I looking at buying a "deer/antelope" rifle something with light recoil to shoot deer size bullets pretty flat and to setup leave alone. My short list is a 270win in either a winchester stainless steel or a winchester supergrade. I really like the looks and feel of the supergrade, even thought its a little heavy. Then on the other hand, with our wet hunting weather and my "I don't own much to look at, I own tools" attitude I'm afraid it'll look like 10 miles of bad road in a year or so. But it sure is pretty! My other rifles are all stainless and plastic, so one pretty one would be kind of nice.

Mark, I would invest in the Super Grade. The .270 Win. is one of my all-time favorite cartridges, and ideal for your purposes.

The stainless Model 70 features good metalwork, but that rubbery, injection-moulded stock is junk by any standard, and really should be replaced with something better, such as a McMillan or Rimrock.

But the Super Grade stock is great as-is, and it was actually designed for USRAC by one of the world's greatest custom riflemakers, David Miller, of Tucson, AZ. About the only way you could improve this stock is to remove the factory bedding and have it pillar-bedded. The factory polyurathane finish is plenty tough as it stands.

All of my hunting rifles feature blued metalwork, and I've never had any trouble with rust, from Alaska and B.C. to eastern Oregon. Treat the metal properly with a good rust preventive such as Birchwood-Casey's 'Sheath' (my favorite for thirty years) and you should have no trouble.

AD

I put a McMillan stock on a stainless classic that I had Nylited and it is really quite attractive. (at least to me) I don't care for wood all that much though.

I have both in 338 Win Mag. When I go to Alaska, the Stainless rifle goes with me, but that's just because of the way I typically have to travel to get to where I hunt. When hunting in Alaska, the rifle is strapped across my back while I'm either riding a 4-wheeler or a snowmobile. That kind of treatment is hard on wood stocked rifles.

Both operate excellent, and both are accurate. I do like the looks of a wood/blue rifle more, but I can't argue with the success I've had with my Stainless Classic.

i have 3 super grades & they all shoot correct, you are correct that they are heavy but if you hunt out of a tree stand who cares..with that said none of these rifles have ever been in the field, none of my wood stock wood rifles ave been in the field for 10 or more years..i am just more comfortable carring a laminated or fiberglass stock, so the good stuff stays in the stock

Mark,

There was a break thru in rifles in 1952 when Winchester came out with the Featherweight. Just a few years later they chambered it for the 270 and 06 and that pattern remains a classic in my view.

When I look at old Winchesters for sale I can't pass them up if the price and condition is right except for one model and thats the standard grades in the regular calibers like the 270's. They are just heavy and clumsy and that's why my pre 64 battery only has magnums and varmint calibers in the standard grades.

When you get back to the camp with a blued gun you can't leave it there overnight in the case or whatever if it got wet. You have to wipe it off. This is not that easy for someone who is not used to it but it has been done for a long time as Allen points out.

Take a look at the Kimber Classics before you buy a M70. Some of them have spectacular wood.

Another alternative for a real looker is the Ruger Express. This one is a 270 Win. CDNN and Davidsons may still have some. Ask for a select stock.



In the picture below from bottom to top they are a M70 Classic Supergrade, the Ruger Express, M70 Westerner, pre 64 M70 300 H&H, Kimber 84M Classic and a Kimber 8400 Montana. Of that group the Express and Kimber Classic are the nice ones to handle while still pleasing the eye.





They were only about $950 a year ago. But 31 are still left. Offer them $950 for a select stock and see what happens. This is an "investment" in gun terms that is.

They sure are pretty but after thinking about it over the weekend they just aint for me. Like my wife said "in 2 years, or less, with the way you hunt that pretty wood will look like crap, its just a waste of your money. Get a stainless and be done with it." You know what, she's right. I ordered a stainless and a Bansner stock this morning.

Sounds like a good call to me! My most accurate deer rifle is a SS M.70 in .270 with the factory stock and the trigger lightened. Mine has a BOSS. I was planning to replace the stock but the gun shot so well with the factory synthetic stock I couldn't see the point. I won't say how well it shoots OTB because I'm tired of being called a liar, but I've killed deer to about 325 yrd.s and I think you'll be very well pleased.

Go with the stainless I am slowly getting rid of my blued wood stock rifles.

I like hard working rifles that I do not have to worry about no matter what the weather.

I am never getting rid of my blued wood stocked rifles. They have proven themselves over a half century to me.

Just a little care is all they need and they reward you. No harder than washing your car.

quote:

Originally posted by Savage99:
No harder than washing your car.

Whats that?? You mean to tell me people wash their cars? As busy as I am I aint got time for that. Around here we call that rain.

I gave a nephew one of my late dad's old guns. It was a like new pre 64 94 carbine in 30-30. My dad never used it as he liked his 06 but he kept it for the fun of it.

So about a year later I asked my nephew about the 30-30 and he said that he had a scope put on it but that he did not have it any more. That he liked a gun that you can throw down in the mud and not worry about it.

Now I understand him but it did hurt my feelings.

Savage
too bad about your nephew. If he did not want it, he should have offered it back to you.

Something about a nice piece of wood really sets a gun apart from the others. Although i do understand the Stainless arguement. I will probably go there myself, someday......

I use wood and blue, just like it better. I have no issue with dings or dents.

Some live in a very humid or rainy climate and it may be tiresome to keep the moisture off of a gun. Besides now one does not have to as some are SS or plated.

I would have to live there to judge.

Why can't we have a plastic stock with a nice grain on it? McMillian made a "FibreGrain" years ago but not now. Back in the 50's I had a Stevens single 20 ga with an ABS or whatever stock that had an attractive swirel to the plastic.

Supergrade. Here is my 264 Win Mag.

I just picked up a supergrade in a .270 win. topped it off with a VX-II 3-9 in Burris signature rings. First day at the range with 150 gr Nosler BT loaded in 1/2 grain increments from 53-56.5 RL22 - no group under 1.4"(cleaned after every shot for 10 rounds, cleaned after every 3 shots for the balance).

When I got it home I measured the trigger pull (over 7 lbs) and the stock was in contact with the bbl on the left side of the forearm at or near the cap. I reset the trigger to 4 lbs, and sanded (and sealed) the stock to provide clearance.

I did notice that my .300 win M70 stainless has a much shallower sear engagement than the supergrade. ( I didn't try to measure it, but visually, the sear engagement on the .300 win looks to be about 1/2 to 2/3 that of the .270 win.)

Back when all my rifles were wood, I never did have any issues with stocks warping, but then, I didn't hunt in really crappy weather. The worst weather I have ever hunted in is Alaska. Camped in a little 3 man tent, I have often been cold and wet. It is really hard to keep your rifle dry in those conditionsm, and I was glad to have synthetic stocks.

My .416 Mod 70 has the original factory wood stock, and I like it very much. I like the solid feel of the buttstock and the weight. The first time I brought it to Africa, it was dead on when I checked my zero, which is more than I can say for my .338 Rem 700 synthetic stainless.

quote:

Originally posted by mark65x55:
They sure are pretty but after thinking about it over the weekend they just aint for me. Like my wife said "in 2 years, or less, with the way you hunt that pretty wood will look like crap, its just a waste of your money. Get a stainless and be done with it." You know what, she's right. I ordered a stainless and a Bansner stock this morning.

Hey Mark, Good for you. Obviously your wife understands "hunting" is best done with something other than a "pretty Safe Queen".

You can't pretty them to death.

Best of luck with the new rifle.