LITTLE ROCK — For fans and collectors of the Winchester Model 70 rifle, there's good news and bad news.
The good news is that Winchester recently announced it will reintroduce the entire Model 70 line in 2008. American craftsmen will build the guns at the Fabrique Nationale plant in Columbia, S.C. They will retain their traditional lines and will also retain the famous pre-1964 action, with controlled-round feeding and threeposition safety.
The bad news is that this might depress the collector's market for Model 70 rifles, which inflated when the supply of new guns ended. On the other hand, this new generation might actually enhance the value of the Model 70s that were built at the Winchester factory at New Haven, Conn. The first run of the South Carolina guns may also be very collectible, especially if they bear low serial numbers. I recommend buying one as soon as it's available and putting it in a safe.
Winchester enthusiasts have wondered about the eventual fate of the classic rifle since Winchester announced it would discontinue it in 2006. Many believed it would resurface at the Miroku plant in Japan, which makes the Browning A-Bolt rifle. Browning is a sister brand to Winchester, both being owned by a Belgianconglomerate called GIAT.
That might have been the plan, but the rumor in firearms circles was that the Olin Corp., which owns the rights to the Model 70 trademark, refused to renew its license to GIAT if it intended to produce the quintessential American brand overseas. If that was the case, GIAT and Olin appear to have resolved their differences with this compromise.
The new Model 70 line will include its signature Featherweight, which shares equal billing with the Remington 700 BDL as my favorite rifle. Also available will be the elegant but functional Super Grade, Deluxe, Sporter Deluxe and Extreme Weather SS models.
The new Model 70s also will have a new adjustable trigger called the M.O.A. This new trigger is said to have zero takeup, zero travel and zero overcreep, makingit perhaps the most precise, most crisply breaking factory trigger on the market. It will be adjustable from 3-5 pounds of pull, and will 3 be factory set at 3 /4 pounds.
New Winchesters also will have a thick, black Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad. The Decelerator does an excellent job at dampening recoil, but I'm going to miss the hard red rubber pad that was characteristic of the old Winchesters.
The hammer forged barrels will be threaded, target crowned and installed on the receivers. The chamber will then be reamed and the bolt headspaced. Winchester said this will result in 1 MOA accuracy (1-inch groups at 100 yards) using match-grade ammo.
Winchester will offer the Featherweight in most popular long- and short-action calibers. Suggested retail will be $999 to $1,049, but I bet they won't sell many, if any, at that price.
Chamberings will vary for the other models. The Super Grade, curiously, will be available only in .30-06 and .300 Winchester Magnum. Winchester's refusal to offer the Super Grade in .308 Winchester in recent years has been a great aggravation to me.
So far, there is no evidence of revival for the fabled Winchester Model 94 lever-action rifle. I think it's gone for good.
BROWNING NEWS
Along with the new Model 70, Browning has announced a new rifle for 2008 called the X-Bolt.
Apparently, this gun will differ from the A-Bolt in that the bolt will have four interlocking lugs instead of three. It also will feature a new, adjustable trigger that seems to be similar to Winchester's MOA trigger. It also will be adjustable from 3-5 pounds, but will be pre-set to 1 3/2 pounds.
Like the A-bolt, it will have a top-tang safety, which I love, but it will also have a bolt-unlock feature that will allow the user to open the bolt with the safety engaged.
The X-Bolt also will have proprietary scope mounts with four screw holes in the bases instead of the two holes on every other rifle. This will secure the bases on all four corners, increasing scope stability.
Also unique to high-powered rifles will be the X-Bolt's detachable, rotary box magazine. Similar to the magazine on Browning's delightful T-bolt .22-caliber rifle, this design aligns the bullet directly with the chamber. In other rifles, the bullets are staggered in the magazine and enter the chamber in an offset angle. This sometimes results in misfeeds and jams. A rotary magazine greatly reduces, if not eliminates, that complication.
Sports, Pages 24 on 11/01/2007