For decades I have had pre-64 action no. 149327 in the parts box, a 1950 with clip slots, from a National Match M70. Have never quite known what to do with it. It would cost a mint to find original parts to reconstruct a match rifle and when I was done it would be ersatz anyway. I could use a Pachmayr swinging topmount and build a .35 Whelen, ready to open rapid fire on a pack of fierce ........ what? The Brits used to take their Mausers and Mannlichers and used clip loading to execute African animals by the dozens a hundred years ago, but the utility of this military method in the hunting field seems limited today. Nontheless it is a lovely action and I would appreciate any suggestions.

Give that nasty thing to me. (You asked for a suggestion!)
Seriously, have it milled away and make a 300 H&H out of it...or just give it to me!

All my Remington 700’s are clip slotted and I use bottom lugged scope bases for a truly bomb-proof setup.

I don’t know of anyone making bottom lugged bases for a model 70, but you could certainly have a lug to fit the clip slot brazed onto one if you wanted to.

SELL IT!!! Don't alter it -somebody somewhere will want it, and no doubt will pay dearly for it.

It would make a dandy Pre-64 scout rifle.

lawndart

Seriously,
there are people who would make an across-the-course rifle out of that action. Call Warner Tool. They work on those actions and can steer you in the right direction to unload it.

quote:

Originally posted by buckshot:
SELL IT!!! Don't alter it -somebody somewhere will want it, and no doubt will pay dearly for it.

+1 Some highpower shooters will give dear money for one of those. I'm not one cause I already have a target rifle made on a pre-64.

I think a clip-slotted 35 Whelen with 20" barrel, and reciever sight would make a great Alaska gun.

Vigillinus,

I think I would sell or trade this action to someone looking for a target rifle action.

The serial number is in the range that Allen Day has posted before as most desireable because their tolerances were excellent.

But then what kind of rifle do you want to end up with? Decisions, decisions.

jim

I want to thank all of you for a bunch of really excellent suggestions which, however, have left me just as indecisive as before. Maybe I should hang on to the action and put it up on the wall as an object d'arte. Last weekend I went to see gunsmith Bob MacKinnon in Slatington PA, he is an oldtime military rifle expert and has done work on some of my Krags. Bob told me of a long ago customer who had his dining room wall covered with Krag bolts. In return I told him of Marcello Terenzi, a Roman arms collector and museum director who died a few years ago .... a grand character. Marcello had a wall in his huge apartment which was covered with detached wheelock mechanisms. Perhaps I could use the M70 as the nucleus of an "action collection". There are at least half a dozen M70 variations, imagine how many Mausers one would have to get aholt of.

If I had that action I'd either sell it to a good home, or else I'd send it to Tom Burgess, Mark Penrod, or some other metal wizard for a best-quality barreled-action in 30-06, 270 Win., or 280 Rem., or else maybe to some master like Roger Biesen for a complete rifle. I wouldn't squander it on a lesser effort, and the fact that it has a clip-slot wouldn't mean anything to me. It would wear custom scope bases when it's all done anyway.........

AD

Vigillinus

I would send it out to Monte and have him and Dennis Olson make a National match model 70 out of it. These guys are masters at reproducing older rifles. When it was done it would take a really good person to tell it was not original.

all pre-war actions in 06 length had clip slotsbut were not d&t on the rear ring,did have 2 d&t holes for receiver sight or old style B&L bases,NM had unertl base on front ringyou could make a nice med bore w.vintage lyman 48 & be almost correct.nice problem to have.

quote:

Originally posted by vigillinus:rapid fire on a pack of fierce ........ what?

Clip slots seem like a good idea, but I've tried them in the game fields and they leave a lot to be desired.

First, you have to use iron sights or a forward-mounted optic like the Scout scope or a red-dot sight. That's not OK with some folks. Second, you have to use a cartridge for which stripper clips are available -- fine by me, but maybe not for others. Third, most stripper clips today lack the little brass tabs on each end of the spring that keep the rounds in place like GI clips do. (I think the Brits used mil-spec strippers back in the day.) OK Webber has some nice ones for high-power shooters, but they don't work well in the field. You have to carry them in individually fitted pouches or the cartridges slip out. Fourth, when the military uses stripper clips, everyone has the same kind of rifle or magazine. A clip for an 8mm 98 Mauser will hold 30-06 cartridges, but it may not work with a M-70 because the bumps on the side of the clip that keep it at the right height to fill the magazine will be in the wrong place. Clips for a 98 that was made for one country may not work with a 98 made for another country if the bridges are different, as they often are. Most M-70's use 1903 Springfield clips, and proper Springfield clips are getting darned scarce.

I once shot a repro '95 Winchester 30-06 dry killing feral cattle on a control hunt, then reloaded and killed some more. Clip slots might have worked if you could meet all the conditions above, but an M-14 would have done the job just as well, and it has a 20-round box magazine.


Okie John

Okie John, I have a bunch of OK Weber stainless steel stripper clips for my Model 70 HP rifle. They will fit any standard USGI clip slot, as I've used them to reload an M1903 in competition as well. Even the bolt on clip slots most HP shooters use are machined to the GI dims, as that's what everyone used in the old days. The OK Weber clips fit ANY cartridge with a standard .473" head diameter which is anything based on the 30-06, 308, and 250 Savage cases plus all rimless Mausers except the 6.5X55.

While you are right in that target shooting clips do not have the retaining tabs on the ends, they do have a wavy flat spring that bears against the head of the cartridges to keep them in the clip. I've dropped loaded clips several times and I have never had a cartridge come off by itself. I would bet they would ride just fine with other loaded clips in a pouch.

Reloading with stripper clips is only a hair slower than changing magazines on an AR15/M16 (another rifle that I'm used to reloading in a big hurry and about the fastest reloading rifle there is) and as fast or faster than recharging an M1 or changing mags on an M14 or FAL.

A clip slotted M70 with a good front sight and a rear ghost ring or an Aimpoint mounted on the front bridge would be a wickedly quick weapon.

If you install a scope on the rifle you will never know the slot is there and you can forget about it!