I have a 1953 M70 in .30-06. It was given to me by my brother in law. My Dad gave it to him back in the '70's.
I shot a deer with it but was not very happy with how it shot. Took the action out of the stock and was shocked at how poorly bedded it was. As you can see from this picture it only touched where the bottom of the receiver bottomed around the mag well. The recoil lug didn't touch anyplace - the rear of the magazine well served as the recoil lug.
The finish on the metal was pretty rough as you can see in this picture:
It was beat up enough that it didn't have much collector value so I went ahead and bedded it.
It shot a "lot" better.
Then I went ahead and replaced the blued steel butt plate with a KickEEZ recoil pad and it got a lot more plesant for this 5'8" 169lb 68 year old guy to shoot. It isn't a light rifle - weighs a bit over 9 lbs with the scope - but .30-06 recoil on a blued steel butt plate was more than I wanted to put up with.
I like it just fine now. It shoots like Dad would have wanted it to and it will put a few hundred pounds of meat in the freezer before I'm done with it.
I've had the opportunity to compare the new and the old, a buddy has one of the new ones from the FN factory - a Super Grade in .30-06. If he'd trade even up, I'd trade in a heart beat. His is a nicer rifle. I agree with Chuck Hawks, the current production from the FN factory is the best ever. I'm saving up to buy one in either .270 Win or .30-06 Spr. - not because I need it but because they are nice enough that I want to own one.
All that said, it's fun when I take it to the range and someone recognizes it and comes over to look at it.
Fitch