When it comes to firearms, rare is usually as hard to define as it is to believe. More often than not, rare is just marketing-speak for something nearly as common as bad judgement. Occasionally, the word simply states the truth.
Having spent its entire life in the collection of a retired Winchester employee, this Custom Shop Model 70 Stainless Featherweight .270 Winchester is one of two prototypes made with a detachable box magazine. Serial number G2025647 is supported by solid documentation and is certainly among the most unique and desirable Model 70 rifles ever presented to the market. Special features include a stock fashioned from high-grade walnut, single crossbolt, hand-honed action and hand-lapped barrel, jeweled bolt body, Custom Shop proof marking, and a “stainless-colored one-piece trigger guard.”
All dimensions appear to be standard. Unfired since proof, it remains in virtually new condition with only slight indications of handling and storage. Equally important, with an included letter dated February 1993 and signed by Don Pind, then manager of the Custom Shop, Winchester confirms both the rifle’s unique features and its rarity.
Offered with two original detachable magazines and a factory cardboard box with hand-written model description, the rifle is available through Sportsman’s Legacy for $15,000. More information is available through sportsmanslegacy.com or by calling (406) 212-0344.
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