Winchester Ranger

[Saltydog235]

Got a line on a Winchester Ranger LA in .270. From very little looking this appears to be a Model 70 action in budget trim and parts. Is this true? Would it be suitable to do a build off of or would parts be hard to come by. IE, will normal 70 parts work.

 

[joed]

I'm not an expert but I believe the rifle just has a cheaper stock on it. It was introduced as a low budget entry so they cut corners on production to hold cost down.

 

[Doyle]

That's exactly what it is - a Model 70 set in a birch stock with a plain barrel. I had one also in .270 - it shot 130gr bullets OK (about 1 1/2 MOA). However, it scattered 150gr bullets like a shotgun pattern.

 

[T. O'Heir]

Yep. Winchester along with nearly everybody else used 'Ranger' as a model name. As mentioned, the M70 Ranger is just that. An M70 with a less expensive stock wood. No issues with parts.

 

[jmr40]

Parts shouldn't be hard to get,but remember this is a push feed action that hasn't been made in nearly 10 years. They have been in limited production since the early 1990's when Winchester went back to the controlled round feed actions. Most of the parts used on current production guns are not going to work. It was the same as a model 70 made from 1964-2006, not the same model 70 made since 1992. Between 1992 and 2006 they made both styles.

Some Rangers used a floor plate, others used a blind magazine. Finding aftermarket stocks for the blind magazine versions is tough and it would add to the expenses to buy the parts to convert. But is certainly possible.

Even with a floor plate the rifles made prior to 2008 use different bottom metal and there are few options for aftermarket stocks that would bolt on. It is possible to buy the new bottom metal or use an adapter and make the new stocks fit the older rifles.

If you plan on going all out with a really nice rifle with little concern for cost you can do it. If you're looking for a budget build you will probably be better off keeping the stock.

 

[Saltydog235]

Thanks, that is sort of what I am looking for in information. I was mainly interested in seeing if I could do the build off this older action since I can get it so cheap. I'm probably going to continue to search for a 700 action on the cheap to build off of.

Then again, I have a lot of rifles I can shoot right now. I'm really interested in building a 7mm RM with a 26" Hart, Krieger, Bartlein tube, Jewel/Timney trigger on a McMillan stock, AICS DBM, and all the bells and whistles. Just hard to get my mind wrapped around $1,100-$1,300 for a Surgeon/Stiller/Defiant/Bighorn action, which is what I really want.

Yep, it's comparing apples to oranges but I'm so frugal if I ate coal, I'd poop diamonds.

 

[Doyle]

The problem with building a 7mmRM off of a .270 action is that you are going to need to change the bolt face. Not a huge deal, but if you could find a cheap 7mmRM action to start with you'd be further along.

 

[Saltydog235]

Yep, there's that too. All the 7mmRMs I'm finding are way overpriced for what they are. I just got the bug for another gun. Heck, I have my dads Super Grade that's hardly been shot. I just hate taking those "pretty" guns in our terrain. Might just have to get over it. It's the same with the No.1.

 

[Doyle]

Well, if you really want to turn an old Model 70 into a serious deer killer, rebarrel it to .280. It is only a couple hundred FPS slower than a 7mmRM unless you put that 7mmRM through a really long barrel (26+" or so). The upside it that it is much more pleasant to shoot. If you reload, it uses much less powder too. If the .280 had been invented before the .270Win, the .270 would have been an absolute commercial flop.

 

[Cowboy_mo]

Stocks for Model 70 Ranger

Hogue makes (or did as of 2 years ago) makes a pillar bedded and full aluminum block bedded stock for that model. I purchased mine 2 years and it was a pure "drop in" change over. Mine has the floor plate.

 

[Saltydog235]

I normally shoot my 7mm08, where I have it at, there isn't much difference between it and a .280. Besides, I have a ABolt Medallion in .280 that I never shoot, have it for sale actually. I also have a number of 30'06's if I want something on that basis. I choose the 7mmRM as a step up from the 7mm08 because there's some benefits, I don't find the recoil to be very much at all.

Not a Hogue stock fan at all.

 

[5thShock]

" Would it be suitable to do a build off..."

Once you get to considering changing a 270 to a 280 you are up in the stratosphere of rifle loonyism, fine if that's really where you want to be.

 

[Saltydog235]

Were I looking for a .270, I'd just buy a .280 simply from the reloading standpoint since I predominantly shoot either a 7mm08 or 7mmRM now. I'm not looking for either. While both are fine cartridges, neither really floats my boat. The basis of the 7mmRM thought is to extend my range on the powerline ROW and beanfields we have over the 7mm08.

After doing the research and some due diligence I'm going to wait for now. I'll get a better scope for the Super Grade I have and put the Leupold VXIII on a different gun.

Leica is slated to introduce the 5 series in the spring, I'll be looking at them to top it off. Others in consideration will be the Meopta R2, Swaro Z5, another Trijicon as well as a few other Mid-Upper lines.

This wouldn't be my primary hunting iron, that duty falls on my 7mm08 since I have it set up exactly the way I want.

 

[FiveInADime]

Were I looking for a .270, I'd just buy a .280 simply from the reloading standpoint since I predominantly shoot either a 7mm08 or 7mmRM now. I'm not looking for either. While both are fine cartridges, neither really floats my boat. The basis of the 7mmRM thought is to extend my range on the powerline ROW and beanfields we have over the 7mm08.

After doing the research and some due diligence I'm going to wait for now. I'll get a better scope for the Super Grade I have and put the Leupold VXIII on a different gun.

Leica is slated to introduce the 5 series in the spring, I'll be looking at them to top it off. Others in consideration will be the Meopta R2, Swaro Z5, another Trijicon as well as a few other Mid-Upper lines.

This wouldn't be my primary hunting iron, that duty falls on my 7mm08 since I have it set up exactly the way I want.

Ugh.... I wouldn't pass on a cheap 70 Ranger. I don't know how much it would cost to get yourself a Magnum size bolt but I think you should buy that Ranger anyway. BTW, the one-piece/two piece bottom metal issue is easily fixed so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

I have a "Ranger Youth" in .243. It has excellent gloss bluing, a slicker-than-snot jeweled bolt and an excellent 3lb trigger. It was my first deer rifle and it's my son's future first deer rifle.

The only thing cheapened about my .243 was the birch stock. It looks real good to me anyway. It's got those faint tiger stripes that birch gets when it's finished.