"Old Rifles"

Joined
Feb 12, 2022
Messages
1,689
The advances would be in precise tolerances and machining that allow modern rifles to be much more accurate.

You can buy a $329 Savage that shoots sub moa off the shelf. Not many 100 year old bolt actions have that kind of accuracy.

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How many hunters have that kind of accuracy in hunting conditions?
 
Joined
Jan 27, 2020
Messages
19
Use my grandfathers rifle every now and then to remember him, its a Husqvarna in 270. Light as a feather and it sure does shoot.
 

Choupique

WKR
Joined
Oct 2, 2022
Messages
362
Love the old rifles!



I have a 1912 Rigby that still shoots better than I could ever shoot it.





The main advancement is that now you can build an accurate rifle for chump change and sell it for a couple hundred bucks. That 1912 Rigby would have costed a working man 3 months pay
 

87TT

WKR
Joined
Mar 13, 2019
Messages
3,431
Location
Idaho
Haven't used it on game YET but I have a model 95 Winchester Carbine in 3040 Krag that I've been working up loads on. It was made in 1908.
 

GSPHUNTER

WKR
Joined
Jun 30, 2020
Messages
3,905
My Mod. 70 .300 win mag is a 64 mod. Not a rifle, but my Ruger single six .22 was first year production 1953. That revolver has a little history to it. My brother was practicing quick draw and shot himself in the leg. went in right below holster and exited above ankle inside of leg. He actually was a pretty good quick draw, except for that one time.
 

Oilfieldmiller

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 15, 2018
Messages
288
Location
Southwest Ohio / WV Native
Still using my grandfathers 250-3000 Savage that he bought new for his father when they came out. Shot my first deer with it and still using it. Very fun rifle. Use it for WV whitetails but not one I would drag up a western mountain.


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Wapiti1

WKR
Joined
Sep 18, 2017
Messages
3,569
Location
Indiana
Those in the know, enlighten me on why the pre 64 model 70 is held in such high regard please.
For its time it was all the rifle anyone could want, and it was affordable for many. Good trigger, claw extractor, 3 position safety, hinged bottom metal. It had the features in a factory rifle that all the quality customs had that were being built on Mauser or Enfield actions. All those customs had features added so they were more like a Winchester. It was American as well at a time when we were digging ourselves out of the war.

Couple that with a high degree of praise from the writers, and it became the holy grail of nostalgia. Very collectable, and generally, it really is a good design with few flaws.

Jeremy
 

GSPHUNTER

WKR
Joined
Jun 30, 2020
Messages
3,905
My understanding is, prior to 64 most gun were made one at a time by hand, vs after 64 components are stamped.
 

IDplumber

FNG
Joined
Jan 29, 2023
Messages
10
I have an old Remington model 740 Woodsmaster 30-06 with a steel buttplate and Herter's fixed 1.75x scope on tip off mounts that I hunt with occasionally. I bought it at the gun shop I worked at in HS/college when an old farmer traded it in. The stock is all "polished" up from handling, it is in good condition but shows lots of character. It shoots around 1.5" groups with 180gr rem round nose corelokts and cycles well. It is a good woods gun, and everytime I carry or handle it I think about all the different hands it has been in and deer it has shot. I have killed 3-4 with it. Now that I live in ID it doesn't make it out much but I doubt I'll ever get rid of it.
 

Curmudgeon

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 14, 2019
Messages
124
I have a 1950's Sako Riihimaki in 222 that is a tack driver and has a number of coyotes to it's credit. For longer distances I have a pre 64 Model 70 varmint in 243 caliber. These guns are fun to shoot because of the nostalgia involved. Something nice about the smell of gun oil and a wood stock that newer guns with synthetic stocks just don't have.
 
Joined
Apr 2, 2018
Messages
383
Location
Dawsonville, GA.
Putting a better scope on the 1979 Sako AIII that was just given to me by my father. 7mm Remington. It's still sub moa so I'll upgrade scope and hunt with it next year.
 
Joined
Jan 23, 2014
Messages
805
Location
Wisconsin
My understanding is, prior to 64 most gun were made one at a time by hand, vs after 64 components are stamped.
Alterations to production were just made to lower production cost. I have not seen anywhere that parts were stamped vs milled. Pre-'63.5 (midway in '63 is when changes actually happened) the whole action was milled from one piece of metal. After that it was cast and milled to tolerance. Most of the hand work was eliminated. Checkering was also pressed instead of by hand. Jack O'Conner also wrote so much about his dislike that it caught on, just like his love of Pre-'64 made it a sensation, and spoke highly of the '54 also and the .270. OG Influencer marketing.
 

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