Another Pre 64 Model 70 thread.

[Sydwaiz]

So I have this Pre 64 Model 70 sitting around that my old man bought for me around 30 years ago or so off a buddy of his. Built in 1947 from what I gather. It's not in the greatest shape and it's been re-chambered from .257 Roberts to .257 Weatherby magnum at some point in it's life, not by me. On top sits an old Weaver Micro-Trac 4-12 scope. At least I think it's made by Weaver. It too is in not the greatest condition. The butt pad is a Weatherby so I'm sure it's been cut a little at some point too. I can't remember the last time I shot it but it's been at least 20 years.

I guess I'm looking for suggestion on what to do with it depending what it's worth. Given the condition that it's in and the fact that it's been re-chambered, I can't see the value being as high as if it were unmolested. I wouldn't mind having a nice custom long range toy built off the action but who is building on these things nowadays and what stocks are available? What say you? Here's a couple teaser pics.

[Jimmy's]

Worth=$400-$450 to the right guy.
Long range over 500 yards it is not at least for target use. Keep it and use as a hunter and start over and buy what you want or use the action and build another. But that would be money lost.

[sd joe]

[SMarquez]

I think a M70 in .257 Roberts would be worth more than a .308, .270 or 30-06. To me it's ruined. If you wanted to take it back to .257 you would need to find a new bolt, rebarrel etc. and would end up with a non matching gun.

[sigstroker]

Just about any riflesmith worth his salt can work on a Model 70, so you won't have any trouble finding someone to do work on it. .257 Weatherby is a real screamer, 120 gr at 3300 fps. If you hunt, it should do the job against most critters.

It boils down to what you want to do with it. You can leave it as is with a new scope. It's the same bolt face as .300 Weatherby, so if you want something crazy like a 6.5-300 it just needs rebarreling. Ditto if you want to blow holes in water buffalo and rhino with a .340 Weatherby.

[870classic]

It is a good looking rifle to start with. You mention "... wouldn't mind having a nice custom long range toy built off the action". What caliber would you want. If you plan on using the belted magnum cartridge (like any of the Weatherby Magnums, 300 Win Mag, 7mm Remington mag. etc,) then you already have the action and bolt for a belted magnum. Swap the barrel for your dream caliber, inlet the stock and have fun. Otherwise, sell the rig and start over with a new action and custom set up.

Best regards,
870classic.

[LynnJr]

The gun could be turned into a 300 Weatherby very easily with a barrel swap.
Don't use a factory reamer on the new barrel as they have way too much freebore for accuracy work.
Use 300 H-H Magnum brass made by RWS and RE25 with a Fed215M primer in a 11 twist barrel 28-30 inches long and Berger 210 VLD or 215 hybrid bullets.
For a stock a Shehane ST1000 or Shehane Tooley MBR.
You seat the bearing surface to boattail junction of the bullet you plan on using 0.050 in front of the neck shoulder junction and that will determine the freebore which will be around 0.180-0.220.
If you think the barrel is too heavy for the action use a barrel block available from Shehane.

[Divernhunter]

Or you could leave it as it is with a new Leupold scope on it and hunt with it. The 257W is a great hunting cartridge.

[sigstroker]

The gun could be turned into a 300 Weatherby very easily with a barrel swap.
Don't use a factory reamer on the new barrel as they have way too much freebore for accuracy work.
Use 300 H-H Magnum brass made by RWS and RE25 with a Fed215M primer in a 11 twist barrel 28-30 inches long and Berger 210 VLD or 215 hybrid bullets.
For a stock a Shehane ST1000 or Shehane Tooley MBR.
You seat the bearing surface to boattail junction of the bullet you plan on using 0.050 in front of the neck shoulder junction and that will determine the freebore which will be around 0.180-0.220.
If you think the barrel is too heavy for the action use a barrel block available from Shehane.

What about a .340 Weatherby? They're pretty much the ballistic equivalent of the Lapua. What's the accuracy potential on those?

One downside is that brass is ridiculously expensive.

[LynnJr]

SigStroker
The 340 Weatherby is the same case as the 300 with a 338 neck so the brass is interchangeable. The main problem is that Weatherby brass or Norma brass is soft and the primer pockets will loosen up on you about the same time your brass fits the chamber perfectly.
Weatherby/Norma brass weighs on average 220 grains and 300H-H RWS brass weighs on average 296 grains over a 2000 lot sampling.
At $2 a case empty and only 2-3 loadings it gets pricey fast.
If it were my rifle I would do as Diver Hunter suggests and use it as a long-range hunter with 115 Bergers at top velocity and build a second gun on a different action as described.
The 300 Weatherby/300 Ackley is a favourite of the 1000 yard Benchrest crowd.

[Jimmy's]

Correction on rifle worth. I did not see the Non Winchester stock it drops the price way back. $400-$450 Scope may fetch $75 by itself but adds nothing to the rifle.

[RNE228]

I would do this. Send the action in and have a USMC type build done. Just like the rifles Hathcock, England, and Mahwinney used early in Vietnam.

http://www.texasbrigadearmory.com/m70.htm

I would really like one of these builds. A Citori over/under is first though...

[-hanko]

Not a lot you can do with it other than what's been suggested so far.

IMO the .257 Roberts or .257 Improved (aka Ackley) Roberts are easy to shoot and benefit greatly if you reload. Just sayin' if I were the guy that sold the rifle to your Dad I would have left it as is. Guns chambered in that caliber overall tend to appreciate in value.

[Sydwaiz]

Thanks for the suggestions and opinions. I think I'll be better off just selling this thing. My original thought was to make a custom .300 Win Mag out of it for distance shooting. I don't need another .300 Weatherby as I already have my dad's old Mark V (which I'll also probably be selling). I just wanted something smaller than my .50 and bigger than my 6.5 CM and this being in the worst condition I figured it would be a good donor!

Correction on rifle worth. I did not see the Non Winchester stock it drops the price way back. $400-$450 Scope may fetch $75 by itself but adds nothing to the rifle.

How can you tell if the stock is original? I know the recoil pad says Weatherby on it but I haven't removed the action from the stock yet. The inletting seems too perfect not to be original but I don't know much about these old rifles.

[1recluse]

Pre 64 Winchesters did not have a cheek piece except on Super Grades and it is not a Super Grade stock. I will add to that. The pistol grip is longer and quite a different profile than a Winchester Stock and it appears to be robust in the forearm area and the lack of checkering is not because it was sanded off with that profile.