Winchester M70 Westerner Question/ New dude Intro

R

RunWithSasquatch

New member
I havent poked around a whole lot on here yet, but I never found a place for newbies to do there intro's. So here it is!

I like to chase critters, but it why I found your guys forum. Live in Western Oregon, so I mostly get to chase animals in the thick stuff.

Found the forum trying to find info on my rifle. I have a set of open sights on it, and I was trying to google info on them, and your guys forum popped up with a similar question, but for a different kind of sight.



MEAT OF THE QUESTION:


SO, my rifle is a Model 70 westerner, 7mm Rem mag. Groups well. Its been around with me a while, and the blueing has seen better days, though I take care, and make sure its wiped down after every outing.

I have come the a conclusion that I want to cerokote the rifle, and want to remove the open sights that were placed by the manufacture.

Most sights i have seen have a series of screws that hold it in place, including one under the front post after sliding it out of the dove tail. This front sight does not have this. No screws at all actually.

I have come to my own conclusion that it must be mounted with some kind of dovetail that was formed on the barrel? Correct me if I am wrong.

If you remove the post from the ramp, there is no screw holes at all. So I am baffled, and curious if anyone has experience with this type of sight?!


Any ideas would help!

-Jared
 
If it's a pre-64 gun, the front site ramp is somehow forged/milled as part of the barrel - got one - it was gotten rid of as a cost cutting measure for the post-64 guns. Probably gotta mill it off if you want it gone. I'd keep it on a pre-64 gun. JMHO.
 
Thanks for the reply Mike. I understand the value of a pre64 rifle, and would respect that fire arm.

This is a post 64 rifle, and there is a visible seam around the ramp.
 
If its a post 64 I would not be afraid to start with a grinder and work it down until the sight is nearly gone, be careful and go slow as to not create too much heat. Then finish with a good file and sandpaper. If you are going to have a finish put on it it should turn out fine as long as you do good work.
 
Some pre-64 sporter weight rifles actually had silver soldered front sight bases. On the pre-64's, all sporter weight rifles had a barrel with an integral front ramp until 1955. From 1955 on, the front ramps were silver soldered onto the barrels on pre-64 sporter weight rifles. 1955 is somewhat of a rough year number for this production change as barrels with integral front sights in some calibers were supposedly still available for assembly after the beginning of 1955. I doubt if anyone knows when the last integral sight barrel supply in all calibers was totally exhausted, but 1955 is the time frame when silver soldering began as a production step.

If it is an early post-64 rifle, there is a good chance it is also silver soldered. IIRC, a change to screwed on front sights began about serial number 866,000 (~1967). The G series rifles began in 1968. Maybe check the serial number of your rifle and you can maybe see where it fits in the picture.

The following information has serial number information with beginning and ending serial numbers by year and total rifles produced each year. I notice this information is also in one of the links and continues on into the G series rifles well after 1968. Early post-64 serial numbers reflect the following production information:

1964 - 700,000 - 757,180 - 57,181
1965 - 757,181 - 818,500 - 61,320
1966 - 818,501 - 855,860 - 37,360
1967 - 855,861 - 873,694 - 17,834
1968 - G873,695 - G929,990 - 56,296

I hope this helps. If there are no screws, it just about has to be silver soldered unless someone did something totally custom like machining a dovetail to mount a sight base. A few years back I had picked up a Remington Model 798 rifle (Yugoslav made) in 375 H&H, and to my surprise it had a dovetailed front sight base. I bumped it one day on a wooden bench and the sight moved and it was loose. I had it J-B Welded in place and the rifle has since found a new home, but not for that reason.
 
Great guys, thanks for the replies! I am thinking it must be soldered on there.

I had been day dreaming about working it off of there with a grinder and sanding disk, but wasn't sure that its appropriate. Heat will obviously be key to keep track of, if i go that route.

If i get drastic with it, I will make sure and take photos along the way and post my efforts, and the final product after it gets coated.
 


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