It’s been a bit of a slow week for gun news and whatnot so I felt like talking about the Model 70 again for a bit. Some pictures shared by the scout sniper association and others came up on facebook this week. I thought they are worth sharing.
The SSA is raffling off this pre war model 70 as a “Vietnam sniper rifle.” This is not a very accurate claim. The rifle above was made during the time period that the model 70s the USMC used during Vietnam were made. That’s about it. The optic is also not a Unertl. That is the current Leatherwood reproduction of the 8x Unertl. Stock is the marksman target stock. A very nice Winchester match rifle but not a “sniper” used in the war. The last time I ran across a real USMC Model 70 sniper rifle with USMC contract Unertl, it was in 2005 and it was being sold for 16,000 dollars.
Above is two more that is claimed to be real USMC sniper rifles. Maybe the guns are, but I seriously doubt the scopes are real contract models. Below is a real example.
Finally, is this amazing collection from a fellow in the pre 64 collectors group.
Excellent examples of the National Match the Target and the Bull Gun. All with 2 inch Unertl Ultra Varmint optics.
Scattered Shots 
The Model 70, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of Model 70’s in the morning. You know, one time we were on the rifle range for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked along the firing line. The smell, you know that Hoppe’s smell? The whole rifle range was like that. Smelled like… marksmanship.
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lol excellent
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The more bolt guns I’m around, the more I appreciate the Model 70’s elegance coupled with reliable function. It is rare in the gun world you get both an elegant gun that is reliable and durable. The Model 70 stands out in this aspect.
Today, it seems as though firearms manufactures are in a contest to see who can make the ugliest bolt action rifle in modern production. Any day, I expect to see one of them introduce a rifle that boasts it is as “durable as an Arisaka Type 38!” – and looks like it, too.
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