My great nieces husband acquired a 50's vintage model 70 in 30-06 from his Grandad. They live a mile down the road and he brought it over for me to inspect, mount a scope etc. Very nice and well maintained, even the bolt was not full of oil and garbage. Put his 3-9 Nikon on it, bore sighted it and after 4 shots it put 3, 150gr Remington factory coreloks in .750. It was a hoot! Barlow
Pre 64 Model 70
- Thread starter Barlow
- Start date
One of the only two items I have claimed for myself when my father passes is a mid 1950's Mod. 70 in .338 Win that my grandfather bought to take on a Yukon moose hunt. Out of the original box of ammunition two rounds were fired by my father to sight it in (both hit within an inch at 100 yds and his headache said 'no mas'
) and one round for a moose. I still have that original box. It was pulled out of mothballs for an elk hunt when the intended rifle split the stock the week before the trip. The pristine stock came back from Montana with a number of blemishes...each and everyone of them I cherish
. BTW..the other item is the M1 Garand I bought him a few years back for a Christmas gift.
) and one round for a moose. I still have that original box. It was pulled out of mothballs for an elk hunt when the intended rifle split the stock the week before the trip. The pristine stock came back from Montana with a number of blemishes...each and everyone of them I cherish. BTW..the other item is the M1 Garand I bought him a few years back for a Christmas gift.CaptainMal
Silver $$ Contributor
Have a few in different calibers. ALL are like that to some degree. One in 270 is packed right now and heading for a Georgia hunt tomorrow morning. To me they are the best and most desirable actions for hunting you can get - good old controlled round feed.
Just remember to feed the chamber from the action. To just stick a shell in the chamber and try to close the bolt is a no no.
Just remember to feed the chamber from the action. To just stick a shell in the chamber and try to close the bolt is a no no.
You got one of the better ones. Those old model 70's were at best 1 1/2" rifles. That core lok't ammo has always been very accurate. I recently chrono'd some 30/06 core lock ammo after mounting scope on a Ruger American. Extreme spread of 12fps for 16 rounds of 150 grain ammo. Groups were just under an inch!
Why do you say that Captain Mal? Is it concern for the extractor? I have several claw extractor rifles and some of them have never fed a round from the magazine. Just drop round on top of the follower, run into the chamber and the extractor snaps right over the rim. We're talking thousands of rounds here
If you’ve ever seen the movie Jeremiah Johnston in the beginning of the movie he’s looking to buy a rifle preferably a 50 caliber but settles for a 36. But as the narrator says “by gosh it was a Genuine Hawken ya can’t go no better”And so it is to this day in my opinion for 95% plus of game hunting situations you can’t go no better than a pre-64 70!
SSL
Gold $$ Contributor
The pre-64 Winchester actions were "controlled-feed", meaning that the rims had to be pushed into the bolt lips from the magazine since the bolt head and extractor won't/can't "snap" over them like a "push feed" action. Cost me a long hike back to camp on a Michigan deer hunt when a buddy borrowed a Mexican Mauser .250 Savage (also controlled feed) from me and tried to just push a round into the chamber with the bolt and got it jammed. I was particularly upset because I had specifically drilled that into his pin-head while practicing and getting him sighted in at home! Made him buy his own rifle the next year.
Nutts! I just don't have a couple of mill in change right now.
SSL
Gold $$ Contributor
A controlled feed action bolt has a semi-circle lip milled into the bolt face (along with a generous extractor) that the cartridge rim has to enter vertically. Attempts at closing the bolt on loose cartridges jams them into the chamber but the recess prevents closing the bolt because it can't slip over the rim. Some may work, but I've never personally seen it.
https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/controlled-feed-vs-push-feed-rifles/
Read in particular the pros and cons under controlled feed in the below link..
https://gundigest.com/rifles/bolt-action-rifles-push-feed-vs-controlled-feed
Those links provide a very good overview of the differences between the two designs.
I have a Mausingfield, a 1903A3 and an FN SPR (Win Model 70). Yeah, I'm a sucker for CRF/Mauser type actions. I shoot the Mausingfield in F T/R. It has never been loaded from the magazine and has never had a jam or broken extractor with over 6k rounds through it. I wore a barrel out on the FN and might have loaded 30 rounds from the mag. The rest were top loaded. Never jammed. The 03A3 has fewer rounds since it's a sporterized hunting rig, however, when I'm working up a load from the bench I top load every round. Never jammed.
Maybe I'm just lucky, but if I am I've been lucky over 15,000 times
SSL
Gold $$ Contributor
Maybe it can vary from rifle to rifle. My '03 Springfield (1917) can feed and chamber a loose round, but there is a definite "bump" factor involved. The only pre-64 Winchester I have handled would not chamber a loose round. Neither would any of several converted Mausers that I have had. Obviously a case of "some will - some won't".
SSL
Gold $$ Contributor
Living on borrowed time! LOL. It does appear to be somewhat random.
The shape of the front of the extractor is the determining factor. If there is a large enough chamfer it will slip over the rim. If it is cut straight it won't .
Likewise; I too must be lucky. My 1898 clone VZ-24 has a modified extractor and it will single feed; or control feed from the magazine. I can see that some actions may have a recessed bolt face; but not all do.
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