Last week, I was in my local gunshop and saw a pre-war Model 70 .30-06 that looked like it had just come out of the factory. It had been re-finished but, whoever did it knew what they were doing and didn't wash off a sharp edge or dish a screw hole. It was in pristine condition. They wanted $598 + tax and I left it to think about it and someone came in and bought it five minutes before I got back there.

Yesterday, I went in to pick-up a rifle a friend had sent me and saw another Model 70, this one barely pre-64, a featherweight in .30-06. It had been mildly abused (stock sanded and the checkering nearly obliterated and the blueing was only about 70%) and they wanted $495 + tax for it. I decided not to be beaten out of this one and bought it.

Good or bad deal?

You sure did,nt do poorly,
I have a frend who pays 500.00 for a pre64 action, any time.Action only I mean. He is a stock maker and makes real prety customs.
I would consider doing a custom on the action,
most any round up to a 458 win would be fine in that action, I would think hard about a .257 Roberts or a 35 Whelen, but on the other hand if it shoots as it should, mabye just restore it, who cant use a great rifle chamberd for the most popular and arguably the most usfull round on earth...tj3006

It has been a year since I last looked at an action, but the action alone usually fetched $400, so $495 isn't bad. It is rare to find a featherweight that goes unmolested today, and I've seen them fetch $1250 to $1450 easily, when just two years ago my buddy paid only $750 for a clean 243. Now I realize prices have gone up on everything, but doubled in only two years?
Ahsooo Grashopper, you did well!

I would have dug deeper in my pockets and bought a Kimber 'Classic'. Metallurgy development has not stood still, so the original Winchester is getting a bit long in the tooth by now.
You did well, buying this would have been a ludicrous matter:
Farmer's gun in obsolete caliber