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I have always wanted a pre 64 model 70 and finally picked one up last weekend. Mine is a very late model ,manufactured in mid 1963 (the year I was born). The rifle is in good shooters condition but I THINK it has the incorrect stock. It has a low comb stock and not the Monte Carlo one. Were there any late model 70's that had this stock ?
The low comb stock is correct for a pre-1964.
The Pre 64 actually started out as a low comb and then around 1960 went to Monte Carl stocks. What I was wanting to know is, were any low comb standard rifles offered with a low comb in 1963 ?
Was hoping a collector could fill me in.
Congratulations. Mind of I ask where in NE Kansas you picked it up? Was it a .270?
I have two Pre-64 Model 70s. One is a Standard 1954 in 30-06 and the other is a 1961 Featherweight .243 and both have Monte Carlo combs on the stocks. I have owned another Featherweight .243 (1959) and a Standard 375 H&H Mag (1958) and they both also had Monte Carlo stock combs. I don't know when the Monte Carlo comb became standard, but it was a few years after the rifle was reintroduce following WWII.
Based on the above I would say a 1963 should have a Monte Carlo comb. The stock on yours had been modified or replaced.
Addendum: This from the collectors web site;
The Monte Carlo stock design was adopted in 1951 and first cataloged for Standard Rifles, Featherweights, and Super Grade Rifles in 1952. So it's possible to find M70s with 1951 S/Ns that have original MC stocks, since the factory would have wanted to build up some inventory before adding the option to the catalog. Prior to that any rifle with a factory original MC stock would have to have been special ordered. While such rifles no doubt exist, the vast majority of pre-1951 M70s with MC stocks these days have had their stock replaced.
Versions where the MC was not a cataloged option: Standard rifles (1936-1951); Carbines (1936-1947 - when discontinued); Super Grade rifles (1936-1951); and all rifles using the Marksman stock (National Match/Target Rifle/Bull Gun). The Featherweight was available with either MC or low comb NRA stock from the outset (1952) until the low comb option was dropped after 1959.
I'm in Atchison but I got the gun at the Tulsa gun show. It is a 30-06
Yup, that is about the same thing I read in Roger Rule's book. Just thought maybe they offered the low comb as a custom feature but it does seem doubtful. No big deal, this gun is nice but not a big collector gun. I will probably scope it and shoot a whitetail with it next winter using some cast boolits (:
Richhodge66 ,You at Leavenworth ?
No, Junction City/Fort Riley area.
Spent a little time there. Was in ROTC at K-State and Army National Guard. Summer camp there was hot as he!!
Lived here most of the past 26 years now, love the area. Actually did my last two and a half years at Leavanworth working in MCTP, pretty nice area too, but I wasn't moving at that point so was there as a geo bachelor. Actually a good many LGS around there.
Deer hunted a few times on a huge tract of WIHA land up by Achison. Was always surprised to have it pretty much to myself considering how close it was to KC.
According to Rule's The Rifleman's Rifle book, the low-comb stock was phased out on Standard model rifles by 1960. The Monte Carlo stock was first offered in 1951. So basically from '51-59 you could get either type.