1936 Win 70 oddity

D

davery25

New member
Hi guys,

I found this and thought I'd struck gold, however on closer inspection I'm just plain confused

http://www.ozgunsales.com/listing/1...ml?PHPSESSID=5afcfc1b5e31d64c20fe57e6e9c17ee1

It's a 1936 Win 70 (i.e pre 64) with serial # 7071. The serial number checks out but there's a number of oddities with the rifle including:

1. its in 243 - that means it's been rebarrelled - that's a no brainer
2. The stock doesn't look like an original winchesters for that year but correct me if im wrong and probably most perplexing;
3. It's a push-feed action?

The owner of the store thinks it might be a canadian produced firearm (or action at least since the barrel says New Haven on it). The serial checks out for the year. I was under the impression that all actions for pre-64 winchester 70s were controlled round feed.

Anyone come across anything like this?
 
Last edited:
It is confusing; Some of the features look to be from a Model 70, but others don't. For example the slide-type safety is not an original Winchester 70 feature; Every 70 that I have ever seen has a horizontally rotating safety lever mounted on the striker shroud. And, as to the striker shroud, it looks more like a Remington 700 series type.

As to whether it is Canadian made or not, I beleive at one time Winchester had an interest in the Canadian Cooey firm, and I supposes it is possible that there were 70s made for the Canadian market that differed from those sold in the U.S.

Hopefully some of the Model 70 experts will shine some light on the subject soon.
 
Last edited:
While I am certainly no Model 70 expert, almost nothing looks right about that rifle for a 1936 production gun. The caliber is wrong, the stock is wrong, the safety is wrong. 1936 M70's were not drilled and tapped for scopes and there is no checkering on the forearm and pistol grip area (although I am not sure whether they were checkered in '36.)

Just for reference, here is a post war M70 Featherweight that has had a recoil pad added, but otherwise is in original condition. This one still has it's original 6X Kollmorgan scope.

IMG_1921-XL.jpg

IMG_1920-XL.jpg

IMG_1919-XL.jpg

IMG_1923-XL.jpg
 
I'm no M70 expert either, but my impression is that it's a Winchester M70 243 take-off barrel that has been fitted to another action. Nothing about that rifle looks like a pre-64 M70 to me, although the pics do leave a bit to be desired.

I worked in a gunsmith shop for a number of years, and using take-off barrels on other actions wasn't at all uncommon. For instance, a customer brings in a Winchester rifle and wants to "upgrade" to a Shilen barrel, even though the factory barrel is in good shape or maybe even new. Once the gunsmith takes the factory barrel off and does the upgrade, he's not going to just throw away a perfectly usable barrel. He either sells it to someone else, or puts it on another customers rifle that may have a shot out barrel or for a customer that wants a caliber change on a low budget.

Just my thoughts, and I may (and probably am) be wrong.

Papershotshells
 
I have to agree, nothing looks right for the supposed model 70. It almost looks to me like a Remington 722 with a Winchester 70 barrel on it.
 
I have to agree, nothing looks right for the supposed model 70. It almost looks to me like a Remington 722 with a Winchester 70 barrel on it.
Click to expand...

That was my first thought, but the bolt release is Mod. 70. (Actually, it's about the only thing that looks Model 70.)
 
That bolt sleeve looks more Remington than Winchester, and no Model 70 had a safety like that. Very odd. It might be a good rifle, but there are so many questions that I would be highly skeptical.

Jim
 
Pics are not super sharp but I also believe that's a Rem 722 with a refitted Winchester M-70 barrel in it.

Anyway, it's not worth $600
 
That is what I was thinking, but the safety is different and the bolt release on the left side is Winchester.

Jim
 
.

Not to mention the stock's PG doesn't look like any factory Winchester M70 stock I've ever seen - AND, some boob cut the stock for the pad at the wrong angle, to boot !



.
 
"AND, some boob cut the stock for the pad at the wrong angle, to boot !"

Wow. So they did.

And it can all be yours for only $553 and change American dollars.
 
The action looks pure Remington to me, but I don't know if you could rethread a Win barrel to Rem threads as I don't have that data in front of me.

Suffice to say that unless Marty McFly or the gentleman from Gallifrey were involved, there were no 243 Winchesters in 1936.

Could have been someone's "Well, I've got a rifle with a shot out barrel, and a take off barrel from another customer's rebarrel job" sort of project.

Although if any time travelers happen to be reading this, I would really like a distant ancestor to leave me a few shares of IBM purchased in the 1930s. That would be great.

Jimro
 
I may be wrong, and this is just short of a wild guess, but I seem to remember that Winchester made a few of the pushfeed 670 or 770's with that type of safety. If they used a different serial number range for those guns instead of the 70's this could well be a late 1960's or 1970's gun instead of 1936. Even if I'm right, the stock doesn't look right, but it might explain the caliber, safety and pushfeed action.
 
I think that's it, jmr40!. I had forgotten that the 670 didn't have the same safety as the 70. Anyway, the rifle in question is sure not what it is claimed to be.

Jim
 
And I'm not 100% sure about this, but I think some, maybe even most 670's had the wing type safety that was used on the 70. It seems to me that the 670 only used the sliding type safety for a short time.
 
awesome! you guys solved it

Needless to say I didn't buy it - i'll keep the money for my next baby - A Tikka m27 mosin nagant or M1903 if one comes up at a good price.

Thanks all
 
As of the moment, the Australian dollar is about on a par with the US dollar, and IMHO, $600 is too much for that rifle in the US, where 670's with scopes are going for around $325-350. Whether the seller is ignorant or trying to get a higher price for an average rifle, I don't know.

Jim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top