Goodbye Winchester

V

Vince

Handloader
May 26, 2012
4,448
868
As some of you may know I have a fondness for controlled round feed Model 70's. It looks like they are a thing of the past being that I am a left handed shooter. A friend of mine made some inquiries for me at the SHOT show.

http://miaanstine.com/2014/01/23/left-h ... an-answer/

So unless I go with Ruger or Montana it looks like a CRF is out of the question for me. Hello Sako and Weatherby. I hear you calling my name. I'd like to be happy but I'm not. To me there is no finer off the shelf production rifle aesthetically than the current Winchester Model 70.

If Winchester doesn't want to support me as a left handed shooter I fail to see why I would want to support them.

Vince
 
It must be a marketing thing. I don't know anything about CNC machinery but it seems like producing a l/h gun shouldn't be all that difficult. I feel for ya though...The new 70s are nice rifles.
 
I feel the same way Vince and won't put out some of the excessive money being asked for used Model 70's. If it is a good deal then maybe, I should have bought the 338 WM last year for $499, at the very least I could have flipped it for a small profit :)

In the mean time there are numerous manufacturers that put out accurate and dependable firearms in LH.
 
I think CRF is a good think

That said I want to know how many hunters have gotten killed by using a Sako or a Weatherby? :?: :?: :?:
 
There are a lot of quality PF rifles on the market and there doesn't seem to be a problem with with them.
Even or military uses PF rifles from sniping to full automatic assault rifles. Show me one control feed machine gun. And I don't mean belt feed. You can have a feed problem with any bolt action rifle if the nut behind the bolt doesn't perform his function properly. :lol:
 
I think the bottom line is that objectively, CRF is just another way of doing business but subjectively speaking it's a feature I prefer. It surely isn't inferior in any way I can think of.
 
Most all the manufacturers are charging extra for a LH rifle's and some are limiting them to special orders and limited calibers only where MSRP is a must? Just not rite if ya ask me as I am lucky I guess I am a RH shooter but CRF has never been a must for me but is a great feature on any rifle !
 
Though I haven't shot it yet my M70 is a CRPF made before FN bought Winchester. It does cycle ammo smoothly with brass fire formed in my Rugger. It's funny how the bolt body looks the same as a CRF with out the big claw extractor, looks like they used up the spare parts to build these rifles and left off the big claw and fitted a small claw in the recoil locking lug the grooves to accommodate the big claw are still in the bolt body.
 
South paws really have if rough.
I am really surprised that Winchester doesn't offer a LH model.

The Montana Rifles are pretty nice. I would be looking there if I were left handed.

JD338
 
Fortunately for lefties, there are options. I love my Winchesters, but I didn't hesitate to look elsewhere when I went looking for a rifle for my grandson.
 
Actually lefties have never had it so good when it comes to selection. It is true you can't always get exactly what you want but we do have some excellent options.
 
JD338":3v5dlfjk said:
South paws really have if rough.
I am really surprised that Winchester doesn't offer a LH model.

The Montana Rifles are pretty nice. I would be looking there if I were left handed.

JD338
Click to expand...

Get a Montana 1999. You wont be unhappy. At all. I love mine. After the Nosler Patriot, another 1999 is in the works. Maybe a Whelen
 
Seems odd to me that Browning would abandon 1/8th of the population who are left handers, world-wide when they already had the old left handed tooling which was written off from USRAC. Plus all of their other rifle product lines have a left handed version. This sounds like a marketing decision by Browning or a product line power play by some powerful and vested management stakeholder at Herstal. Things which occur in this fashion are usually not rational.
 
Being a southpaw shooter too, I know your plight. And have dealt with the challenges for the past 25 years. Yes there are options from a limited number of manufacturers, but since only 1% of the left handed population in the world shoots rifles, most accountants will not allow their companies the freedom to spend the money required to retool their factories to make such small runs of the required parts to build the left handed rifles in all of the variations that the right handed market enjoys. Profit margins make the decision for them.
Controlled round feed is a very desirable option that many shooters like and seem to prefer, but as mentioned above, there is no evidence that the push feed action rifle ever caused a hunter to be killed, or that it failed to feed in the fields of Africa (often touted as the harshest field environments), as many of the PH's there can attest to.
For me, I have always seemed to prefer the push feed actions that I have had, and have never found myself "wanting" for a controlled round feed rifle, when carrying a push feed. (don't get me wrong, my 376 Steyr and 416 Taylor are built on left handed Rugers. But more so because I was able to find donor rifles at the time at reasonable prices, than because they were crf) And as smooth as some crf actions can become over time, I also prefer the smoothness of the push feed actions. Sako and Remington being amongst my favourites.
For me, because I seem to prefer odd ball cartridges and rifle options, I have just learned that in order to get what I desire, I am forced to have a custom gun built to my wishes. And to do so, I am limited to scrounging for the desired actions or used rifles to act as donors for my projects. Not cheap, but at least I get what I want, and someone else's idea of what it is that I want. In the case of my 250 AI, I got afabulous deal on a used, but unfired Rem 700 CDL in 243 that I had rebarreled and tefloned. The build cost me just under $1000! Build it once, build it right, enjoy it for a lifetime!
 
As much as I like the 25/06 I'm thinking of getting a Weatherby .257 Weatherby Magnum to extend the range a bit. Luckily they make a lightweight left handed version with a synthetic stock and a 26" barrel which is the length I prefer. Another rifle I'm strongly considering is the Tikka Lite Stainless in .270 WSM. Both the Weatherby and the Tikka are available in left handed versions and while I may like the Sako I'm thinking a synthetic stock and stainless may be more agreeable to some of the conditions I find myself in.
Between the .338 I currently have and a second, yet to be determined rifle, I will have a good two gun battery for anything I may desire to hunt in North America.
 
Well I stumbled in to a second rifle and put it on layaway.

Walked in to my local gunshop to pick up a pound of IMR 4831 and found a left handed, laminate stock, stainless steel Ruger in 30-06. A little massaging by a Gunsmith and I'll see if it shoots. If not I'll rebarrel it in 25-06.

It's used but doesn't appear shot out. Comes with the Ruger rings and I really like the grey laminate stock on this rifle. I wasn't liking what Ruger was offering for lefties this year as this is what I wanted if I went with a Ruger but I wasn't thinking to buy a Used one. I just tripped over this one and liked the price and condition of the rifle.

So I either have a 30-06 or a potential 25-06. Things are looking better everyday. This was my present to myself for not having a heart attack. :grin: If I have to rebarrel it I'm strongly considering going 25-06 AI but I don't know yet. I may also decide to make it a .270 Win. How it shoots and what I'm thinking I may need later will be the determining factor.

Vince
 
Sounds like a good buy, I had a 30-06 just like it and it shot well, the laminate stock certainly is quite handsome. Sold it to help fund our wedding 3 years ago. The 3 Ruger guns I have had were all accurate and would feed ammo very well, while they are a bit heavy Ruger rings are some of the best IMO. Congrats.
 
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