A friend of mine answered an ad in "The American Rifleman" in 1946 or 47, it seems a Col. Wheelan had a pre-was Model 70 Winchester Target action for sale. My friend bought it for $70 and sent it to the Winchester Custom shop with instructions to build him a target match rifle. It also is in 30-06 with a 28" barrel that is a bit heavier than yours, While at he ask that the stock have a "Bit of figure to it, if possible" Not quite as nice as yours, but outstanding compared to the normal stocks back then!

Using Sierra's 180 grain GameKing bullets he won the 1952 or 53 Wimbledon Cup. He and his rifle are discussed in Sierra's 3rd edition loading manual. He didn't set a new record, but it got his name on the record books!

Ivan

PS Have you compared the stock to work by Sedgley? They were known to do some work on 03's in that time frame!

ITB