Picture day - Winchester 70 Classic w/ Ruger 7x57 barrel and Pacific Research stock

stickhunter said:
Hi hoytcanon,

In my original post, I was quite dubious about the claim that the barrel was a Ruger, but I edited it after removing the barrelled action from the stock and finding the original Ruger rollmarks on the underside. I had thought the barrel had been turned down, but the rollmarks are undisturbed, so not sure what factory contour the barrel is.

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I see... the chamber swell looks very short compared to a Ruger LA 7X57 chamber swell, making me think the barrel has been set back significantly... also the 7X57 mark has clearly been redone as the original would have been rotated under. Is the original cartridge mark still on the barrel, or has it been turned off?
 
hoytcanon said:
I see... the chamber swell looks very short compared to a Ruger LA 7X57 chamber swell, making me think the barrel has been set back significantly... also the 7X57 mark has clearly been redone as the original would have been rotated under. Is the original cartridge mark still on the barrel, or has it been turned off?
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The original cartridge mark looks to be have been turned... the only markings I now find on the barrel are the Ruger rollmark and the 7x57 stamping.
 
stickhunter said:
The original cartridge mark looks to be have been turned... the only markings I now find on the barrel are the Ruger rollmark and the 7x57 stamping.
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I believe that your barrel has been set back a full inch, which would shorten the chamber swell and remove the original cartridge stamping and also result in the 21" length... which would mean that it was turned and rethreaded for the current receiver. See the picture below of my factory original M77 MKII 7X57 and you will see what I mean.
 

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stickhunter said:
I purchased this rifle from a dealer a number of years ago, and at the time it was advertised as a Winchester 70 action with a Ruger barrel; I thought that was kind of interesting, so took a chance, and this is what showed up... It's a Winchester 70 Classic late G-prefix serial action nicely bedded in a Pacific Research fiberglass stock, and with what looks/feels like a grey/blue teflon paint finish.

The barrel is what I'm curious about since it was advertised as being a Ruger, although I'm not convinced. I imagine the shank/threads would have to be fairly close to make it worth the effort to use on a Winchester action. The barrel is ~ 21", and I measure the twist at roughly 1:9.75", which is close to the 1:9.5" I've read was used on some Ruger 7x57s. The 7x57 stamp is the only marking on the barrel and perhaps it's close to the factory stamp Ruger used (see last picture) with some shallowness after polishing/re-profiling the barrel.

Addendum: confirmed this is a Ruger barrel as shown in the additional pictures posted on this thread: https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...arch-stock?p=18501429&viewfull=1#post18501429

The front sight is another oddity as there is no provision for a rear sight on the barrel, so I imagine the owner/builder was planning to use a receiver sight mounted on, or instead of, the scope base.

Total weight is 6lbs 8.5oz as shown.

Hope you enjoy the pictures, and if anyone could tell me more about this (on the off chance you recognize the rifle?) I'd be interested in learning more.
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Its a nice looking rifle, I like the colour scheme, shame the rings dont match. Seems odd to build a frankenstein then finish it so nicely, surely a new barrel could have been had.
 
hoytcanon said:
I believe that your barrel has been set back a full inch, which would shorten the chamber swell and remove the original cartridge stamping and also result in the 21" length... which would mean that it was turned and rethreaded for the current receiver. See the picture below of my factory original M77 MKII 7X57 and you will see what I mean.
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Thanks for that picture, hoytcanon. I see exactly what you're saying about the chamber swell being shortened. I must say, it adds more headscratching to why someone would go to all the trouble to remake a barrel like that vs. purchasing a blank. I'll optimistically keep my fingers crossed that the owner liked how the original barrel shot and wanted to keep it. We'll see! Thanks again for photo.
 
Dosing said:
Its a nice looking rifle, I like the colour scheme, shame the rings dont match. Seems odd to build a frankenstein then finish it so nicely, surely a new barrel could have been had.
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I hadn't noticed it before, but the rings are the newer Leupold's with the logo on top, so I think they were likely added more recently "after the fact" of the build. Someone who took care to install that front sight must have had a plan for a rear, so I wonder if the rifle was originally fitted with different rings (perhaps with a peep option) or a dedicated receiver sight, and those were replaced with the rings you see now.

I too find it odd that it seems to be built from left-over parts, yet clearly had a lot of attention and care spent on it. I'm just glad that from the build quality, I have hopes it'll be a good shooter.
 
stickhunter said:
I must say, it adds more headscratching to why someone would go to all the trouble to remake a barrel like that vs. purchasing a blank. I'll optimistically keep my fingers crossed that the owner liked how the original barrel shot and wanted to keep it. We'll see! Thanks again for photo.
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No problem, I was curious regarding the form of the barrel. I have done the same thing a few times, where I had a take-off factory barrel sitting around and used it on a build as an inexpensive (or "less" expensive) experiment. I have turned three Ruger .308" bore barrels into 7.62X57 HC's, I turned a .260 Rem barrel into a 6.5 Rem Mag and a .350 Rem Mag barrel into a .358/375 Ruger, and a few others... I still have several and hunt them regularly. None of these barrels were "scrap" barrels, so I would not be concerned about that much and I would bet that your rifle will shoot well.
 
Nice rifle stickhunter. :cool: I like most everything about 'er except the rings & bases. I'd be swapping them out for Weaver bases & standard rings to shave an
ounce an a bit from the rig. I would then get a NECG peep sight to get use from the front sight in case the scope went sour during a hunt. ;)
 
That is indeed an older Brown Precision stock. The giveaway is the horizontal seam seen in the magazine well as these were top/bottom molds rather than left/right. The pad came from a stack of Pacific Research blanks I bought from Jim Borden when they closed down Borden/Rimrock.

The barrel came from a stainless 280 mark2 that a buddy rebarreled to a Whelen. It had to be set back a fair ways to accommodate the tapered 7x57 body and that is a Pre-64 sight ramp fixed on there.

The rifle originally had a set of Leupold QR's with a Redfield peep. Odd it got changed to a DD setup which is essentially identical in form.

That frankenrifle took a few deer with a shot of black krylon which made it look even worse, then I refinished it and sold it. I saw it go through Ellwood Epps a while back for a small fraction of what I'd sold it for. I thought of buying it but I have enough rifles.

That rifle has an identical twin in 9.3x62 in more conventional colors owned by a well known member in the YT.

CNKwEjg.jpg
 
rgv said:
That is indeed an older Brown Precision stock. The giveaway is the horizontal seam seen in the magazine well as these were top/bottom molds rather than left/right. The pad came from a stack of Pacific Research blanks I bought from Jim Borden when they closed down Borden/Rimrock.

The barrel came from a stainless 280 mark2 that a buddy rebarreled to a Whelen. It had to be set back a fair ways to accommodate the tapered 7x57 body and that is a Pre-64 sight ramp fixed on there.

The rifle originally had a set of Leupold QR's with a Redfield peep. Odd it got changed to a DD setup which is essentially identical in form.

That frankenrifle took a few deer with a shot of black krylon which made it look even worse, then I refinished it and sold it. I saw it go through Ellwood Epps a while back for a small fraction of what I'd sold it for. I thought of buying it but I have enough rifles.

That rifle has an identical twin in 9.3x62 in more conventional colors owned by a well known member in the YT.
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Thank you rgv for your post --- I'm glad I could finally close the loop as Epps didn't have any history on the rifle. I sure wish those QR rings and Redfield peep had remained, as the QRs are the bases that I normally favour --- I think I'll go to the effort of getting it back to your original configuration.

Could you tell me roughly when you put together the rifle and what paint/colour you used for the metalwork?

And my, I wish you hadn't mentioned the 9.3x62 twin --- I've been eyeing a couple of rifles in 9.3x62 as my next purchase, and would love to have found the matching one.

BTW is that a 4x32 Zeiss Diatal scope in your picture?
 
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rgv said:
That is indeed an older Brown Precision stock. The giveaway is the horizontal seam seen in the magazine well as these were top/bottom molds rather than left/right. The pad came from a stack of Pacific Research blanks I bought from Jim Borden when they closed down Borden/Rimrock.

The barrel came from a stainless 280 mark2 that a buddy rebarreled to a Whelen. It had to be set back a fair ways to accommodate the tapered 7x57 body and that is a Pre-64 sight ramp fixed on there.

The rifle originally had a set of Leupold QR's with a Redfield peep. Odd it got changed to a DD setup which is essentially identical in form.

That frankenrifle took a few deer with a shot of black krylon which made it look even worse, then I refinished it and sold it. I saw it go through Ellwood Epps a while back for a small fraction of what I'd sold it for. I thought of buying it but I have enough rifles.

That rifle has an identical twin in 9.3x62 in more conventional colors owned by a well known member in the YT.

CNKwEjg.jpg
Click to expand...

Hah! I would have put a lot of money on this rifle belonging to you at one time. :)
 
Slimbo said:
I will agree to disagree on that one. To me stick hunters stock looks like it has a different cheek piece, wrist, and less drop than the stock you posted….but I’ve been wrong plenty of times.
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You were right, good call. Quite the mixmaster here
 
conor_90 said:
Was the redfield sight made for leupold QR bases? Or did you have to remove the rear base and screw it in?
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You can see the Redfield sight in rgv's pictures, folded down behind the rear base. I believe it requires two holes to be D&Td on the back wall of the base -- you then screw the peep into place and fold it up or down. So it's universal to any base that has a vertical rear, and as long as your rings detach easily, gives you an "always present" backup sight.

I'd love to find a new source for them, but I think most people have picked theres up off of eBay and other second hard sources.
 
I must be losing it, I recently had another member detail how to install one of these sights for me.

I would happily put one of those on every rifle I own, but they all already have peeps or barrel mounted irons
 
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