Winchester Mod 70 .22 Hornet With an Unertl Scope

albayo

albayo

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
603   0   1
Location
Born on PEI, Live in NB
I recently traded some toys for a Winchester Model 70 in 22 Hornet manufactured in 1949 with a 10 power 22" Unertl scope.
The rear base of the Unertl is not correct, the front base is mounted in the slot where the rear sight mounts on the barrel.
Thanks to you gentlemen I found the strength of the scope, its 10 power.
The objective end is around 33mm, and the optics are very sharp.
The gun is quite heavy for the size compared to the .22 Hornet, the tapered barrel is 24" long with an excellent bore. The bolt, magazine, and ejector assembly, look complicated.
I never have much interested in the newer Winchester Model 70s until I looked at this one. I can see why they are popular, the quality of the work that went into this one has changed my opinion of the model 70.
It can be a companion piece for my 1949, 7X57, Brno 21H rifle.
Just added three new pictures with the scope attached to the gun.

P8180062.jpg

P8180060.jpg

P8180061.jpg

P8150010.jpg

P8150001.jpg

P8150024.jpg

P8150022.jpg

P8150017.jpg

P8150047.jpg

P8150051.jpg

P8150052.jpg
 
Last edited:
The power of Unertls I have seen have the magnification engarved and highlighted in white on the eyepiece lock ring.

That rifle sounds like a keeper !
 
The power of the scope will be marked on it along with the serial #, a picture would be nice to determine Unertl model, the wrong mounts are troublesome, if it's just Unertl bases that you need, they are avail. new from CPA rifles in PA. They will work with reg. Unertl. as well as the Posa mounts. With proper mounts the scope alone is worth a minimum of $700 and many go to $900 depending on Unertl model. Certainly lots of value here as Pre 64 model 70s are worth a good buck, and add on the most collectible scope of all and value tops $2000 easily.
 
It looks to me like somebody besides Winchester drilled and tapped that hole in it, but I hope that I am wrong.
I saw a pretty rare Savage 99 at a gun show with an $800 tag, that I thought was pretty low. The dealer said one of the top Savage experts in Canada,(Maddog, it was the other guy) had evaluated it and suggested that price. He told the dealer that without the hoes someone had drilled and tapped, he would have doubled the value.
Sorry, I don't mean to run down your great find, but just stating some facts as I interpret them.
 
The mounts look complete and the base (Unertl std.) is a dovetail base, usually the barrel is drilled and tapped and has a second base, but on a reg.(thin) barrel, they may opt for the other ring on the front receiver ring, again, these bases are avail. for $35 from CPA Rifles, great looking rifle and scope by the way!!!
I compared it to some of mine and it is the !" Target model at 21 3/4" length, it does not have the external spring but neither does mine, and was really meant for guns that recoiled a bit more then the .22s including the Hornet.(the spring i mean).
I don't know what your plans are but the scope and rifle could be separated and the scope sold, and you could put something more modern and rugged on the rifle and still have a beauty, unless you're like me and a fan of these old quality scopes. There is big demand for them!
 
I was reading in a book "The Complete Book of U.S. Sniping" the author said the Marines didn't use the spring on the 30-06 rifles.
Can I find CPA Rifles by going to Google, and are they in Canada or the US.
I always wanted a Unertl scope ever since I started reading about the Springfield rifles.
I think someone mentioned a while back that the Unertl was used in the Pacific but not in Europe.
 
Last edited:
For CPA rifles go to www. s i n g l e s h o trifles.com (whithout the spaces), beautiful rifles, and access. like the old bases. I have a fancy rifle of theirs on order. The Marines used a more modern Unertl, in 'Nam, and values on those are approx. 10K or more.(I heard that one went at auction for $25K). The Marines used the ext. adj. scopes on Springfield sniper rifles as well but I don't know what theatre of war.
 
The front base was made for a standard weight barrel Model 70. Do you have a base to fit the front receiver ring? Should still be available if not. Rifles with heavy (bull) barrels used separate bases that were attached by screws directly into tapped holes in the barrel and receiver ring or sometimes both on the barrel. It is likely that the front receiver ring holes are original. Is the rear receiver bridge drilled on the top or just on the side? Early M70 mount systems for hunting scopes used the front receiver ring base (top mount) and a base that fitted the receiver sight holes on the side but extended over the bridge. Later production went to the top rear bridge being drilled and tapped also.
 
Albayo:
Very nice looking Model 70. The mechanism of the 22 hornet are a tad more complicated than other pre-64 model 70 calibers due to the size of the cartridge. A fine example of American rifle making at it's high point, no doubt about it.

Your rifle appears correct with scope and scope bases. That's the way they were back then. Lyman and Unertl scopes shared many similarities and are very similar. Both of these exterior adjusted scopes are highly sought after and command a high price. Even one of the original wooden boxes will go for $200 plus.

I have just one picture and it's not that good but, here it is anyways for comparison. It mounts the same as yours.


1953 Model 70 220 Swift with 15x Lyman Super Targetspot scope

m70swift220.jpg


Rod
 
BOY Are all the looky loues jelous! You have one of the hottest sought after calibres in the model 70 genre. I love that the original Urnertyle is still with this fine over engineered hornet. I also have a hornet in a WIn model 54 that I bought to restore, alot of early hornets were D&T'd by gunsmiths to putt a wide variety of scopes on the gopher killers. Just a note alot of these guns shoot better with .223 bullets than the normal .224 diametre used nowadays, but the newer bullets can sometime shoot better than the .223 hornet bullets, its just an experiment you must try if you have an older Hornet, great rifle, enjoy and thanks for sharing, Dale in T-Bay
 
It is a tad heavy for .22 Hornet feels like it should be a 30-06. This one is a keeper I like the 22 Hornet, but won't know how it shoots until I take it to the range. I have had some Brunos but every one I shot had the primer back out. If it was a 308 or 30-06 I would have had it to a gunsmith. I just sold them but made the buyers aware of the problem.
 
Last edited:
Took the Winchester Mod 70 to the range when I was on PEI this past weekend and tried it out. Found out the gun is not a 22 Hornet, but a K-Hornet. Under .22 HORNET in small neat letters under was the name KILBOURN. I fired the first round and extracted the round and found the brass had changed shape. Now I have to find a load for 22 K Hornet. What would be the advantage of the K Hornet over the regular Hornet round?
 
H4831 said:
It looks to me like somebody besides Winchester drilled and tapped that hole in it, but I hope that I am wrong.
I saw a pretty rare Savage 99 at a gun show with an $800 tag, that I thought was pretty low. The dealer said one of the top Savage experts in Canada,(Maddog, it was the other guy) had evaluated it and suggested that price. He told the dealer that without the hoes someone had drilled and tapped, he would have doubled the value.
Sorry, I don't mean to run down your great find, but just stating some facts as I interpret them.
Click to expand...

I have a pre-64 model 70 and it was drilled and tapped for scope mounts by winchester when they made it. the hole in the picture is one of these. mine was made in 1954, I don,t if all model 70,s were drilled and tapped for scope mounts or not.
 
Seems to be an area of debate. K-hornet is supposed to increase the life of your brass, as well as give a small boost in velocity and accuracy. I'm in the same boat myself, looking for a .22 hornet and wondering if the rechambering is worth it. For you it might be; you've already fire formed all your brass :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom