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Pre War Winchester 70 .243

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the208man View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote the208man Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Pre War Winchester 70 .243
    Posted: May/05/2009 at 00:27

I just aquired a pre war Winchester Model 70 rifle at a local auction. The rifle has a 24 " varmint barrel and chambered .243 cal. What power and type scope would you suggest for this rifle?

                                                                   Thank You
                                                                       Charlie
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote silver Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/05/2009 at 07:02

There are lots of factors that can go into this process.  You need to tailor things a a bit.  Things like are you going to hunt with the gun or is a range queen? If you are going to hunt then under what conditions? Those are major questions.  That also need to need to be answered as a part of the process.

If you are not going to hunt then a 16x Super Sniper might be in order.  If you are going to do preditor control at night then a Metopa R1 7.5x56.  If you are going to shoot ground hogs then a 4.5 to 16 might be the ticket.  Deer from a stand might bring things down to  a  2.5 to 10.  If you want to shoot long distances then you need a better quality glass scope, not just more magnification.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Urimaginaryfrnd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/06/2009 at 01:56
When you said Pre 64 Win model 70 I was thinking a fixed 6x or 4x but a varmit barrel heavy barrel screams for more magnification.  Likely a 4-16x40 Bushnell 4200 or a similar power in a Zeiss or VX3 off of Samplelist may be one with target knobs in the 6.5-20x50.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rifle looney Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/06/2009 at 21:22
That gun is screaming give me a Bushnell 4200 or a Leupold VXIII !     Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote win243 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/07/2009 at 07:44
Is it a rebarrel or a win .243 varmint weight ? Vx 2  6-18 will do the trick!!!
good hunting
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote outlook Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/09/2009 at 14:54
The Model 70s in 243 in the Varmint Rifle configuration was a post WW II rifle. (See The Rifleman's Rifle by Roger Rule). They are a fine varmint rifle even today although no light weight.
"Back in the day" the rifle was D&T for Unertl target/varmint scope blocks and most serious eastern varmint hunters would have one of the 1&1/4" to 2" Unertls or a Lyman Senior Targetspot topping these rifles. Those are still fine scopes, are quite expensive, can be found on ebay and are far more fragile than a modern internal adjustment scope. If you want "period proper" they are the way to go. If you want a good functional hunter, any of the suggestions made above will do well and I would add a 6.5-20 VX III or Monarch to the list as well.
Some of the early ones had stainless barrels, which were iron plated and then blued. Typically they don't shoot quite as well as the conventional ones but will last longer.
Neat rifle and worth some bucks so take care of it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oldtrader3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/21/2009 at 19:34
I have a Zeiss Diavari V/VM 5-15x42 on my .243.  This particular scope is not longer available but it is handy to reach out to coyotes, wherever they live.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote John Barsness Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/21/2009 at 20:51

I also have to chime in to say that if the rifle has the factory barrel it is definitely not a pre-WWII Model 70. The .243 wasn't introduced untl 1955.

I would argue a little bit the statement that Lyman and Unertl scopes of that era weren't as tough as modern internally-adjustable scopes. They were a lot longer, which doesn't help, but in general non-adjustable scopes are tougher than internally-adjustable scopes. The mounts weren't very tough, however.

Oldtrader3, ddoes you 5-15x42 Zeiss have an adjustable objective?

As far as a a scope for the rifle, a lot depends on what you're going to use it for!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oldtrader3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/21/2009 at 21:25
No, I purchased it back in the mid-'90's before that option became available.  Zeiss stopped making them for a couple of years in the '90's.  When they started making them again, they had the AO option.  I never saw it on the older ones.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote John Barsness Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/21/2009 at 22:22
The reason I asked is that I shot one on a .22-250 briefly and at 15x it had a LOT of parallax at 300+ yards. I assume your's doesn't have that problem?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oldtrader3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/21/2009 at 23:03
No but, it does have mirage!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oldtrader3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/21/2009 at 23:53
John, have you had experience or seen reports of the 5-15x42 Zeiss not holding zero?  Were these supposedly affected scopes the older line of V/VM or the AO line?  There was one guy that was posting on every forum that he could find that he had a zero failure with this scope.  They were not a popular variable and were dropped from the line.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote John Barsness Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/22/2009 at 17:02
To be honest, I only shot the one scope, and it had so much parallax that I didn't shoot it long. I did hear exactly what you reported, that it wasn't made very long. From my experience I can see why.
 
I suspect that model was one of the first Zeiss built to try to break into the American higher-X scope market, and they just didn't understand what they were doing at that point.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ba_50 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/24/2009 at 18:35
I can't agree about the Unertl's being particularly fragile either. I have 3 and since they move in the mounts it's hard damage them with all that give. If you don't slam them around it shouldn't be  a problem. They aren't waterproof.
 
They used them on sniper rifles in WW2 and Vietnam.
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ed Connelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May/25/2009 at 12:09
If I had me one of them "varmint rifles" from the 1950's I would put a real Varmint scope on it!!!  Like one of them 6X numbers from Weaver or Lyman!!!    Shocked
 
You could shoot the dang thing all the way across the pasture!!!  
 
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