Pre 64 Winchester Model 70, value?

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InsaneIrish

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I have a pre 64, standard grade, winchester Model 70, in .270. Serial number is 105,234, manufactured in early 1949. It is in fairly rough shape. It was my Dad's hunting gun, the bluing is scratched and has a lot of wear in some areas. The stock is dinged up with 3 holes drilled in it where he had added a cheek plate. He also added a compass in the stock then scratched directions in it. It also has what looks to be an after market recoil pad on it.

You can see the dings and holes in the stock photo. The uneven finish in the profile shot.

My question is this: What is the current value of this gun?

I was wanting to strip it down, replace the stock, reblue the gun, do a trigger job, piller bed the receiver, add updated mounts and scope. But, if I am holding something that is currently worth some money, I don't want to destroy that value by turning it into a project gun.
 

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That rifle looks pretty good to me for a rifle thats over 60 years old (wished I'd have weathered so well).

Unless the barrel it totally shot out, I'd leave it a lone.

But since its you fathers gun I wouldn't be concerned about the value. The guns I have from my father are priceless to me, regardless of what others think they are worth.

Setting asside the fact its your father's gun. I think the value would be decreased if you started refinishing it.

I would bet, without trying it, or looking closer, if you got some good ammo, paid attention to your shooting I bet that rifle would still shoot 2 moa or better.

If I got a vote, (I know I don't but you asked) I'd vote "leave it alone".
 
The gun is a good shooter. It is just beat to crap on the outside.
Since it is a pre 64 model, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't holding a $2,000 gun and thinking I had a $500 gun? I'm willing to refinish a beat up good shooter at $500. :) Not so keen on refinishing a $2K gun and ruining it. ;)
 
I look at it this way.

I have a lot of vintage military rifles, they all have scrapes and dents that came from who knows who, doing who knows what.

I think my vintage military rifles earned their scrapes and dents and far be it to me to remove their (possible) scars of war.

An example, I have a used M1 Carbine sling. Somebody marked it with their name. My wife did a search and found that name twice. Once used in the Pacific during WWII and one used in Europe.

I wouldn't trade that sling for a dozen new slings.

Same thing with your rifle. Its got scratches and dents, but what was your father doing, what was he hunting when the rifle got marked up. We can only ponder.

I'd rather look at the blemishes and wonder then refinish and lose the wondering for ever.

So I'm a sentimental old fool. Just hope my kids and grandkids feel the same.
 
I could see doing a glass bed job on it if it needs a little improvement, but you don't need pillars for a M70 action. If you want to hunt with it I'd upgrade the optics, and probably put a different recoil pad on it. The mounts and rings are plenty good enough and were the standard for many years.

Unless you are going to pay the money for a full restoration by Turnbull, I wouldn't do much but enjoy the rifle. I wouldn't change it up too much from the way your dad used it. I'm like Kraig, keep it the way you received it if your not going to use much. If it is going into the safe and maybe used for a day or two hunting a year at the most, I wouldn't change a thing, and hunt with it the way Dad did.

You could probably expect around $700 for it at an online auction for it as is.
 
I have collected, researched, and used these models for 40 years now. Original models are getting rarer daily. Since your dad has already altered the stock, there is no going bacl. However the bluing looks great from the photos. Simply replace the stock with an aftermarket as well as the scope and bases. No harm no foul as all can be returned as before as long as no reblue was done. I agree with others and have preached the beauty of a used gun with battle scars. This world is chock full of shiney guns with no history or caractor. Your dad put some hunting scars on this rifle and I believe it would honor him to leave it as is, enjoy it, and occasionally rub your hand across the scratches and dent and think of his adventures with this rifle and the one to come with your useage. New shiney gun owners can only wish their guns had such caractor and history.
 
Take a look at these... the cheapest one is $945 (and much worse shape then yours) and the best is $3,000.

http://www.gunbroker.com/All/BI.aspx...re-64+Model+70
Click to expand...

You can look at them all you want but you have to look at what is selling. There are a lot of Pre-64 M70 rifles that never sell on there because people think they are worth more than they actually are.

Win Pre 64 M70 with recoil pad similar to the OP's.

Win Pre 64 M70 with nicer stock than OP's but still with recoil pad added.

Win Pre 64 M70 restocked and sold for less than $700.

Win Pre 64 M70 I'm not sure the stock is correct, but it does have original butt plate.

There are many others out there that you can get in this price range if you are patient. Then there are many others that are priced way too high and they never receive a bid.
 
I appreciate the call for "leave it as is" to honor my Dad. However, I have other guns from my dad that have sentimental value to me. This one does not. It is just a gun in my collection.

The pictures I posted, actually make the finish look better than it really is. Oddly enough, pretty much ever high spot on the bluing is rubbed bare, the bottom front of the barrel has a quarter sized spot on it there is rubbed bare, and there are bluing scratches all down the barrel.

The stock, as said before has holes, plus dents, scratches, dings and places where the finish has rubbed off. This gun has been well used and while it is still a good shooter, it is really looking worn out.

I was looking for a refinishing project, but I wanted to make sure that if I refinish this gun I was not going to destroy some hidden jem money wise. From what I have read it sounds like the gun is worth about $500-$800 as is. If I refinish it (barring screwing that up) it will still be worth the same if not slightly more?
 
If you refinish the metal unless you have someone like Turnbull do it it is going to be a </= $600 rifle. Unfortunately that is the way it goes, and to have Turnbull do it well it will cost more than you can ever get out of it if you ever tried to sell it. The stock is already gone so you can sand out the scratches, recut the checkering, steam out the dents, fill the holes, update the recoil pad, refinish and still only have at most an $800 rifle.

It is up to you, as it is your rifle. If it were mine I'd spend money elsewhere unless I was going to build the rifle into a full blown custom rifle. I paid $625 for the .280 Rem in Brown Precision stock, pre-64 M0 70 fwt custom pictured below.

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Now if you go and find the correct stock with the correct butt plate and put your barreled action into it. Well then you've turned a $700 rifle into a $1100+ rifle as long as you don't reblue it.
 
It is not worth a lot of cash. I'd either leave it as is, or use it as the basis for a full blown custom.

A lot depends on how you want to remember you father. You could leave it just as it is and have the exact rifle your dad used. Using the action for a custom would be like having your dads rifle reincarnated and being better than when it left the factory.

From my perspective I'd most likely leave it in the safe and rarely ever actually use it if left as is. Using it as the basis for a custom rifle would allow me to actually hunt with my dads rifle for another generation with all of the modern advancements of better barrels and stocks. Plus having the action profesionally refinished.
 
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