Found this baby at. in small town gunshop- consigned and owner asking $2500. SN 44xxx- pre-war safety conversion by Williams, clover leaf shape tang, 25" barrel with a unknown mfg. flash suppressor-recoil device-- same od on this gizmo as on the heavy walled barrel, front sight rampy forged with barrel-NOT silver soldered in place- Has a G&H d etachable side mount, receiver was D&T for the 3 location machine screws- rear receiver rng intact- NOT drilled and tapped, 2 lever style lock-release on the G&H mount. Leupold 3X9 VX-111== 50mm optic lense, dull black finish and in Leupold rings, rear sight is a Williams, not original-- blade removed to allow scope bell to clear-original solid red pad wood and metal 90% plus, bore and chamber are mint-- owner is asking $2500- plus 6% tax to dealer doing the consignment-- but dealer tells me he has a large (?) amount of ammo for this M70- amount and make of that is unknown to me as of right now, but would make a good investment (the ammo)-- before I start shelling out some serious Benjamins, ??? for the big bore cognoscenti that travel this website.
In my 1954 ed. of the Stoeger catalog, this std. grade M70 retailed for $120.00 The G&H side mount retailed for aprox. $30.00- $45.00 if installed by G&H in NYC. probably no way to know if this M70 had the side mount by G&H or another gunsmith- machine screw heads are "un-boogered" as are all the other visible screw heads on this M70.. Ernest Hemingway's G&H custom 1903 converted Sporter in std. 30-06 also had that mounting system for the 1930's era German Zeiss Zeikolon scope, which Don Ernesto promptly dismounted, but left he scope mount on the rifle sans scope
If by chance I should end up with this M70 for my collection (pre-War 11 are my "favorites") I doubt if I will ever use it for MI hunting, possibly on feral pigs, but a bit of "overkill" on Mich whitetailed deer-- elk, possibly on elk. The gunshop owner told me that the consignor said he killed a leopard in Africa with this "Steinway" rifle-- he, no doubt, like yours truly, believes 100% in the mantra espoused by the late Robert Chester Ruark: "Use Enough Gun"-- Amen..RWTF
