Mustangs Rule
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2021
- Messages
- 699
When Townsend Whelen first came up with the quote that “Only accurate rifles were interesting” almost all sporting rifles were also beautiful back then.
Always something about them said “class not crass”
Even many military rifles had qualities which were beautiful. It could have simply been the exceptional wood to metal fit or just the grain of the wood. It might also have been the crest stamping on the receiver as with Swedish Husquavarna rifles.
When one picked up those rifles ( or shotguns, or handguns) it was obvious that their production involved a joint effort between many highly trained men and machines, all working together to produce a product with a heritage of dignity and tradition.
My model 54, Winchesters’ first bolt action rifle, came out during the wealthy “Roaring 20’s”. Compared to the much lauded pre-64 Model 70 which came out during the great depression, the Model 54 was a work of art and the Model 70 was on its way to becoming a firearm fart.
I have had many model 70 Winchesters, maybe even too many. The only one I still “adore” was made in 1952 before Winchesters WW2 tooling equipment was getting sloppy and was not being replaced with new.
I have a 6.5 x 55 Swede in a later production controlled round feed Winchester which I keep only because of the rare caliber. Compared to my 1952 model 70 it feels cheap to the hand and eye.
Being retired, I go to the range about 3x/week. Rarely do I fire more that 12 rounds. Often just a half a dozen.
My rifle of choice, is my 1952 Model 70 standard weight in .270. I think it represents the golden age of model 70’s, which by the end of the 1950’s had gone into decline.
Those rifles, like many of it’s time had a screw that went into the barrel through the for-end.
Some people say it is finniky not allowing the barrel to be free floating.
Others say it allowed a fine tuning addressing barrel harmonics for the discriminating shooter.
I will again hunt with this rifle for this coming big game season,,,deer and elk. It is close to my 60th big game season. I am 73.
The checkering on my model 70 has gone from sharp to smooth after decades of not just carrying it, but also it going in out of a custom saddle scabbard.
The bluing on both rifle and it’s 4x Weaver scope is down to a patina in places with some bare metal on the scope.
Instead of accepting its 1” to 1.5” accuracy, I wanted to see what this old lady could really do with all the senior patience that I could now put into reloading for it and tunng it.
The results have been rather admirable, not in spite of, but because of it long smooth 3 pound trigger.
A friend mine, now 84 had two shooting careers. One as a young Marine and 30 years later as senior.
He has won 36 national and international shooting competitions, including the Marine Corps Cup, The Army Cup and the Dewers Trophy. His rifle????…. an early production model 70, with a smooth 3 pound trigger. He has been encouraging me to see just what I can get of of my sweet old Winchester.
He stated clearly the such rifles do much better with those slow old triggers, suggesting they are rather lady-like and prefer long and smooth to light and fast ones which go off too easily,,,,
A trigger pull he said, should be a journey, not hurried and rushed ignition.
Anyway, with his encouragement and following his many, often suble instructions in every detail, my old model 70, with that for-end screw properly adjusted too , will now shoot cloverleafs at 100 yards, and on occasion, just one big hole for three shot groups. At 300 yards my best group is 1 ¼ inches center to center, and usually just a tad over 1 ½ inches center to center, all with my vintage, but rebuild 4x El Paso, Texas Weaver scope.
My shooting range is on the windy sunny prairie by the way. It can really blow hard and have a lot of warm/hot air with mirage and bent light,,,,all of which I am getting very accustomed to. The 4x scope limits the mirage compared to much higher scopes.
Fine beer has gotten more expensive these days. Normally, I would not be buying the best, but then I get it paid for now,,,,by younger shooters, using their plastic ray gun rifles with huge scopes on top.
I often suggest that we have a little friendly “beer money match”,,,,and shoot for a $1 a point at 300 yards. They look at my old rifle with the funky looking scope and grin,,,,,
Mustangs Rule.
Always something about them said “class not crass”
Even many military rifles had qualities which were beautiful. It could have simply been the exceptional wood to metal fit or just the grain of the wood. It might also have been the crest stamping on the receiver as with Swedish Husquavarna rifles.
When one picked up those rifles ( or shotguns, or handguns) it was obvious that their production involved a joint effort between many highly trained men and machines, all working together to produce a product with a heritage of dignity and tradition.
My model 54, Winchesters’ first bolt action rifle, came out during the wealthy “Roaring 20’s”. Compared to the much lauded pre-64 Model 70 which came out during the great depression, the Model 54 was a work of art and the Model 70 was on its way to becoming a firearm fart.
I have had many model 70 Winchesters, maybe even too many. The only one I still “adore” was made in 1952 before Winchesters WW2 tooling equipment was getting sloppy and was not being replaced with new.
I have a 6.5 x 55 Swede in a later production controlled round feed Winchester which I keep only because of the rare caliber. Compared to my 1952 model 70 it feels cheap to the hand and eye.
Being retired, I go to the range about 3x/week. Rarely do I fire more that 12 rounds. Often just a half a dozen.
My rifle of choice, is my 1952 Model 70 standard weight in .270. I think it represents the golden age of model 70’s, which by the end of the 1950’s had gone into decline.
Those rifles, like many of it’s time had a screw that went into the barrel through the for-end.
Some people say it is finniky not allowing the barrel to be free floating.
Others say it allowed a fine tuning addressing barrel harmonics for the discriminating shooter.
I will again hunt with this rifle for this coming big game season,,,deer and elk. It is close to my 60th big game season. I am 73.
The checkering on my model 70 has gone from sharp to smooth after decades of not just carrying it, but also it going in out of a custom saddle scabbard.
The bluing on both rifle and it’s 4x Weaver scope is down to a patina in places with some bare metal on the scope.
Instead of accepting its 1” to 1.5” accuracy, I wanted to see what this old lady could really do with all the senior patience that I could now put into reloading for it and tunng it.
The results have been rather admirable, not in spite of, but because of it long smooth 3 pound trigger.
A friend mine, now 84 had two shooting careers. One as a young Marine and 30 years later as senior.
He has won 36 national and international shooting competitions, including the Marine Corps Cup, The Army Cup and the Dewers Trophy. His rifle????…. an early production model 70, with a smooth 3 pound trigger. He has been encouraging me to see just what I can get of of my sweet old Winchester.
He stated clearly the such rifles do much better with those slow old triggers, suggesting they are rather lady-like and prefer long and smooth to light and fast ones which go off too easily,,,,
A trigger pull he said, should be a journey, not hurried and rushed ignition.
Anyway, with his encouragement and following his many, often suble instructions in every detail, my old model 70, with that for-end screw properly adjusted too , will now shoot cloverleafs at 100 yards, and on occasion, just one big hole for three shot groups. At 300 yards my best group is 1 ¼ inches center to center, and usually just a tad over 1 ½ inches center to center, all with my vintage, but rebuild 4x El Paso, Texas Weaver scope.
My shooting range is on the windy sunny prairie by the way. It can really blow hard and have a lot of warm/hot air with mirage and bent light,,,,all of which I am getting very accustomed to. The 4x scope limits the mirage compared to much higher scopes.
Fine beer has gotten more expensive these days. Normally, I would not be buying the best, but then I get it paid for now,,,,by younger shooters, using their plastic ray gun rifles with huge scopes on top.
I often suggest that we have a little friendly “beer money match”,,,,and shoot for a $1 a point at 300 yards. They look at my old rifle with the funky looking scope and grin,,,,,
Mustangs Rule.
