Restoring a Winchester model 70 - pre 64

Anschutz_54

Anschutz_54

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Good day. The day has arrived that I have been handed down my dads entire collection of firearms. One rifle in particular is a pre 64 Winchester model 70 in .220 swift. I absolutely love the gun.

The problem being, it's in rough shape. The bluing is quite worn and steel is visible on most of the barrel and action. The stock in dull looking, although still solid with no cracking. I was thinking of having the stock refinished and the barrel reblued. I'm curious as to everybody opinion on whether I sould leave the gun as is, and keep it in the safe, or have it redone and continue using it. Does having it restored diminish it's value?

Any and all opinions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

P.s. I will post pictures tomorrow.
 
Shoot it
or refinish it and shoot it
or don't refinish it and shoot it.
A poor choice, in my opinion, would be to do nothing and not shoot it.

Enjoy your father's rifles. I have a collection with the same sentimental value. Can't see worrying bout resale value because you're probably not in any rush to sell them off.
 
Restoring a pre64 will definitely reduce any collector value. That said, is it a rare configuration or something special? A plain Jane grey rat that was in rough shape could be a candidate, but if it shoots well then I see no reason to fool with it. To have it redone you'll have to find someone to rust blue it which won't be cheap at all. Then if you refinish the stock you'll probably end up into the project more than it would cost you to buy a good condition specimen of the breed.

Your money, your dad's rifle. Do what you want.
 
Get another used stock, store the original one. Then shoot the crap out of it. How is the bore? .220 swift is not a kind caliber on rifling to expect several generations worth of shooting.
Don't refinish it. Just don't use it in inclement weather. OR use it like intended, but keep rem-oil or some other kind of lubricant handy to keep it protected from rust. How awesome to get your dads guns. Use them all, but NEVER mess with refinishing them. They have his blood, sweat, and tears in the wood/metal.
 
Personally I'd shoot it a bit to see if the barrel is still good, and go from there. (shooter vs. keep it in the gun safe) In any case, I'd hang onto it!
 
I should follow up with some more info. My grandfather grew up in southwestern manitoba, dirt farm poor. He passed these guns down to my dad, and now they are mine.

When my grandfather started to do well in business, he went out and bought this .220 swift as his new deer gun. He put a fixed power scope on in, and it was a tack driver. He used to shoot deer in the head with it. Didn't believe in wasting meat apparently.

The gun sat in my dads safe for years, until around 2006 when I got my dad in coyote hunting. I started carrying the .220 for yotes. Still had the original fixed power scope. I shot targets with it and it was still accurate and sighted in. Killed a few coyotes, and then my dad went and put a new leupold 3x10? On it. Thought it would be better for longer ranges.

So I would definitely say it still shoots just fine. Had it at the range a month ago to check the grouping. No issues at all.

I must say that you fellas are right. I actually have a sick feeling in my stomach that I even thought of having it restored. I think this weekend I will spend some time cleaning and oiling it. It might become a safe queen, it might not....but it definitely is not getting redone.
 
Seriously, grab one ear in each hand and give your head a shake. Third generation rifle? You're up for the pillory if you start fooling with that rifle. Don't treat her as a safe queen, just take care of it after you use it and it will last for years to come.
 
BigUglyMan said:
Seriously, grab one ear in each hand and give your head a shake. Third generation rifle? You're up for the pillory if you start fooling with that rifle. Don't treat her as a safe queen, just take care of it after you use it and it will last for years to come.
Click to expand...

This just might be my favourite response that I have ever received, on any forum that I have been on.
 
So I just checked the Winchester website to try and date the serial number. This rifle has a five digit serial number that starts in 17###....would I be correct in assuming this gun can be dated back to 1936-37?
 
Why not restore it? I think it is a very odd quirk of North American shooters that some prefer "all original" grey rats to well kept and carefully restored firearms. it is very different in Europe. I am all-Canadian, but I prefer to shoot guns that function perfectly, shoot well, and look good. You are not doing your ancestors any disservice by carefully and correctly restoring your rifle, you are honouring them and the rifle. Enjoy shooting it whatever you decide.
 
I disagree. Heirloom rifles are to be left AS-IS (unless they are unusable or being in danger of loss due to rust/neglect) They literally have his family's DNA smushed into the gun. There are THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of rifles that could be restored with no-harm-no-foul, as these have no history. I mentioned getting another stock just to keep the one that is original in decent shape when the gun is passed on. Keep it cared for, clean and dry, and you have a serious keeper.
 
Longwalker said:
Why not restore it?
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When this old rifle is looked at it reminds the owner of the past... it looks old and used as if it was passed down from generation to generation. It shows it's history.

Refinish it and it will look like a rifle that has been refinished, not like a grandfather's rifle.
 
Solid classic firearms should be left as is. If it was a beater then restore away, this doesn't sound like a beater. People take classic guns and just "Clean them up a little", and while their rubbing away dollar bills are falling out their butts. Clean the bore, lube it up, wipe it down and enjoy. It's not wear it's history.
 
Your gun do what you want. I restored my dads rifle only because with the amount of bluing loss and the almost non existent finish,it probably wouldn't have made it three more generations. Left all the rest I inherited with their various battle scars, adds character.
 
I was given an original pre-64 Model 70 Alaskan .338Mag last year. It had a broken extractor and was missing the front sight bead. The finish had some slight pitting and blueing was worn, but the bore was great. I decided that it was a shooter not a collector so took it to Corlane's had it repaired, reblued and a new front bead installed. Looks great now and will be used for what it was designed for, hunting :)
IMG_20151009_152444_zpsn3pzruib.jpg
 
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