Model 70 Winchesters

Our Duane, or is it Noah?

To turn the conversation back to another favorite topic, the rain has finally stopped here in So Cal but the rifle range is closed until further notice.  I didn’t realize just how much rain we’ve had in the last few days until I saw this guy with a flowing white beard leading pairs of all kinds of different animals, two by two, onto this boat.   Was that you, Duane?

I’ve sold a few guns lately because I want to get down to the ones I really want to hang on to, and in that category, I have three modern Model 70s that are just what the doctor ordered.   I say “modern” because the rifles are of the post-1964 persuasion.   1964 is the line of demarcation between the first versions of the Model 70 (they are known as pre-64 Winchesters and they are quite collectible) and the modern rifles.  Winchester kind of flubbed it when they went to the 1964 Model 70.  It was extensively “value engineered” to make it more producible (which most folks viewed as cheapening the rifle).   Winchester has had quite a few years after the 1964 debacle to make things right, and the contemporary Model 70s are as fine a rifle as any ever made.  Truth be told, the modern ones are more accurate than the earlier ones (those are fighting words to some, but having owned both flavors, I’ll stand by that comment).

Like I mentioned above, I have these three Model 70s, and while it was raining bigly over the last couple of weeks, I played around photographing and Photoshopping them.  I’d like to share the photos with you.

The first Model 70 is a Supergrade 30 06 with a maple stock (it’s one I mentioned on the blog before, but I don’t think I showed you a photo of it yet).  I’m in the very early stages of working up a load for this rifle, and it’s already grouping under an inch at a 100 yards.   This is one sweet shooting rifle….

I want to hunt boar with the tigertail maple Model 70 in the photo above (it’s one of my 2017 resolutions).   I’ll keep you posted on that endeavor.

Here’s one I bought used a couple of years ago and I just got around to shooting it earlier this month.  It’s a Model in 300 H&H, and I bought it because of the cartridge and the wood…

I used to own one of the pre-64 Model 70s in 300 H&H and all indications are that this modern one is more accurate.   I love that cartridge.  It was developed in the 1930s to provide a little bit more velocity than the 30 06, and it promptly won the 1936 Wimbledon 1000-yard match.   Think about that….target shooting at 1000 yards!

One more Model 70, folks, and then I’ll get back to talking about motorcycles.  This one is really wild and pretty scarce.  It’s a Model 70 chambered for the super-powerful 300 Weatherby cartridge.

My 300 Weatherby is another rifle I bought because of the cartridge and because of its unusually highly-figured walnut stock.  I knew Roy Weatherby and he was one hell of a man, and the 300 Weatherby was his signature cartridge.  The 300 Weatherby is a stunning cartridge, both from accuracy and recoil perspectives.  It will print 3-shot cloverleafs at 100 yards, but shooting a 300 Weatherby is one of those things that make you glad when it’s over.  Recoil is brutal (it’s one of the hottest of the 300 magnum cartridges), and the only time in my life I ever got smacked by a rifle scope was shooting a 300 Weatherby.  It’s potent!

Okay, so as promised, it’s back to bikes.   I’m visiting with Roland tomorrow to get a few more close up photos of his RC3 racing motorcycle, and this weekend we’ll be watching Roland race at the Fontana Motor Speedway.  I think the RC3 is going to catch on as a race bike in its class, and we’re looking forward to that happening.  Stay tuned, and we’ll bring it all to you right here on the blog!