pre 64 M70 what would you do?

[BishBeCool]

Good evening council,

I acquired this pre 64 some years ago in a trade for a 1970 (I believe ) Indian dirt bike. didnt pay much attention to the details of the rifle until after the trade lol just thought it looked cool and took up less space than the bike. Came to find out it's a pre 64, 300 win mag. apparently somewhat rare. Upon inspection It looked like somebody had took a dremel to the serial number on the side (maybe?) because if that's the case and gun was hot, they did a shit job lol. I ran the number and it didn't come back stolen, and the engraved number on the bolt matches. The tapped screw holes on top of the receiver are trashed too, damaged and has a screw broke off in one...that's my biggest disappointment. I spoke to a local smith and he said he can weld and re-tap the holes and it's no big deal. the rest of the rifle appears to be in pretty good shape. my question is what would you do? leave it in the safe as is? weld and re-tap the holes on receiver then leave it or do a build off of it? I'm pretty sure that the value of this particular rifle is somewhat blown. I know there's a lot of knowledge on here so looking for input/ideas.

 

[nm.otter]

It's possible someone took down a high spot on the receiver to fit a scope ring or rail base.

 

[BishBeCool]

It's possible someone took down a high spot on the receiver to fit a scope ring or rail base.

interesting, thank you

 

[TheWhitetailNut]

Build. It has no current exceptional value

 

[Choupique]

Best candidate ever to build on. The collector value is already wrecked and the work to fix it would be very minor for any gunsmith. Assuming its still mechanically sound, its a fantastic starting point for a bad ass rifle. It might be a bad ass rifle right now and just need some new screw holes. Easy peasy.

Does it fire? Post some more pictures. Somebody would give you some money for it if you dont want it. I might, depending on the condition of the rest of it and whether or not its safe to shoot and what you want for it. They aren't really rare, but any pre-64 model 70 is desirable to someone to some degree.

If you have a use for such a rifle, id get the holes drilled out and tapped, not welded, and see how it shoots. Im not a fan of welding on recievers - it introduces a lot of internal stress and can seriously weaken a part. Either drill the existing holes bigger and tap, or just leave them there as is and drill a new set of holes adjacent to them.

 

[rickyw]

If you’re going to use it, make it usable. If you’re going to build it or fix it to sell it, just sell it, because you’ll most likely lose more money doing that then you would just selling it off as is

 

[CMP70306]

I would say sell off the barrel as a Pre-64 .300 win mag barrel probably has a decent value and then go from there.

 

[Roadrunner1]

Build yourself a nice hunting rig, many options as to caliber! Or sell it and let someone else build on it!

 

[tkat]

Build for sure, has a magnum bolt face wouldn’t take much to turn it into something bigger (375,458…) doesn’t get much better than that pre64 CRF.

 

[grfox92]

Does anyone make a good CF Stock for pre64?

 

[handwerk]

I've used Mcmillans on most of my Pre 64 M70 builds as well as a couple Bansners.

 

[BishBeCool]

Best candidate ever to build on. The collector value is already wrecked and the work to fix it would be very minor for any gunsmith. Assuming its still mechanically sound, its a fantastic starting point for a bad ass rifle. It might be a bad ass rifle right now and just need some new screw holes. Easy peasy.

Does it fire? Post some more pictures. Somebody would give you some money for it if you dont want it. I might, depending on the condition of the rest of it and whether or not its safe to shoot and what you want for it. They aren't really rare, but any pre-64 model 70 is desirable to someone to some degree.

If you have a use for such a rifle, id get the holes drilled out and tapped, not welded, and see how it shoots. Im not a fan of welding on recievers - it introduces a lot of internal stress and can seriously weaken a part. Either drill the existing holes bigger and tap, or just leave them there as is and drill a new set of holes adjacent to them.

thank you, I appreciate your input. I didnt even think about the possibility of just having new holes drilled and tapped or tapping the current holes for a bigger screw. The adding stress to the action due to welding is a great point too. the previous owner had mentioned he's shot the rifle but I have not. not for any real reason just have rifles that I shoot and some I don't. including some more pre 64's. one a 270 and one a 30-06. this particular rifle led me down a rabbit hole of jack O'Connor and I grew a bit of an interest in them lol. I could probably part with this one (300 win mag) but selfishly id want it to go to somebody that will do right by it. ill post some more photos below.

 

[BishBeCool]

big thanks for all the replies, you fellas helped me confirm the direction ill go. much appreciated

 

[Ralphie]

If you are going to sell it, Id just sell as is. Priced reasonably it will sell easily. It would make a great action for a build or partial build, or shoot as is after fixing the scope mount holes. If you are keeping for a build Id have a good gunsmith drill and tap to a bigger size. The barrel, stock, bottom metal all have value by themselves if you just keep the action.

I wouldn’t build unless you really want to, not just because you have it. Sorry if you have experience with this and already know but the road of building a quality custom rifle on a pre64 could get long, expensive, but also super cool if you like them.

 

[North of 60]

I have one manufactured in 1964 just after the change (inherited from my dad) that had that hard, red unhelpful recoil pad until i switched it out to a relatively comfy grind-to-fit pachmayr recoil pad when i refinished the stock.

If yours ends up shooting halfway decent, i'd consider keeping it, or put on a new barrel with whatever magnum-face cartridge you prefer.

Mine, with a suppressor has about as much recoil as a radial brake and is much more pleasant (quieter) to shoot.

 

[Speaks]

I would build it, but it will not be cheap to do.

 

[Wrench]

That base screw is a through hole....easy to spin the screw through with a drill. I would spin it out and ring it up and see how it shoots.