I'm looking at a used Winchester Model 70 XTR in .30-06. The fit and finish of the rifle appear to be great, but I know absolutely nothing about the Model 70 in any of its post-1964 versions.

Is this s good rifle? Are there any particular problems with this rifle? What kind of accuracy might a guy expect from the XTR? This is a sporter model. Does $425 sound about right for one in excellent condition, no scope or mounts?

I'll be grateful for shared experiences and opinions.

Can't answer for current prices, but I have a mid-1980s push feed Winchester Model 70 in .30-06 and it works nothing but great. Recommended for general hunting, that's for sure.

Maybe I got lucky but mine will shoot just about any load very accurately.

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MikeG

Winchester and Remington were the top of the line American produced rifles for a long time. I'm more of a Remington fan, but there's nothing wrong with the Winchesters and they are of comparable quality to the Remingtons. In this day and age of esculating prices $425 is not an out of line price for a Winchester rifle in excellent condition. Several years ago I paid $500.00 for a mint Remington 280 Mountain Rifle and still believe I got an excellent buy.

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Bob from Idaho

I had a XTR in 7mm Rem Mag. IIRC I bought it in '79 or '80.

I used it for yotes and chucks with a 120gr Hornady, and for deer with a 162gr BTHP. It was accurate beyond my wildest dreams. I kept it for 7 years or so then sold it to buy a Browning.

The Browning was great but wouldn't outshoot the XTR. Needless to say I should have never allowed the stainless steel of the Browning to "call to me".

I would love to have my old XTR back so.......I'd say "swoop it up". Especially for $425.

I never had a single problem with mine. Fit and finish was great. Recoil was lacking due to the cut of the stock.

BUY IT !! -----pruhdlr

I have several of them in various calibers and they are great shooters. Last month, I bought a mint .270 XTR for $320.00. All the best...
Gil

I have a Two of them,

One is a 30-06 and one is a 270 weatherby magnum. I like them both, and they are good shooters.

425 is a good deal, I have seen them on the used market as high as 700 or 800 bucks.

I have an early production Winchester 70 XTR Featherweight in .270 Win. and have nothing but good to say about it. It has a very nice blue job and the stock is nicely fit. The bolt is very nicely fit to the receiver and the action is very smooth. Even though it's a push feed, I've never had any jams or functioning problems with it. I touched up the trigger with a stone and I get a very crisp and consistent 2 1/2 pound trigger pull. It will put 3 shots in an inch at 100 yards with my favorite 130 grain load. A great gun.

This thread cost me. After reading your favorable posts, I looked at a second Model 70 XTR in .30-06 and "swooped it up," as Pruhdlr advised.

This one looks somewhat different than the first, which had a plastic butt plate and gloss stock. The new baby has a solid red recoil pad and low gloss stock finish. It's called a Sporter. Came with Millett bases and rings, everything near-new, $450 out the door. Preliminary handload efforts produced 1-1/4" @ 100 yds with plain jane 150-grain spire points.

Serial # is G1989xxx. Any idea of the year? If any of you have this version of the XTR, I'll post some more questions. Thanks.

Click on the sticky 5th from top on this forum for you gun build date.

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At one time; I owned a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight (Post '64) in 7 X 57 m/m. The rifle performed fine and was accurate, but I needed to "trick" it out by glassbedding it, and also had the trigger worked on. I made my longest shot on a Deer with it some 400 yards.

Thanks kdub. I saw that Thread. My M70 is obviously well beyond the 1981 list cutoff. I was hoping someone had mined more recent USRA information.

I have had two of them several years ago. A 25-06 and 300 Win. both were good, accurate guns. Only problem is they had the bolt on the wrong side!!

you should just buy it and send it to me, you wont like it
I only have four model 70's and need more.

I was just browsing this forum and I have a (something) available for sale. My dad gave it to me 20 years ago and it has been well maintained, occasionally bringing it out and cleaning it from time to time, spending most of the time in its case. I am interested in getting into skeet and trap shooting and want to sell it to purchase a gun for that purpose. It is in excellent (almost new) condition. We're estimating it to have less than 150 rounds through it and I do not hunt. If anyone is interested, please contact me at ( email address). This is a (cartridge) and looking to get a reasonable price for it - I am willing to discuss this to come to a fair deal for us both. It also has a scope - not sure of the specifics right now, but can have that info soon. The gun is at my dad's home.

Welcome to the forum. Please see the Trading Post forum for eligibility rules on posting items for sale.

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MikeG

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction - I really appreciate it.

Hello All,

I just bought a Model 70 on Gun Broker and I think it might be an XTR or possibly a Super Grade. I don't have the gun yet, but the seller says that it was built in 1972. It's a glossy stock version with a VERY nice piece of wood, a full Monte Carlo stock, a black pistol grip cap with a white liner and a black tip at the front of the stock that is slanted where it joins the stock and is also separated from the wood by a white liner. This gun is chambered in .308 Winchester and has a large adjustable "express" type rear sight and a large hooded front sight.

Any ideas as to exactly what model 70 variant this gun might be?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Kix

kixon,
Sounds like a std push-feed XTR to me, as you just described what I have in 25-06. I got mine as a Christmas present IIRC in '75. Long ago I removed the front and rear sights and put in filler screws. It's worn a Redfield Widefield 2-7x ever since. It's a very nice shooting rifle, and I've settled on a varmint load with the 75 gr Hornady HP, and a deer load with the 120 gr Nosler partition, both loads less than MOA when I'm on my game. I hope it's a keeper for you.

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Hello Shawn,

I grew up shooting my Father's 1972 Winchester Standard Model 70 chambered in 25-06. It remains as one of the most accurate rifles I have ever shot. I killed some of my very first white tail deer with it hunting in South Texas. My son has that rifle now and still cherishes it both because it belonged to his grandfather and because it is such a great rifle.
I now live in New Mexico and I hope to one day draw a tag for an elk or pronghorn antelope hunt. Most folks out here feel that a minimum .30 caliber bullet is required for a clean kill on elk. I don't necessarily agree with this idea, but I figured it's probably a good idea. For this reason I have been looking for a nice rifle chambered in .308 Winchester. I ran across one just this past Wednesday on GB. As it turns out I won this 1973 push feed Winchester model 70. The gun is exactly as I described but it isn't marked as an XRT gun, it just says Model 70 on the barrel according to the seller. I'll know more when it arrives. Here are some pictures, can you tell if it is actually an XTR Model 70? Also, what is the barrel length on your 25-06?





Thanks for your help!

Kix

kixon,
Your 308 looks just like my 25-06. I looked at my barrel stamping (on the left side of the barrel) and it is "Winchester Model 70 XTR 25-06 Rem". All I can say is that you have an "XTR" before it was called an XTR. Yours looks to be in fine shape. The barrel on my 25-06 is 24".

There's been much discussion on this board and others on what is a suitable elk cartridge. In general, I agree with the thought that 30 caliber is a good 'minimum' for elk, although that doesn't quite give the entire story. For example, I wouldn't recommend chasing elk with a 150 gr 30 caliber of any sort, but move up to the 180 grainers, and you have some good recipe. But, I've gotten two cow elk with a 6.5-06 with 140 gr Nosler partitions, and they died just fine. You just have to watch your sectional density. I generally look to medium to heavy weight bullets in whatever caliber I'm shooting for tough animals like elk. There's a limit to that thought though....I'd hesitate at taking a 25-06 with 120-grainers after elk, but would do so knowing I'd have to pick my shot carefully if that's all I had.

Enjoy your gun, it's a good one!

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