1947 Winchester Model 70 .30-06

[frogsaw]

I have a 1947 Winchester Model 70 .30-06 and I was curious to see how rare this gun is, especially with the scope that appears to have been included as a package deal. Please note the scope mounting system and the barrel shape. Can anybody tell me anything other than what I already know about this rifle?

Thanks,

 

[Horseman]

Original finish and likely has an extra hole in the side of the receiver from the mount.

 

[Jim Watson]

The scope mount looks like a Stith Instal it Yourself.
I belive Model 70s of that age were drilled and tapped on the side of the reciever bridge for a peep sight and the Stith rear attaches there. The front goes in the open sight dovetail as you can see.

 

[30-30remchester]

I have collected old model 70's for quite some time now so have a fair knowledge of them. The 1947 model 70 is known as a "transitional" model. It had a limited run from 1946 to @1949. This model differed from the original model by the omission of the clip loading slots on top of the reciever, the factory drilled and tapped rear bridge (for scope mounting), change from 20 line to 18 line checkering and a new scope friendly saftey called the "clamshell" safety. These guns retained the bulbous grip, cloverleaf tang, and some more handbuilt internal parts that were changed in 1950. The scope bases are Stith. The rear base used existing reciever sight holes only so no additional holes were drilled in the reciever. The front base was inserted into the rear sight dovetail thus no alteration to original gun. This front base allowed installation of a single occular scope only. These models are neat. I have had a few and my main hunting rifle is a 1946 model. I would like to see a few more photos of the entire gun just for the drool factor.

 

[Scorch]

All good info.

Your scope appears to be a Weaver K2.5 with a #3 reticle (post and crosswire) also sometimes called a German reticle because this reticle type was very popular in Europe and some early telescopic sights made in Germany used this reticle type while American scopes typically used a crosshair reticle.

 

[Winchester_73]

I was curious to see how rare this gun is, especially with the scope that appears to have been included as a package deal.

Since no one answered, the 30-06 was the most common model 70 chambering. In fact, it out numbered the second highest production chambering, the 270 WCF by approx 5 to 1; the 30-06 totalling over 500k rifles while the 270 was at approx 120k. So its not rare but like remchester (sounds like a split personality) said, it is a transitional model, and those usually do bring a premium. You should post the SN so that we can be sure its in fact a 1947 gun. I own a transitional myself, 80XXX, 270 wcf and its one of my favorite rifles. I think the cutoff for trasitionals is only about 95XXX or so. I also own a 1949 model 70 which is a post war standard (non trasitional) and the SN for that one is 131XXX, so yours would have to be before that.

The scope doesn't appear to be a high dollar scope and as a matter of fact, the mount could be worth more. But on the other hand, I'm not sure that the pre war model 70s had the drilled peep site holes in the left of the receiver. Stith did make a mount for the pre war model 70s and that mount today is very sought after since it allows you to mount a scope to that rifle without ruining its collector value. Your mount is probably more common and less desired but still pretty neat cause you don't see those everyday either.

Very nice rifle btw, it will out last you with basic care. I would not be hesitant to shoot it as long as it checks out fine (the usual stuff).

 

[Slamfire]

Pre war M70's had the left rear drilled and tapped for iron sights and were clip slotted. This one is serial number 3, 3XX. Mine was drilled and tapped on top of the receiver for scope mounts. I would have loved to find Slith mounts for the fun of it, but since they did not survive, they must not have been very good mounts.

I like the reticle image.

I don't know when pre 64's stopped being drilled and tapped on the left rear for irons, the upper rifle is serial number 458, XXX.

Sometimes you run across these Bausch and Lomb scopes and mounts. This set up dates as far back as 1951, based on the ads I have seen, and I have seen 1957 ads with these mounts. The windage and elevation adjustments are done with the mount screws. The scope is a fixed four power with a fixed reticle. The idea was that this made the scope more durable. The previous owner told me of ads where B&L drove nails with their scopes (stupid idea in my opinion). And that you could unscrew the scope and use it on another rifle with a B&L mount. I would not trust the zero on any dismounted scope. Maybe others have had positive experiences removing and attaching scopes without zero changes, but in my limited experience, I had zero changes.

I find the star shaped dismount screw in the way when you load ammunition and the pointy end gouges my fingers. Scope is clear.

 

[frogsaw]

First off, I really appreciate everyone's interests in this topic. The knowledge of this firearm being shared is top notch.

I will try to address all comments:

The Serial Number is 73xxx. I have verified the production year 1947 on the winchester website.

Along with the drilled and tapped hole on the left side of the reciever, the top of the reciever is drilled and tapped for scope mounting, and does appear to have been done by the manufacturer.

I have also included more pics for Remchester to drool over.

I would brag about the price I paid... but someone may call the police because I basically stole it.