Winchester 70 question

[cdipasquale]

Hey everyone. Kinda new to shooting rifles and have a question. I bought a winchester 70 in 30-06 from a gun auction for 200 bucks. I'm going to use it as my first deer rifle but I'm thinking about eventually turning into a sniper type rifle, changing the stock, barrel, etc. My question is...are all winchester 70 actions the same? I've read about pre-64 guns and mine is definitly not that old. Because it was probably a gun from walmart or some other cheap model, is the action still the same as the more expensive models? I'm assuming the only factory part that would be used is the action so i'm wondering if this is the action I want to use or will I be wasting money? Thanks ahead of time for your comments.

 

[P.B.Walsh]

Pre-64 is a type of action, they have recently re-introduced the action as of late, the pre-64 is easily seen by the controlled round feel extractor on the side of the bolt (look at any Mauser 98 and you'll see it). This is how mine is, and it works great, favorite action action for my uses/wants.

Please do not say "sniper rifle"..... your not a sniper or an "operator", then again you might be, but that phrase is not well recieved around here along with "assault rifle" or "shotty" or any other Call of Duty term.

Welcome to The High Road, may you learn all of the knowledge of this community and conduct yourself in a high road manner.

Good luck to your future purchases, and join the NRA or some other pro-2A group, it is as important as your buying the rifle.

-P.B.Walsh

 

[Abel]

Sniper in the woodline!

If its going to be a hunting rifle, you'll be thought smarter if you try to keep the total weight, with scope, around 8.5lbs or less. Throw it into a lightweight fiberglass McMillian Edge or similar. Bed the action, find the load that it likes and shoot it. Go kill some deer and forget about snipers and such.

 

[DRYHUMOR]

Welcome.

The M70s have different styles, depending on when made. The older style will have a very simple, and superb single spur trigger. The newer style will have an enclosed trigger similar to the Rem M700.

Other differences are the spacing between the action screws, whether it takes a one piece or two piece bottom metal, and whether it is a push feed (as a Remington) or a Mauser 98 type feed.

All sorts of debates back and forth about which is best can be found here on THR.

One big plus, is that the reciever has an integral recoil lug, which stiffens the action considerably.

Take some pics and post them up, we like pics.............

 

[USSR]

Welcome to The High Road. As long as we understand your intent, call it what you want and don't sweat those on here who are into being PC. Basically, there are 4 types of Winchester Model 70's you are likely to run into: the actual Pre-64 model, which as it implies were made prior to 1964; the pushfeed model that replaced the Pre-64 model; the CRF model (also known as the Pre-64 Type); and the CRPF (Controlled Round PushFeed) model. Your $200 rifle is likely the pushfeed model. Irregardless of whether you have an economy model or a deluxe model, the action is the same and is well adapted to converting to a sniper-type (the key word is "type") rifle. I did exactly what you are talking about doing with an economy Model 70, and here is the result.

Don

 

[cdipasquale]

Thank you for the useful replies. For the others, I do want to have what is considered a sniper rifle. I never said I was a sniper. I want a rifle that is capable of extreme accuracy out to a very long range. I never said I was capable, just want to know the weapon is so I can learn.
Hopefully this rifle can have 2 purposes for me. I bought it for a deer rifle but was hoping with maybe a scope change it could be capable of playing at long range and have the tactical sniper look. All I wanted to know is if the action is good for this type of build because I didn't know if the action was different in the cheaper models.
If it helps, this rifle has a composite stock and doesn't have a metal door in front of the trigger guard. you load from the top and as far as I can tell, you have to cycle unfired rounds through the chamber and eject them back out of the top.

Don, that rifle is beautiful. That is the exact look I am going for and just want to make sure it can function as good as it looks.

I'm kind of embarassed to post pics of this bone stock wal mart rifle on here. I'll wait until it is something to look at.

 

[jmr40]

If you count the new South Carolina made rifles there are actually 5 different versions.

There are pre-64's which used controlled round feed actions, (CRF). The stocks and a few other parts will not interchange with newer rifles.

The pushfeed rifles ,(PF) came out in 1964 and stocks etc. are all the same on all PF rifles with floorplates made up until the New Haven factory closed in 2006. There were a few PF rifles made with blind magazines during this time that would use different stock. All of these guns with floorplates had a 2 piece bottom metal and trigger guard. Your rifle is most likely this one.

In 1994 the Winchester Classics were introduced and made until the New Haven factoy was closed in 2006. They brought back CRF actions. The actions are very similar to the pre-64's. but stocks will not interchange. The first guns used the same 2 piece bottom metal as the less expensive PF versions. Some rifles near the end of production changed over to a much better 1 piece bottom metal.

The Controlled Round Push Feed's, (CRPF) were quite rare. The 243, 223 WSSM rounds would not feed reliably through the CRF actions. These 2 rounds, which failed and were only produced for a short time, were used in a modified CRF action.

Winchester closed the doors in 2006 and no guns were made until FN resumed production in 2008-present. The new FN made Winchesters are basically the Classic rifle, but with a re-designed trigger and all have the newer 1 piece floorplate and triggerguard.

If buying an aftermarket stock you need to know for sure exacty which action and floorplate/triggerguard you have. You can order new bottom metal, but it can get expensive, and it is also possible to modify a stock to work with the other type, but it is best to get the right stock.

The older PF rifles like your's is a good buy. You got a lot of gun for the money. I "prefer" the CRF actions, but that is prmarily just a preference. I have a couple of PF's and they shoot very well. A great place to start if you want to put together a semi-custom rifle.