Howdy. I'm looking at buying a pre-64 Model 70 300 H&H that has had a side scope mount in its past. There are 5 holes on the left side of the
receiver, one right in the middle of the Winchester logo. Am I correct to assume that the holes have no detrimental effects on the reliability or strength
of the action? There are screws plugging the holes now. The seller of this gun wants $800 firm. Is this a fair price? The bolt handle has had a bit of metal
taken off of it in order to clear a scope but the bore is perfect and it looks as if there haven't been many rounds through the gun.
Also, the front sight ramp is stippled not grooved as I have seen on a few other pre-64s. Is this something Winchester did during a certain era or was it some
special order item from the factory?

Thanks all.

For a model 70that has that much done to it, is not worth half that much. It has not been touched as far as strength goes, but the action, to my way of thinking is junk. It would take a master to weld up those mount holes and not have a shiny spot left after welding; the bolt could be welded and redone without too much of a problem, except it takes a lot of effort of the part of the smith. IMHO

I agree with Jim regarding the value of the M70.



The action can, however, be repaired.



Counterbore the holes in the action.

Make screws out of 4140.

Insert screws and peen into counterbores, both sides.

Flush the screws and reletter the action.

Sand blast with 60 grit silcon carbide at 40psi.

Reblue and there you have it.



Not original, but not a throw away, either.



The bolt can also be repaired and the stippling is probably original(depending on the vintage).

I replied to this on another thread, but, forgot the question concerning the stippled front ramp. Yes, it is original and this is the desireable integral ramp version of this rifle. IF, you could buy it at a reasonable price, I would strongly advise getting it repaired, but, there are better options if the price is so high.

"Scrollcutter" has detailed the best method of doing this and as I have seen this gentleman's superb engraving on rifles belonging to friends, I can attest to his expertise with respect to metal projects. Maybe the owner will read these posts and relent on the price? Best of luck, these are fine rifles.

Five holes probably means a Griffin & Howe sidemount. Three should be D&T for screws and two just drilled for pins. G&H mounts for M70s complete with base and rings show up with some frequency on ebay in the 100-150 range. Get one and you will have a classic setup. After attaching the base it should be milled or filed flat and polished over to hide the heads of the screws and pins, that is the way G&H did it, they reblued the whole receiver complete with mount base.