I have admired the reputation of the pre 64 Model 70 for decades, but never thought I'd own one. I just was always too practical to spend the extra money when other, cheaper rifles would serve my purposes equally as well. Yesterday, I stumbled onto a nice specimen at a pawn shop for a price I am convinced is well under it's value. I bought it, but I am unfamiliar enough with the nuances of these rifles to feel comfortable with how to value it for insurance purposes.

It is in beautiful shape in my opinion, not a safe queen but well taken care of. The SN is 800XX which indicates a 1948 build according to one website I visited. The underside of the bbl is stamped '47', so I guess the rifle was assembled the year after the bbl was made. It is a 270 WCF. It isn't in original condition, having been glass bedded (beautifully, I might add) and having swivel studs added. The rear sight has been replaced by a dovetail blank. The finish is pretty enough that I wonder if it might have been refinished at some point. If so, I don't think it was recently....maybe by the same pro that bedded it.

Here are some pics of it. Feel free to ask any questions necessary to help me understand exactly what I have.

BTW, it came with the period scope base and rings. I installed a 6X scope and put together a few loads using 130 gr Hornady SPs and 60 gr of H4831SC. I briefly owned a 270 many years ago and still have the dies and components from it. The load was just what seemed to be a logical choice. Here are the results. Seven rounds fired (after zeroing the scope) at a brisk pace. Not too fast, but fast enough that the barrel was hot enough to fry an egg at the end. The first five went into 0.90" and six and seven strayed far enough left to open the total to 1.50". After cooling, I shot the last two rounds at a different bullseye, and they would have fallen within the first five shots group (second pic).

Congratulations on an excellent find. Value....I don't know. Maybe check some auction sites and see what the populace is paying.

Topic thread moved to Pre-64 sub forum...

Thanks, Shooter. As I said in the new member forum, I posted this in the M70 forum before noticing the pre 64 forum.

Getting a value for this rifle is really secondary (I have no plans to sell it) to finding out exactly where in the realm of the pre 64 M70 mystique it fits. I think it is a 'transitional' model, but really have no idea what that means or how my rifle may differ from other M70s. Any discussions/explanations/enlightenment/etc. from those that know would be greatly appreciated.

No problem...I'm here to help.

Hi, Hook, congrats from me, too! The average for an untouched pre-64 model 70 has been hovering around $1200 for a few years, but since yours was bedded and a bit fooled around with, I'd insurance value it at 800.00. Now for the discouraging part. I just visited the Cabela's north of Fort Worth and noticed a pre-64 in the original chambering of 300 H&H, a very desirable find. Price had been reduced from 1999.99 to 999.99, a thousand dollsr reduction! When I asked why, was told "Nobody wants it." Since a lot of that caliber was rechambered to 300 Weatherby, I thought it was a great find. Further discussion re ealed tgz t the pre-64 m70 market was almost nonexistent. The sales guy tells me that the new collectors don't know what they are, and don't really care, either. By this time in our lives, ghe older collectors already have what they want, or are now on fixed incomes and can't afford them. Cabela's doesn't even buy pre-64's unless they are dirt cheap, be suse tvey can't sell them! I hope this is not a nationwide trend, I was really discouraged. No, I dd
Idn't have the 999.99, maybe next year if they drop the price further!

Interesting observations, Keith. I took the rifle to our local gunshow last weekend and asked some of the knowledgeable people there about it. Their ideas ranged from a low of $800 up to just over $1k. I had already assumed a value of $800 based on feedback from several sources, so yours just reinforces that amount.

I have much less than that in the rifle, plus I do not intend to ever sell it, but the idea that the pre 64 market is drying up is a bit unsettling. If anything, I would have thought it would be going the other way. As I think I stated above somewhere, I never sought to own a pre 64 M70 thinking they were a little overpriced for what you were getting. This one was just too good to pass up though, and I am really impressed by it.