Scope bases for Winchester M70 Target model

[kendog4570]

I have some if you need a few more. The first few days I was there I made a couple hundred for him while he finished up a run of those mounts. I made a drawing of the fixture he used to die stamp the bumps in the right place. Never got around to making the tool. But, if stripper clips ever come back in style I can make them just like he did.
I still get a few jobs cutting clip slots, but now they are mostly for guys building up Vietnam era Rem 700 sniper rifle clones.

[crowbar]

Yes, the base was made by Jack, and is stamped "circle J". He was indeed one of a kind, and is one of the reasons I took up long range shooting.

[6mmintl]

Steve,

The (hopefully...) attached photo is of a 20 MOA one piece base on my pre '64 M70 target rifle.

I have a spare base that is similar, except it does not have the integral Redfield side mount base, allowing you to retain the stock rear sight base, and it is anodized to a dark gray finish. A quick check of the holes shows they match the spacing you measured on your rifle. The base was made by a central California Highpower shooter and rifle smith who stamped his work with a small "0" that has a "J" inside; aka "circle J".

If the base looks interesting, PM me.

Best,
Mike

The J inside a circle stamp on end of base is Jack Davis, now deceased, I have two of his mounts, still being produced by another guy on web.

[Mustang]

Steve

You should also look at the Ken Farrell bases. I've used them a few times

http://www.kenfarrell.com/index.php?...ory&path=20_26

I called Ken Farrell and spoke to his shop assistant. They don't make one for this variation of the model 70. I found a Redfield JR that works, but because of the scope I'm planning on using, I must have some MOA built into the base or I'll never get to 1K yards with the scope. The Redfield is a "0 MOA" base.

I've also arranged to try the Jack Davis mount. If it works, I'll go with that. If not, Ken Farrell advised that they could use the Redfield Base as a model and make up a custom base with 20 or 30 MOA. He didn't tell me what that would cost, but I'm sure it is plenty. So I grabbed the Redfield base as a back up.

I have a scope that I intend to use, but have been told that it has limited elevation adjustment.

Bausch and Lomb Balvar, 6-24 x 40AO.

[23's Dad]

Warner Tool Company

They will custom make a base with 20 MOA to fit your action.

http://www.warner-tool.com/riflehardware.htm

[Mustang]

Thanks, 23...I'll keep them in mind.

[Mustang]

I lucked out on the base.

Cody from EGW told me that they DID have a 20 MOA version of the Win Model 70 H&H laying around and sent it to me. He also told me they receive about 1 call a year for one of these bases. It fits perfectly. I mounted the B&L scope and went to range today.

The Model 70 shoots great! I started at 100 yards and moved out to 300 yards. I tried various factory ammo and some of my .308 handloads. Groups were good with FGMM and one of my handloads.

[Fjold]

Classy gun.

[Mustang]

Thanks, Fjold.

As I said, the rifle shot well for me.

After getting it on paper with some cheap .308 ammo, I switched to 168 FGMM at 100 yards



Moved back to 200 yards and switched to 175 gr FGMM



Moved the target to 300 yards



Finally tried some handloads at 300 yards...the Winchester liked 41.7 grs of 4064 best. (I was going to try a three shot group, but threw the third shot out at about 11 o'clock, so I turned it into a 5 shot group). I noticed that the point of impact shifted to the right when I switched to my reloads.

[SVT-40]

Thats a beautiful old rifle!!!

[Mustang]

Thanks, SVT.

I'm hoping to get to the range next week and push past 300 yards with it.

[SVT-40]

I have a NM M-70 in 30-06 which was made in 1953. It has the Unertl bases on it... Going to mate it with the proper scope when I find one.

[Mustang]

Wow...that is a beautiful rifle, SVT. And it is pre-64, so it has the control round feeding.

I got mine at an on-line estate sale a few years ago. The owner had apparently been quite a shooter and had competed at Camp Perry many times. He had gone blind about 10 years before he passed, but had never parted with of his rifles. There were many, many target rifles and scopes, mostly the old external adjustment style Unertl's. I found his obituary on line and he sounded like a great American.

My Model 70 came with the Earle scope blocks and a nice set of target sights...RPA "trakkers".



I called Hart Barrels and spoke with Jim Hart, just to see what he could tell me about the barrel. After describing the barrel markings, he told me that he had done the work on the rifle, although obviously he had no specific recollection of my rifle. Told me that the barrel was almost certainly 1:10 or 1:12 twist (because that was 99.9% of what they used on .308) and that he would have trued the action and bolt. When I told him that I would be using bullets between 155 and 175, he told me that the barrel twist rates of either 1:10 or 1:12 would work fine.

[SVT-40]

Nice sights!! Really cool you were able to get the story about the owner, as well as about the rifle from Hart!!

Mine came with the front sight, and part of the rear sight...I was able a few years ago to get the correct complete rear sight. (pic before I found the rear)...Got this rifle back in 2007... I got it at the shop I worked at, at the time.... The owner had taken it in on trade... He sold it to me for $350.00... He called it a "Bubbed" M-70... As in his opinion someone had "put bases on it and changed the stock"..... I never told him he was wrong, or what it really was, I just forked over the cash!!!!....

[Mustang]

Nice sights!! Really cool you were able to get the story about the owner, as well as about the rifle from Hart!!

Mine came with the front sight, and part of the rear sight...I was able a few years ago to get the correct complete rear sight. (pic before I found the rear)...Got this rifle back in 2007... I got it at the shop I worked at, at the time.... The owner had taken it in on trade... He sold it to me for $350.00... He called it a "Bubbed" M-70... As in his opinion someone had "put bases on it and changed the stock"..... I never told him he was wrong, or what it really was, I just forked over the cash!!!!....

LOL...Bubba'd Model 70! We should all be lucky enough to get such a Bubba job

I got mine for a "gavel price" of $650 in 2013, but the auction house added 15% for a "buyers premium"...so call it $750. I was hoping to get one of the Unertl scopes, but they went for huge bucks...much more than the rifles in some cases. So I took the rifle and sights and was happy.

The auction house was pretty knowledgeable about firearms. I called them after the auction and talked to them about shipping. They told me that many of the rifles had shooters books and even brass associated with the rifle and that those would be included in the shipment if there were any for my rifle. When mine arrived it was very well packed but alas, no shooters book or brass came with it, so I guess it wasn't one of the rifles that had them.

The auction house had described the sights as being "OK Weber" sights. I called OK Weber to find out about the sights and found out that they only imported the sights and that they were actually RPA sights from England. OK Weber also told me what the sights cost and I was even happier about the deal.