. I bought it in 1964. I'm not positive, but I don't recall any holes in the bridge until I had it rebarreled and drilled and tapped for scope bases in '65.
Received these thoughts from a friend with great knowledge of M70’s
- Were the bases that are on the rifle even available (on the market) in 1941? The Redfield Jr. (one d&t hole) was made in the late 1930’s. The earliest two hole bases are probably Weaver (the early Weaver bases were flat on top).
- Factory d&t Receiver holes are counterbored (not countersunk). This is pretty obvious in the pic of the receiver ring holes but not so obvious in that of the bridge holes.
- The receivers were blued after d&t so holes and threads should be blued.
- As for the SG swivel mounts. the easiest way is to compare the position of the SG base to the position of a standard sling swivel. If the screws securing the SG bases use one of the standard swivel holes then the SG bases will be either too far forward or too far back depending upon which hole on the base was used.
Hope this helps....
Thanks Poconojack
From some reading I have done there were no standard hole spacing for the rear bridge at the time as scope companies and winchester had not figured it out. The reason I thought they could be factory is it looks like the matting on the rear bridge has not been disturbed or might have even been done after the holes were there?
Can I get a letter on this rifle?
Factory records on your rifle do not exist. However, I believe that Polishing Room Records (the date the rifle was serialized at the Winchester Factory) may exist for the rifle. The cost is $30.00 or so. Pm if you’d like the individuals contact info.
My '40 M70 is scoped. I know the owners trail since new. The original had it scoped early post WWII using a one piece Redfield adjustable windage base and Redfield rings, wearing an old Weaver 4X. It came to me through a family member. The original owner was a family friend. It is drilled with only one screw needed for the rear bridge. This was a popular mount for the period.
It was also padded at about the same time period. No matter, it is well used, not abused, and is not for sale anyway. One of the few guns that I inherited.
Jack