Winchester Model 70 Super Grade Review

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By Jason Vincent

The world is full of ugly rifles…and so is my gun safe.

The truth is, I like them. I appreciate the durability of synthetics, I value a weather resistant stainless barrel and, in the field, the practicality in the shape of a more tactical stock opens up more shooting positions.

But these are not my favorite rifles.

My favorites all have classic lines, wood stocks, and blued barrels. I’m willing to forgive them a little if they’re not surgically accurate.

The Winchester Model 70 has always been my favorite sporting rifle and I’ve been chasing deals on the pre-1964 versions for a long time now. These guns were designed right, built right, and they almost always offered surprising accuracy.

And then Winchester bastardized them in 1964 to cut costs and compete with Remington’s cheaper and less refined push-feed Model 700 -which they were having huge success with.

Model 70 purists – guys like my grandad – vomited as they lost their reliable control round feed actions and watched Winchester’s overall quality take a nose-dive. But the side effects only lasted a short 28 years before Winchester listened to their customers and in 1992, the company started producing control round feed actions again.

Today, the Winchester Model 70 may be the best rifle the company has ever made. They beat the pants off anything Remington has ever produced, and they’ve turned many of us into believers in their rifles again.

I own several of these newer guns.

Before our last trip to Africa, I sent my current catalog model .30-06 M70 Supergrade off to a company that manufactures and installs iron sights. I like hunting with irons when I can get away with it and the lack of them on most of the new M70’s bothers me.

See also  .30-06 Springfield vs .45-70 Government Ammo Comparison - Ballistics Info & Chart Caliber Ballistics Comparison 07 Dec, 2018 Posted By: Foundry Outdoors The following ammunition cartridge ballistics information and chart can be used to approximately compare .30-06 Springfield vs .45-70 Government ammo rounds. Please note, the following information reflects the estimated average ballistics for each caliber and does not pertain to a particular manufacturer, bullet weight, or jacketing type. As such, the following is for comparative information purposes only and should not be used to make precise predictions of the trajectory, performance, or true ballistics of any particular .30-06 Springfield or .45-70 Government rounds for hunting, target shooting, plinking, or any other usage. The decision for which round is better for a given application should be made with complete information, and this article simply serves as a comparative guide, not the final say. For more detailed ballistics information please refer to the exact round in question or contact the manufacturer for the pertinent information. True .30-06 Springfield and .45-70 Government ballistics information can vary widely from the displayed information, and it is important to understand that the particular characteristics of a given round can make a substantive difference in its true performance. Caliber Type Velocity (fps) Energy (ft-lb) .30-06 Springfield Rifle 2820 2920 .45-70 Government Rifle 1680 2270 [Click Here to Shop .30-06 Springfield Ammo] [Click Here to Shop .45-70 Government Ammo] VelocityAs illustrated in the chart, .30-06 Springfield rounds - on average - achieve a velocity of about 2820 feet per second (fps) while .45-70 Government rounds travel at a velocity of 1680 fps. To put this into perspective, a Boeing 737 commercial airliner travels at a cruising speed of 600 mph, or 880 fps. That is to say, .30-06 Springfield bullets travel 3.2 times the speed of a 737 airplane at cruising speed, while .45-70 Government bullets travel 1.9 times that same speed.Various calibersEnergyFurthermore, the muzzle energy of a .30-06 Springfield round averages out to 2920 ft-lb, while a .45-70 Government round averages out to about 2270 ft-lb. One way to think about this is as such: a foot-pound is a unit of energy equal to the amount of energy required to raise a weight of one pound a distance of one foot. So a .30-06 Springfield round exits the barrel with kinetic energy equal to the energy required for linear vertical displacement of 2920 pounds through a one foot distance, while a .45-70 Government round exiting the barrel has energy equal to the amount required to displace 2270 pounds over the same one foot distance. As a rule of thumb, when it comes to hunting, muzzle energy is what many hunters look at when deciding on what caliber of firearm / ammunition to select. Generally speaking, the higher the muzzle energy, the higher the stopping power. Again, the above is for comparative information purposes only, and you should consult the exact ballistics for the particular .30-06 Springfield or .45-70 Government cartridge you're looking at purchasing. [Buy .30-06 Springfield Ammo] [Buy .45-70 Government Ammo] Please click the above links to take a look at all of the .30-06 Springfield and .45-70 Government ammo we have in stock and ready to ship, and let us know any parting thoughts in the comment section below.Foundry Outdoors is your trusted home for buying archery, camping, fishing, hunting, shooting sports, and outdoor gear online.We offer cheap ammo and bulk ammo deals on the most popular ammo calibers. We have a variety of deals on Rifle Ammo, Handgun Ammo, Shotgun Ammo & Rimfire Ammo, as well as ammo for target practice, plinking, hunting, or shooting competitions. Our website lists special deals on 9mm Ammo, 10mm Ammo, 45-70 Ammo, 6.5 Creedmoor ammo, 300 Blackout Ammo, 10mm Ammo, 5.56 Ammo, Underwood Ammo, Buffalo Bore Ammo and more special deals on bulk ammo.We offer a 100% Authenticity Guarantee on all products sold on our website. Please email us if you have questions about any of our product listings. 3 Comments Donald Beedle - Apr 21, 2020Thank you very much for this data and for your concise and appropriate use of this general comparative data. Great job explains it and warning on how to use this info. It is exactly what I was looking for. I just had a curiosity and was looking for a quick but trustworthy comparison so I would have to look up the info for myself.Thank you again, great job.God protect, heal and bless you and your family. Michael Taranto - Aug 20, 2021Both are good choices, but depends on what you want to hunt and at what distance. If you own a new manufactured rifle in 45/70 and want to load your own you can get much higher energy than a 30-06. 45/70 is better for short distance in brush with a heavy bullet. Jimmy from Canada - Oct 19, 2021.30-06 Springfield, 170 grain at 2850 fps = 20.8 Taylor Knock-Out Factor (TKOF)500 grain X (1,628 FPS in 22" barrel)) X .45" cal. or .452" = 367,928 /7000 =TKOF of 52.56 .45-70 Buffalo Bore’s 430-grain hard-cast bullet, at roughly 2000 fps and 3,600 ft.-lbs. from the muzzle.(look up how TKOF is calculated).45-70 IS much MORE POTENT than 30.06 in close ranges. (see also trajectory and engery loss in balistics for correct comparison because 30.06 runs longer distances and shoots flatter than rainbow .45-70 hard hitter.A hotgun slug has 70 to 80 TKOF!!!! BUT loses half its energy at 100 yards to get an idea when comparing rounds. Leave a commentComments have to be approved before showing up Your Name * Your Email * Your Comment * Post Comment

When I got back the rifle back, the crew that did the work clearly beat my Supergrade up in the shop. There were scratches in the bluing and even a small gouge on the barrel. Mind you, these rifles are designed to be head turners, so I wasn’t thrilled with the way they treated it, but I don’t own safe queens and I knew I’d be putting new scars on it soon.

I’d shot this beauty before having the sights installed and knew it to be an accurate rig, but while it was off being thrown around the sight installer’s workshop, Unknown Munitions sent me some 180gr Barnes loads for our safari. When the rifle came back, I mounted a Leupold VX-3HD 2.5-8×36 in Talley quick-release rings and hit the range.

I’d never tried 180’s in this gun and with a max power of 8x in the optic I had to look through my spotting scope to see my first 3-shot group.

I knew at first glance that the cluster had to be ½” or less. I let things cool for a few minutes then shot again. Slightly larger group but still less than the ¾” mark. I zeroed the scope and dead centered the bullseye. I fired one more round to confirm zero and then packed everything up.

I went back to the office and used the velocity info from the doppler I set up on the shooting bench to update my Sig Kilo 2400ABS rangefinder with the data that would allow me to stretch the Supergrade out in the field. Since first using this system a few years ago, I haven’t taken a trip without it.

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Fast forward to the shooting range in safari camp. We all uncased our rigs to check zero before hunting. I center-punched the target with two rounds and put the rifle away. Almost everyone commented on how good looking the rifle was and I think I was the only hunter in camp that didn’t need to make scope adjustments on the bench.

Over the next two weeks, the Winchester took a beating in the Landcruiser between the shots that downed game from 60 yards to 332 yards. The last round I fired was on a smaller animal at 470 yards. The blesbok died with a single round to the heart while my buddies drank beer and watched.

Several people have tried to buy this rifle from me since.

It will never be sold.

Summary:

The current Winchester M70’s are rifles to own. People bitch about the newest models being made in Europe these days, but I don’t want to hear about it. My Portuguese models are as good or better than anything Winchester has ever put their name on. If I have one gripe, it’s the lack of iron sights on all but the Safari Express models. Winchester really should make a series of the rifle in .270 and .30-06 to mimic the classic pre-64 design. They’d sell the hell out of them.

Pros:

Beautiful. Accurate. Control round feed for ultimate reliability.

Cons:

They need iron sights for us purists.

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Ethan Smith
Ethan Smith is a seasoned marine veteran, professional blogger, witty and edgy writer, and an avid hunter. He spent a great deal of his childhood years around the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona. Watching active hunters practise their craft initiated him into the world of hunting and rubrics of outdoor life. He also honed his writing skills by sharing his outdoor experiences with fellow schoolmates through their high school’s magazine. Further along the way, the US Marine Corps got wind of his excellent combination of skills and sought to put them into good use by employing him as a combat correspondent. He now shares his income from this prestigious job with his wife and one kid. Read more >>