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Unusual M-70

D. Bryan
I have a Classic Featherweight with a 6 digit serial number, G170,xxx
This has a bright blue receiver and a fiddleback walnut, gloss finished stock. Stamped Classic Featherweight on the right side of the barrel. Since production of the Classic began in 1992, I presume the serial numbers should be in the 1.7 million series.
I presume this rifle was built in 1971 as a pre-production pilot model
or some other unusual occurrance.

I have checked with the factory and learned the shipping date and the distributor and verified with the distributor. I have also checked with the Custom Shop. There was no notation on the records of this being other than a regular rifle.

Does anyone have any information to help me identify this rifle?
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Comments

11 comments

Date Votes
  • jptatum
    Welcome to the forum. According to the Blue Book of Gun Values, 25 Ed., p. 1835, they list the last serial number for 1981 as G1537134. They do not give any serial numbers after 1981. Therefore all that can be said is that it was produced after 1981. I hope this helps some. Good luck.

    J. Patrick Tatum
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  • snickers
    First of all welcome to the forum. All of the reference books I have show the G prefix starting with number 941901. Are you sure there is not another dijit in the serial number. If it is a Classic Fwt it would be a fairly recent production.

    MONEY TALKS mine says good-bye
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  • chuck
    Wait for HangFire to ans. ( the poor missguided sole likes Winchester's )[:0]
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  • Hangfire
    quote:Originally posted by chuck
    Wait for HangFire to ans. ( the poor missguided sole likes Winchester's )[:0]


    Yeah, but I can't help Mr. Bryan on this one...too new!! I do feel quite sure that Winchester was not making any prototypes available in 1971.The entire company was a mess at that time.I do agree with the others that is most likely just newer production. You said you contacted the factory...what dates did they give you???

    Love them Pre-64's!!!!-Bob
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  • D. Bryan
    I learned from a gunsmith today that Winchester made a pilot run of Classics in 1971 and sent them out for evaluation. Reception of the Featherweight .308 was cold because of excessive recoil. This rifle was not shipped until 1984.
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  • Hangfire
    quote:Originally posted by D. Bryan
    I learned from a gunsmith today that Winchester made a pilot run of Classics in 1971 and sent them out for evaluation. Reception of the Featherweight .308 was cold because of excessive recoil. This rifle was not shipped until 1984.


    Interesting!!! Never heard of this, and I was a dealer and collector at that time.....

    Love them Pre-64's!!!!-Bob

    I think your "Gunsmith" is full of it!!!
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  • Ray Boone
    D.Bryan- I have a M 70, SuperGrade SN 193xx, purchased new in 1991 and a M 70 Classic Featherweight SN 235xx, purchased new in 1992. Since yours was SN 1,xxx,xxx I'm guessing that it would have been made sometime in the mid 90s.
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  • Ray Boone
    Note- I forgot to add the Gs to the SN- these are not pre-64s.
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  • D. Bryan
    Ray B
    This S/N is G170,xxx not 1 mil+. I also have a carbine built in the mid 80s with s/n G1.6 mil.
    I presume both of your rifles came from the custom shop.
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  • Ray Boone
    D.Bryan- I'm not sure if I need to replace my glasses or my brain- they both seem to be less than effective. I now see the SN is 100,000 not 1,000,000; what I was attempting to say was that the 2 I have of that era were of slightly lower numbers, so would have been a year or two earlier in production. Both rifles were bought off the shelf of a local gun store. the SuperGrade was in that run that was a batch of the then new Classic style action, though they didn't call it that for a year or so, which is when I bought the featherweight for my son.
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  • D. Bryan
    Ray B.
    Receivers are numbered in the order they are produced, not in the order the rifles are manufactured.
    Both of your receivers were manufactured in 1969 and for some reason, not completed as rifles until a later date.
    We know that Winchester was in serious difficulties during this period
    and apparently no records were kept. It would be interesting to know the actual manufacture date of your rifles. The period of USRAC control was a period of serious financial difficulties and I presume that every effort was made to use up everything marketable to survive.
    I personally believe that the Classic Receivers were stored in the Custom Shop until they were pulled and built up.
    My rifle has a hand lapped barrel which is a mark of the custom shop but they have no record of production. It also has the style and deep cut checkering of the current classic though this was not introduced until 1992.
    You have 2 nice rifles and I think it is possible that they also are in this same group.
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