The Winchester Model 70 is a bolt-action sporting rifle. It has an iconic place in American sporting culture and has been held in high regard by shooters since it was introduced in 1936, earning the moniker "The Rifleman's Rifle".[1] The action has some design similarities to Mauser designs and it is a development of the earlier Winchester Model 54, itself being based on a Mauser 98–type action.[2]
The Model 70[3] was originally manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company between 1936 and 1980. From the early 1980s until 2006, Winchester rifles were manufactured by U.S. Repeating Arms under an agreement with Olin Corporation, allowing USRA to use the Winchester name and logo.[4] Model 70s were built in New Haven, Connecticut, from 1936 to 2006, when production ceased. In the fall of 2007, the Belgian company FN Herstal announced that Model 70 production would resume. As of 2012, new Winchester Model 70 rifles were being made by FN Herstal in Columbia, South Carolina. In 2013, assembly was moved to Portugal.
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- ^ Bolt Action Rifles by Frank de Haas, DBI Books, Northfield, IL, 1971, p. 239. ISBN 0-695-80220-8.
- ^ Bolt Action Rifles, De Haas and Zwoll, p. 576
- ^ "Winchester Model 70: What's it worth?". ArmsList. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
- ^ Hawks, Chuck. "The Rifleman's Rifle: Winchester's Model 70", Chuck Hawks' Web site. Accessed June 11, 2008.