Winchester 670A comes home......

North Forest

A while back I started really wanting to get into rifle shooting, after a chance opportunity to shoot an old Mosin Nagant, which instantly got me hooked. Found this Winchester 670A .30-06 the other day at one of the gun shops I visit, and today I brought it home. Its in very good condition over all, came with the not-so-great scope on look through mounts, which I'm sure I'll want to upgrade, and has the iron sights. The old guys at the counter were very helpful in giving me all kinds of tips and advice for getting started, and getting the scope zeroed in on some special device they had there. $297 and a couple boxes of ammo and I'm out the door feeling like a kid at Christmas. This is my first rifle, and I'm really looking forward to developing some distance shooting skills. I'll be giving it a try tomorrow, starting at short distance and gradually working my way back as recommended.

Zee

Seems sweet for the price!

Jermanator

Nice score!!! You suck.

NN

:that::agree::yousuck:

North Forest

Thought I'd give an update on what I've been doing with this rifle. Eager to get out and shoot it, and totally new to rifle shooting, I went out a couple times to my mountain site, with a jerry-rig bench setup that I can toss in the back of my truck, using the junk scope and shooting Remington 165 grain. With some advice from a friend who is an experienced hunter, attempted to get it sighted in, but was not happy with results. I knew I needed a better scope. Went scope shopping, and chose a Nikon 4-12 x 40, and started to seriously begin learning how to use a scope. I'm totally new to all this, but have to say I'm lovin' it and am now completely hooked! I love the way this rifle feels, especially the trigger.

Yesterday I had a couple hours free after work, so I loaded up and went back to the mountain to continue working on dialing in my rifle /scope combo. This time I opted to try some Federal 150 grain Fusion to see how that worked out, and it seems the rifle likes it.

Here's yesterday's target, at 75 yards. A few more clicks to right and.........can't wait to work it out to 100!

Jermanator

Looking great!

snake284

North Forest wrote: »

Thought I'd give an update on what I've been doing with this rifle. Eager to get out and shoot it, and totally new to rifle shooting, I went out a couple times to my mountain site, with a jerry-rig bench setup that I can toss in the back of my truck, using the junk scope and shooting Remington 165 grain. With some advice from a friend who is an experienced hunter, attempted to get it sighted in, but was not happy with results. I knew I needed a better scope. Went scope shopping, and chose a Nikon 4-12 x 40, and started to seriously begin learning how to use a scope. I'm totally new to all this, but have to say I'm lovin' it and am now completely hooked! I love the way this rifle feels, especially the trigger.

Yesterday I had a couple hours free after work, so I loaded up and went back to the mountain to continue working on dialing in my rifle /scope combo. This time I opted to try some Federal 150 grain Fusion to see how that worked out, and it seems the rifle likes it.

Here's yesterday's target, at 75 yards. A few more clicks to right and.........can't wait to work it out to 100!

At what distance did you shoot this group? (Edited to Add) Never mind, I see now, 75 yards. With factory ammo and a stock rifle that isn't bad for 100 or even 50 yards.

Is the scope a Nikon Prostaff? If so, that's a fantastic scope for the money. I have one on my 30-06 and I haven't touched it but once since I zeroed it in. The only reason I touched the adjustments at all was because I fell in the mud with it and it landed on the scope. But it was only about an inch off to the left. I cranked it over and it's still where I put it. But what I love about the Nikon Prostaff is they are very clear scopes, especially since you can pick that scope up NIB for less than $200.00. You done good Grasshopper. Congrats and btw as someone already said, "YOU SUCK!"

Jayhawker

Nice rifle, good shooting.....only thing I've got for you is to lose those "see through" mounts....they were a bad idea when they were invented and the idea has only got worse over the years....Get that scope down as low as you can without interfering with your bolt throw...

timc

Very nice old bird and looks like she can shoot too? Man you can't ask for any better than that! Congrats on a sweet rifle.

Big Chief

Man, you were a "Sleeper" rifle shooter! looks like it is working out fer ya with long guns.:guns:

NN

That's going to be a shooter.

snake284

BTW, I second Jayhawker's suggestion. Lose those silly see through mounts. It's not that they are shaky or move on you. It's that they cause your cheek to raise up off the cheekwell of your stock, which deters a good solid mount of the rifle to your body. If you have an artificial cheek rest that would solidify your head on the stock it would be ok, but two things wrong with that scenario are one, Looks, they detract from the otherwise nice lines of the rifle, and two, they can add weight and add it in a place that will cause the balance of the rifle to shift. Believe us when we say those mounts are NOT conducive to accuracy and looks. Get some good Weaver or some dove tail mounts, such as the old Redfield style. Whatever, get that centerline of the scope down closer to the centerline of the barrel. You'll be glad you did.

I have an old 1966 model 70, very similar to this rifle. I've had it since I was 18 years old. I know how accurate these old Winchesters can be. I've killed a lot of deer with mine and won a few informal matches with it too.

Weatherby

Did you go back to the store and buy the rest of that lot of ammo ?

That is something you might want to consider doing

jbohio

Wow. Great looking rifle, great price, and she's a shooter. Yep, you suck.

orchidman

Excellent score and great shooting.
Ditto on the 'suckiness'.

North Forest

Thanks for all the positive comments and advice guys. To answer snake284's question, yes the scope I have now is a Nikon Prostaff. The guy at the shop I bought it from actually took me outside to compare different scopes in the price range I was looking at, and I really like the brightness and clarity I get with this scope. I can only imagine what really nice/expensive scopes look like, something to look forward to in the future I suppose.

So now it looks like the next move will be to change out those look through mounts, which will require the removal of the old iron sights. Do you think this is something I should have done by a gunsmith? I'm fairly good with tools and craft, and this process appears to be pretty straightforward, but as I am new to this I don't know if mount holes and threads are standardized or specific, and also obviously there will be holes from the iron sights to be filled, what is used to fill old holes like this? snake284 mentioned Weaver mounts, are there others that would be good for this?

I'll also go back and get as much of that ammo as I can. Thanks again for all the advice!

Bigslug

At this point in your education, let a pro mount the scope for you. It's not a complicated process, but there is a lot more to doing it right than a lot of folks think - especially when using dovetail front / windage rear mounts of the Redfield / Leupold STD style. See if they'll let you observe the process, and that'll help you out for the next one.

I've tried a lot of different mounts and have come to prefer the one-piece military-style mounts with the M1913 "Picatinny" rail slots along the whole top surface (think AR-15 flattop). This gives you the greatest latitude in where you can locate the scope rings and how far forward or back you can mount the scope. I've also had good luck with Leupold's QRW (Quick Release Weaver) for this style mount, but if you don't need the quick removal feature, their PRW rings are a slightly cheaper, more streamlined looking ring.

One problem I have run into with this style of mount on a couple of Pre-'64 M-70's is that the mount doesn't give any ability to adjust for windage, and those couple of older Model 70's had some manner of misalignment that required me to shift to Leupold STD mounts to preserve a reasonable amount of windage adjustment in the scope. Probably not an issue at all on your newer gun, but be aware that these little issues can surface.

edit to add: Leave the iron sights on until you know they're physically going to run into the scope. Usually this occurs only when mounting a long scope on low rings, or if the rear sight is located far back on the barrel.

North Forest

Thought I'd give an update, this time with.....entertainment! Went back up the mountain to work on my 100 yard shot, here's today's targets. Maybe not incredibly impressive but I'm fairly pleased being only my second time shooting at 100 yards.



I was using Federal 165 grain "Deer Thugs"

Just for fun, I made this video, "Mr. Milkjug gets .30-06", for a bit of humor I put two little orange target "eyes', and a baseball hat (turned slightly sideways....*snicker*....) on him/it. For those (probably most) who don't wish to endure the 3 min. of "suspense" while I hoof it back 100 yards to my mobile shooting bench, load, aim, and finally shoot, the shot actually occurs at about 3.08 in the video, sorry, I still lack video editing skills. The baseball hat was badly torn up/vaporized from the force of impact, and further "forensic" examination of the remains of the milk jug revealed the shot hit right square between the "eyes", perfect. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srYwYUm8_d4

snake284

This is an excellent hunting rig. It's reasonably accurate, it's a fine gun with no frills and is very dependable and you have some great glass on it for the money. You could spend a lot more money and not have anything more than you have right here. I've had that old Model 70 for right at 47 years and the only time it has let me down is when I didn't do my part. There are several of us on here that have this same basic rifle and I have yet to hear any of us complain.

ken55

That's a darn fine rifle and you got it for an excellent price - you definitely get a "You Suck!" for this deal.

I have it's twin with a Nikon Prostaff 3x9 mounted and with my 180 grain Interlocks it will shoot under MOA every time. I took a nice deer with it last year, the first year I hunted took it out. Those 670s may be plain-jane but they will shoot. Nice score and the groups you posted show you have always been a rifleman!

BigDanS

That second target is about 1.5 inches or less, which puts you almost at MOA with an old rifle and commercial ammunition. That is about as good as it gets.

Congrats on your new rig. Now the guys will have to get you to reload for it.

D

Big Chief

Still, not bad at all. Seems your rifle (and maybe you) prefer the lighter bullet loads. Why bother about the see-through scope mounts right now? From your first pic they work just fine, with a few clicks to move the bullet impact to the right you should be good-to-go.

Not knocking any suggestions to change/upgrade your mounts, but sometimes I believe if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it.

North Forest

Thanks for all the positive comments and suggestions guys. Though I really enjoy pistols (lovin' my .45, and and can hardly wait to get my hands on some S&W revolvers......), I can really see myself pursuing rifles as my main thing. I am trying to learn as much as I can about hand loading from the discussions you guys have, need to study up more and get a book, and I am "plotting" the acquisition of the necessary tools and supplies. I am fascinated by the science of it, and looking forward to eventually getting to that level.

As Big Chief said, the rifle is performing well in my opinion as is, but if it can do better by getting the scope lower I'm all for it. As for bullet weights, I've just been experimenting with whats out there, and actually the rifle seems to do fine with heavier loads as well, I shot some 180 grain loads on my previous range session with similar results.

I'm sure I'll have plenty of "new guy" questions down the road, glad to have your experience to guide me along.

Gene L

That's a good shooting rifle. You're making the right move by losing the see through mounts, which are unstable and like someone said, a bad idea. But for the time they were probably put on your rifle, they were the rage.

shawn1172

North Forest- congrats on a great deal on a sweet shooter. I have to say I'm impressed with your shooting for someone so new to it. And I agree with those who said to switch to lower rings. It will help you align your eye to the scope for more consistent shooting. Mostly though, I just want to say it's great to see a new shooter so happy and enthusiastic. Enjoy!

gunrunner428

Bigslug wrote: »

edit to add: Leave the iron sights on until you know they're physically going to run into the scope. Usually this occurs only when mounting a long scope on low rings, or if the rear sight is located far back on the barrel.

Yep. Cosmetically, if you remove the sights you'll at least have four screw holes in your barrel (that can be filled with plug screws, but still they're there!) Even with a low-slung scope, you won't see the sights through the lenses (I have a 1.5-4.5x20 mounted low on an old .22, and while at the lowest setting (up to about 1.75) the front sight is visible at the bottom of the sight picture, at 2x and above you're looking over the top of them anyway. And for the era of that rifle, sights - even with a scope - just look right.

Also, as a side note, is that a Williams rear sight assembly on there? I have some history with that company, and they are considered excellent upgrades from most factory sights.

bisley

Good shooting! I have a '64 Model 70 in .30-06 that shoots about the same group with 165 grain factory loads. I have a 4.5-14x40 Nikon Buckmaster (I wanted the side focus) mounted with Leupold QRW mounts. If you care (at this point), you can probably cut that group down under MOA, with the right hand loads.

This is a very good hunting rifle and you got a good price on it. You could be hooked, now...it only took a couple of good groups for most of us. :jester: