Up Grading Bobby Hunt's "New" Pre-64

From time to time we get a request to Up-Grade and make field ready a Pre-64 Model 70. Sometimes these are destine to be gifts handed down to children or grandchildren for their first Safari or given as a bonus to an employee for services well done. As 99 % of these rifles are in excellent condition to begin with the idea is not to re-blue or refinish the Pre-64 but to address and correct any bedding issues, re-work and improve the trigger pull, smooth up and refine the feeding of the rifle then mounting and zeroing a scope appropriate for the intended use. If you are a died in the wool Winchester Collector my next statement might cause you to become ill as we ALWAYS glass bed the recoil lug area and the contact points at the middle and rear guard screw locations. This is done to prevent any set back in the stock which is inevitable in the bigger calibers and to enhance the accuracy potential. We often touch up the factory crown and polish out any burs or major machine marks left from the factory manufacturing process. The result of this effort is a very dependable factory made rifle that feeds, functions and shoots well if the factory barrel is any good at all. We're not looking for 1/2" groups and tailored loads, just solid 1" to 1-1/4" repeatable three shot groups.

Bobby Hunt contacted us last year and requested we perform this Up-Grade to a Pre-64 Model 70, 375 H&H that was in superb, mint condition. This rifle looked like it just left the factory floor. The stock was made from better than average walnut and the bluing was without a blemish. All collectors need to stop reading this post now and go cut the lawn. We glassed bedded the action a described above, removed some high spots found in the barrel channel, re-worked the trigger assembly and then polished the feed well and bullet ramp. The extractor hook was tweaked to allow a smother case transition from the magazine to the bolt face and few other operations employed to bring the package together. As he had a hunt booked with Chifuti Safaris we also shot the rifle to see what Soft and Solids shot to the same point of impact for the planned hunt in Zimbabwe. As Bobby works mostly abroad getting a chance to practice with the rifle was going to be an issue, he needed a rifle that was 100% ready to go. Bobby did get  a chance to hunt Whitetails and pigs with this 375 late last year for a week and shot the rifle a much as he could. The next time he used the rifle was with Chifuti it would appear he and the rifle have become pretty close hunting buddies.