Ran across this rare bird. Seems well priced too. Anyone shoot these nice old winchesters (from the wrong side!)?

http://www.champlinarms.com/De...StyleID=2&GunID=3038

That might be the holy grail for me for Winchesters. I love the walnut/stainless combo. I don't remember them making a non-express rifle in 375 H&H, though. For that money, you could throw some cross bolts in the stock, add some sights and hunt the world. Tempting me on a Friday, man...

all gone

That’s kind of an odd rifle. It’s been converted from a standard length magnum. The rear scope base holes are not .330. No sights?

I'm glad that I didn't see this until after it was gone as I would have been tempted to buy it.

Afterwards I would have had buyer's remorse since it's a 375 H&H but not a Safari Express. In any other long action chambering, I would have bought it.

I never knew that Winchester ever made left handed rifles other than their push feed models back in the 80s?. I would love to have a left handed Winchester model 70. I have really wanted a Winchester for a long time but just don't buy myself bolt rifles in right handed models.

Don't think Winchester ever made a pushfeed in lefthand, only the classic starting in the 90's.

I never met a left hand M70 Classic that I didn’t like and rarely pass up the opportunity to pick up another one. I am having one converted to 375 H&H right now and two more in 7 Mag sitting in the safe waiting for other projects...I can hear one of them screaming to be made into a 458 Lott.

quote:

Originally posted by JMJ888:
I never met a left hand M70 Classic that I didn’t like and rarely pass up the opportunity to pick up another one. I am having one converted to 375 H&H right now and two more in 7 Mag sitting in the safe waiting for other projects...I can hear one of them screaming to be made into a 458 Lott.

Nice!
I rebored a 375 h&h stainless classic to a 458 Lott. But it was a right handed monster.

quote:

Originally posted by BaxterB:
That’s kind of an odd rifle. It’s been converted from a standard length magnum. The rear scope base holes are not .330. No sights?

Action & Feeding Set-Up by David Sullivan at West Wind Rifles

Yep, the donor I would be most likely to sacrifice to that re-make would be a 7mmRemMag.
Mr. Sullivan the gunsmith shortened the ejector and took the sheet metal block out of the rear of the box.
Voila!
I have done that myself to a 270WCF RH M70 rifle rebarreled to 400 Whelen.
Drilled the 4 spot welds out of the back of the box to remove the magazine blocker.
Then I cut and tried, cut and tried ... filing that bolt-stop-ejector back until it worked just right.
Then I replaced the factory sheet metal box with a Wiebe XRM box, trapezoidal, supposed to add an extra round in H&H head size.
Added one round in '06 head size too.
Thus a 3.4" action becomes a 3.6" action with the wrong hole spacing on the rear bridge, and a longer rear bridge, shorter ejection port.
But it ejects .375 H&H length cartridges OK:



Here is a spare RH Winchester M70 Classic in .416RemMag that shows the 0.330" hole spacing and a little longer ejection port:



This will be re-barreled to the .458 WIN LongCOL, the outstanding wildcat that beats a .458 Lott at same or lower pressures with heavy bullets.

Rip ...

quote:

Originally posted by Palladin8:
I never knew that Winchester ever made left handed rifles other than their push feed models back in the 80s?. I would love to have a left handed Winchester model 70. I have really wanted a Winchester for a long time but just don't buy myself bolt rifles in right handed models.

Here's one in action.
2004 vintage Classic Safari Express in 375 H&H. This was the last year that New Haven made the left handed models of the Classic Safari Express.

I bought my older son a LH Model 70 Classic (CRF) in 416 Rem. Very nice shape owner didn't like the recoil, still had the first box of shells he bought.



My son (and myself also) found it muzzle heavy so we had our gunsmith take 2" off the barrel (it's 22" now), added a mercury recoil reducer, put Talley QR rings on it and CeraKoted everything but the jeweled bolt. He likes it a lot now. Unfortunately I don't have a picture. Will have bring it out and take one