I'd like to have the rear bridge of a Pre War Winchester 70 tigged up and ground to the profile of a post war action so that I can use available 2pc Winchester 70 scope mounts.

The rear bridge has one off center hole which I'd like to see filled and not noticable from top or bottom (inside) of the bridge.

I understand that Tartan Tig rod should be used and the surface normalized?.

Mill and tap 2 6x48 holes .435" Express style. Jim Wisner recommended a carbide .140 end mill to re cut the holes and 2 flute taps from Brownells because the Pre War bridges are notoriously tough.

Your recommendations appreciated,

D

Mark Penrod is working on one for me..

The pre wars are often harder..mine was about 46Rc. I believe Mark tempered mine back to about 39Rc.

He also enlarged the holes to 8X40.


That pic is hard to see..if you want to pm me I could send you some more pics...

My personal spin is to re=center the hole(s) via oversize (8x40's) Then make a base to fit the contour. Folks pay extra for that bridge contour..I wouldn't destroy it.

I can also recommend Mark Penrod. He repaired a transition M70 that someone had butchered with three holes. Not one shared a common axis and all three weren't axial to the center of the bore. Mark plugged and tig welded the holes while keeping the original contour of the rear bridge. He then machined a blank Talley base to fit the rear bridge and drilled/tapped new 8x40 holes for it. The finished product looks as though it came from New Haven that way.

Thanks for the replys. I'll check with Mark Penrod.

Personally, I love the Pre war contour and clip slot. I paid extra! However, this hole is near the middle of the bridge and it's too far off to correct with a 8x40 hole.

It try to conserve as much of the original Winchester PreWar "flavor" as possible when I work on one.

I would also recommend Dan Armstrong. www.accu-tig.com.He is very good and will turn it around in less than a week.
Butch

I can also recommend Mark Penrod. He's built a couple of rifles for me, M70's as a matter of fact. On one of the rifles the rear bridge wasn't quite in spec so he milled the rear scope base to fit. I mounted the scope and with two clicks it was sighted in. I'm sure he can fix it with no problem.

Fill the errant screw hole with a screw shank, peen it and then fit a proper base over it. Only you will ever know its there.

All my M70 customs are of the pre-War variety. They cost a little more upfront and require more money for finishing but they make for a much more interesting rifle in the end.

You could always sell the action to me and find yourself a run-of-the-mill pre-64 as a replacement. Just trying to save you some $$ and aggravation.

I can recomend Dan as well. He has done over twenty bolts for me and is doing two more now. Never any issues. Earl.

Butch your link didn't work ; So here is the correct one .

www.accu-tig.com/

Thanks Doc,
I should have skipped a space or 2.
Butch

Tig Welding - Repair work

A question a bit of topic (sorry)

I have read that serious pitting in non critical stress areas can be repaired using this method or simply drilling out and filling with a blind head screw, grind level and finish / polish etc.

I have also read, it is near impossible to create the gunmaking equivalent of tailoring 'invisible repairs' as the 'patch' does not take blueing the same way as the surrounding, original steel.

Is this correct?

I am curious to know.

If you had deep & large 'billboard' type company name etc markings on the receiver like on some CZ rifles and the Charles Daly - KBI imported Zastava Mauser actions, could they be tidied up, made more 'pretty' using this method Tig welding method?

Or would filling in the deep cut lettering by Tig welding be impractical and you would need to 'grind out' / polish away the deep cut letters?

Sorry again for taking the thread on a detour

I got word back from Dan at Accu-tig:



Dennis,
Rear bridge hole plug-
The existing hole needs to be chamfered on the top side to allow proper 100% penetration as requested.
Rear Bridge Groove-
Tartan rod will not color blend-fill with 4130/4140 Chrome Moly.
Personally,I'd grind a mount/base to fit the receiver rings,instead of modifying the receiver.

I prefer to stay away from Win actions.
May I suggest that you contact James Anderson in SD or James Kobe in MN for the task.

Keep'em in the X ring,
DAN


I also viewed some pics from Terry's Pre War 70 with excellent work from Mark Penrod...

Ideally, I'd like to use Leupold Mk 4 tactical bases for this Winchester 70. These are spaced .860" front and rear. I'd like to cut the rear base back to "express" size and redrill one 8x40 screw hole on the base...

The trough or groove on the reciever really isn't that deep- .0375 or .04 - perhaps this is a job for that ribbon of silver solder I have laying around?

Anyone having good practical sighting solutions for a Pre War Winchester 70, your suggestions appreciated.

D