I am touched, 22 people liked my post. Thank you, but I really don't have anything catching if you were to post a comment. Al
I just recently picked up a Winchester model 70 pre-64 in beautiful shape for an extremely good price. There was only one catch it had some issues. The guy that I bought it off of said that it is an excellent shooter but the bolt is tight and gets even tighter after about 6 shots. He said that the guy that he bought it off of tried to glass bed it and must not have put enough release agent on the gun and looked like he had to beat it out of the stock with a drift of some sort which obviously bent something! I haven't even had a chance to shoot it or take pictures of it. I took it right to the gunsmith to see if it's worth to fix and if it's possible! I haven't heard anything back yet I'll keep you all posted! It's worth it to me I love Winchesters and especially the pre-64's!
Blacksmith- might just be the action screws are protruding too far and impeding the bolt. That can happen if you don't pay attention when bedding. Easy fix.
I wished that it was! I took the gun out of the stock tried to work the bolt and the same thing. I have another pre-64 in a 30.06 as well so I interchanged the bolts to see if it was the bolts..... wellllll both bolts worked smoothly in my other one and both were hanging up in the problem gun. I talked to the gunsmith tonight and he thinks that he can fix it with stoning the rails then lapping them. Fingers crossed I hope that this fixes it! The guy that I bought it off of when he bought it he took it to a different gunsmith to get the safety repaired and to see if he could fix the bolt problem. This other gunsmith repaired the safety which he did. But to fix the bolt issue it's not real noticable but if you take the bolt out and run your fingers on it you can feel that he must have use a grinder or something on the bolt to try to fix the problem of the bolt hanging up!
Sounds like your 'smith is doing it correctly. Small steps can correct those issues. Now, rough spots on the bolt body- check to see if the scope base screws aren't also protruding. I'm guessing Weaver bases. Those will cause problems also.
Beautiful wood on that one. Claro Walnut if I'm not mistaken. It's a bit soft, but wonderful to look at when done. I did one out of Claro for a Rem. 600 in 7mm-08 in the '90's. Thumbhole with a roll-over cheek, beavertail fore end. The wood was beautiful. I still have the stock somewhere, the rest was converted to a Kevlar stock and sold as a Mtn. gun.
It's sounds like a headspace issue(firing shots with a stiffening bolt) untill hearing that it's bedding was boogered. Really sucks if the receiver is bent/tweaked. If it's a pre 64 why Da hecks was someone trying to bed it anyway. Worth more and More of a collector leaving it as is.
No Weaver style bases Leupold rings and bases (dovetail in the front and windage screws for the rear. I think I am not going to put a scope on it, keep it old school!
The Smith said that the receiver is straight! That's good news anyways! I don't know what clown would want to alter such a classic rifle like that!
Good thing your a freak for them and (probably) saved it. I surely wouldn't pass up a good deal on one, but I never activley look for them either though. Modern rifles(accurate rifles alteast) owe them their gratitude.
Well I finally got my Winchester model 70 pre-64 back from the gunsmith. He was able to correct the issue of the bolt dragging. As I believe what I said before someone before me tried to glass bed it and used a punch to beat on the feed rails to get the gun out of the stock and messed it all up. The gunsmith used honing stones to take out the high spots out of the feed rails and now it is as smooth as butter. Here are some long awaited pictures. I haven't had any time to shoot it yet. Rhe gun is in beautiful shape as you can see! I have a few more pictures to follow.
And the last 4 pictures. The gun overall is perfect except for some light finish wear (no dings scratches on the wood or metal) on the stock and some bluig wear on the bolt and floor plate. The only thing that's going this gun is a leather sling!
Nice Winchester blacksmith, I love the blued and walnut she is nice. I could never own one like it, one trip to the wilderness and it would look like a trip through the sink disposal. I had to go to the synthetic and stainless. Well done.
