Rifle and Scope reunited...

[CalFed]

Years ago I won a wonderful old target rifle at an estate sale of the estate of a WWII vet who had been an avid target shooter. That man's name was James A Norton. The rifle was set up for an old style long tube target scope, but one was not included. It did come with a very nice target sight. Amazingly, I recently saw James Norton's target scope at another online auction. I bid on the scope and won it.

Here is Mr. Norton's obituary.

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/s...aspx?n=james-a-norton&pid=163527379&fhid=8733

Here's the rifle...

And here is the scope..

 

[DngBat7]

Pretty cool story. Like they were meant to be reunited.

 

[snert]

That is awesome

 

[Baka]

priceless!

 

[ebb]

James A Norton sure did build a nice target rifle, hope it shoots as good as it looks!!!!

 

[CalFed]

Thanks, guys!

I won the rifle back in June of 2013, not long after Mr. Norton passed. I was looking back through some old posts and discovered my first post on this forum, in which I solicited assistance in finding a scope mounting rail for the rifle.

Scope base for Winchester M70 Target model

A few years back I glommed a 1965 Winchester M70 target model with a Hart barrel in 308. It came with a set of RPA "Trakker" sights and Earle scope mounting blocks. I got busy and kinda left the rifle in the back of the closet. Anyway, I've given up on trying to use the external adjustable...

forum.accurateshooter.com

Here is the recent auction listing for the scope...

Lyman Super Target Spot Scope | Live and Online Auctions on HiBid.com

hibid.com

 

[CalFed]

James A Norton sure did build a nice target rifle, hope it shoots as good as it looks!!!!

He sure did. He sounds like he was a great American.

I haven't shot the rifle much, but intend to pick it up.

The rifle has a Hart Barrel and a Jewell trigger. It came with an RPA Trakker rear sight and a variable front globe sight.

 

[NateHaler]

This was meant to be. Thanks for sharing this story, and congrats! Jim Norton lives on through your experience with his rifle and scope. You'll do him proud... heck, you already have.

 

[PhilKeil]

That is cool.

 

[CalFed]

Thanks, Phil

 

[NorCalMikie]

Got to love it when a plan comes together.

 

[gdbleb]

Very nice story. Remember those old style Dymo embossed labels? We want pics of that scope all mounted up now...

 

[ebb]

what chambering is this gun?

 

[CalFed]

Very nice story. Remember those old style Dymo embossed labels? We want pics of that scope all mounted up now...

When it arrives, I'll mount it up

 

[CalFed]

what chambering is this gun?

.308

I called Hart Barrels back when I first got it and spoke with Jim Hart. I described what I had. He obviously couldn't remeber the rifle specifically, but did say that based on what I told him, he was certain that he had worked on the rifle at his shop. He couldn't say which, but told me that the barrel almost certainly was either a 10" or 12" twist and thought that 175gr bullets would be fine in either.

 

[CalFed]

The scope arrived yesterday.

Good news: It is in great condition. Bad news: one of the scope mounting blocks is boogered up. I could not mount the scope.

I've already put in a call to Steve Earle for a replacement set.

 

[ColoradoElkHunter]

This is an awesome thread. With all of the various things going on in the country at this time this is a thread offering a slice of our American heritage. Thanks for posting and I look forward to following your progress!

 

[john 800]

Do you have any idea when he built it or competed with it? A 40x with a hart barrel and that scope would probably be a modern equivalent of a bat,kreigerand a nightforce today. I guarantee someone was very proud of that rifle in its day.

 

[CalFed]

Do you have any idea when he built it or competed with it? A 40x with a hart barrel and that scope would probably be a modern equivalent of a bat,kreigerand a nightforce today. I guarantee someone was very proud of that rifle in its day.

John, I don't know.
Mr Norton died in 2013, but I remember someone who attended the auction in person back in 2013 mentioning that Mr Norton had eye sight issues going back 12 or 13 years before that. The impression that I got was that his long range rifles hadn't been shot for a fairly long time.