I recently picked up a Pre War Model 70 Winchester in .30-06. Originally, I was going to build on the action but now I am hesistating... It's SN# 406xx barrel date 1941.

The gun looked like hell. Even the dealer agreed it would be alot of work to polish all the old rust off the action. Rear sight gone, no peep, one hole in the rear bridge, buggered screws, bolt grinding... But the rifle had the deep rich red stock which I am a sucker for. He blurted out a pretty low price when I asked how low can you go...

I immediately detail stripped the rifle. It was delightfully filthy and I had to spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning it. The "rust" was actually what I determined to be Tru-Oil. Someone slathered it on the metalwork and it was nearly all worn off. Made the gun look like it was rusty in spots but well oiled in. It was gumming up the bolt release and the ejector slot et al. Several thin applications of paint stripper gel lifted the stuff well- even out of the lettering and other recesses. The receiver turned out very well indeed- no rust to speak of and only tiny speckling on the barrel. Not bad!

I took a needle file and some emery paper to the bolt and smoothed out the wheel marks and refined the shape. Looks respectable. There is minor pitting on the bolt face around the primer pocket shadow- it's unsightly but not deep.

Several questions- feel free to address any one or all:

What is the original Pre War/Pre 64 receiver finish? Parkerizing? I like the texture. How is it duplicated?

Are the Forester replacement screws identical to the Winchester factory screws- i.e. Could you tell them apart?

What sights would be found on a original Pre War?

Is the bolt face pitting a major concern?

Any information appreciated.

DeeBee---

If the receiver isn't rusty or pitted I sure wouldn't reblue it, but if you have to duplicate the finish-----

Glass bead and then use a fine rotatary wire brush to peen the surface. Then hot dip blue....Winchesters are high in nickel. Start the salts at 275 and let them climb to 300 to assure a blue finish. Inspect the color in sunlight before you turn the tanks off.

The bolt face shouldn't be a concern but it *can* be repaired by turning it back by .010 or so...BUT then the barrel will have to be set back a turn and rechambered to correct the excess headspace caused by the bolt work. It's usually not worth the time, trouble and expense.

The stock finish was a alkyloid varnish better suited for door jambs... Use spar varnish with a dollop af dark cherry added. It's weatherproof. The original finish wasn't.

I'm not familiar with the tang screws you ask about.

The Foster replacement screws for the M70 have a poor finish on the heads. Otherwise they are ok and they are cheap. The middle guard screw of course does not need a fine finish.

Perhaps there is another source of screws?

On could chuck up the screw and polish the head and use instant blue on it. Write me a letter if you find a good instant blue however.

If you need the screws right now then just buy the Fosters and keep searching for better ones. This is easier than making them.

As far as refinishing a old M70 goes the finish would have to be really bad before I did more than clean one up. They have character in the orginal state and are worth more like that by far. These rifles were the best of the best. Pause for a moment before you start cutting into it.

The receiver is in great shape- no alterations and minimal finish wear. I'm not going do anything to it but I might like to reproduce that texture on my Springfield project gun...

I could always polish and reblue the Forester replacement screws... The same guy who ground on the bolt 'fixed' the screws as well. I'm going to try to bring them back with some hand polishing... Does Precise Metalsmithing make screws???

Using the oldguns.net link posted here, I'm getting 1940 as the receiver date with 1941 as the barrel date- is this possible/original???

A re finished M-70 is just that a re finished M-70 and it will never have a value more than the worth of the action, about $500. So you would be tossing good money after bad....

Use the good action and build yourself a nice rifle with a Lothar Walther barrel, just like you planned to in the first place and sell the stock and barrel for $100 apiece or whatever....or use the stock and glass bed it...

Your other option is refinish it and use it....or use it as is in its cleaned up state....it is still worth the price of the action...

Collectors only want minty guns...the rest are just shooters.

DeBee: My best Model 70 records book shows a production date of right at August 10th of 1941! This being a pre-War Winchester Model 70 BUT, built after January 19th 1939 it did not (most likely did not) have the splendid charcoal bluing used on the earliest Model 70's. The action (yours) was lightly sandblasted instead of polished then blued using the black oxide immersion method. In my experience the bluing in this age range is very attractive also and very durable. I would leave the action finish as is if at all possible. I have some customized pre-64 Model 70's I use for Hunting and Varminting. And on two of them I left the original action finish on them. They turned out nice - very pleasing to my eye!
The fine sandblasting finish before bluing may look like parkerizing to you but I think technically parkerizing is different! Some pre-64 Model 70's did use a form of parkerizing on the stainless steel barrels that on occassion were used in calibers like 220 Swift, 243 Winchester and 270 Winchester. These stainless barrels had to be coated first with a type of non stainless steel then parkerized. You can tell these stainless barrels that have been plated then parkerized simply by looking at the muzzle! The steel plating and parkerizing were not applied to the muzzle on both standard weight barrel and (Varmint and Target barrels) and the stainless exposed "ring" of the muzzle is glaringly obvious.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do with this fine action!
By the way I am presently gathering components to make a heavy Varminting Rifle on a late 1950's vintage Model 70 action. I have the action, a pre-64 Model 70 Target stock, the dies (Redding 3 die set in caliber 257 Roberts Ackley Improved!), the mounts, the rings, the scope (Leupold 8.5X25X40mm variable with Duplex) and now all I need is the barrel and some cash to get the Riflesmith involved!
Hope this helped!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

DeBee: I missed your interim posting in this thread and I think I can add a little more. Often (not rarely but not all the time either) the pre-64 Model 70 makers would make large batches of barrels at a run and in the rarer (at the time the less demanded or popular) calibers the batch of barrels would last through more than one year. The barrels were all stamped with the year of their manufacture NOT the year of their installation on an action. The action though went right on down the production line about 98% of the time. The actions serial numbers are very closely related to the date of the Rifles completion. Like I say this is true with 98% (maybe more) of the actions. The barrels were more commonly out of sync with the actions serial number. I am guessing your action and barrel were built within weeks of each other as the original production was stressed with high demand for the new and popular Rifles. The early Model 70 actions all had loading clip slots milled into them and some of these were set aside (serial numbered already) for special orders (that would come in the future) that wanted a clip slot after the slots were no longer standard. So these out of sequence serial numbered actions were fully assembled after (sometimes years after) their serial numbers would indicate. Enjoy that classic ought-six!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Savage 99,
I believe that is exactly what I said, you buy the shooters, so do I...