Let me respond to a few points and questions that have been posted without being crass or obtuse.
Regarding the blown up photo above: That really is a short action Remington. Key indicators are: No external claw extractor and the Remington safety. The Winchester used in VN was a standard length, had an external claw extractor and the safety was mounted on the striker housing and not on the trigger assembly frame. I'll post a photo below.
To back stop my observation:
As noted above, The Winchester short action did not appear until the "push feed" style of actions. I believe that they did not appear until the G series of serial numbers, about 1968 if my memory serves me, but it could have been 1964 and the pre G serial numbers, although I've not seen one in that range. Again, these original short actions were push feeds without the rotating external claw extractor. I do not think that any of these post 63 push feed Winchesters were ever used by the USMC or the Army.
The Pre 64 Winchester (the type used by the USMC) had only one action length and bolt throw was controlled by an extension or lack of one on the extractor collar. It ran along the length of the left side raceway and controlled bolt through by limiting the return distance of the bolt throw. Magazine length was specific to either short (308, etc.), medium (30/06 or 270) and long (300 and 375 H&H Magnums). The magnums also had a modified bridge in order to shoehorn in the longer magnum length cartridges and magazines, but the receiver length remained the same as all other Pre 64 Model 70s. It is noticeably longer than the action in the photo.
Remington on the other hand, came out with a short action (after the Model 30 was discontinued) with the Model 722 in the late 40s. The short action 722 design evolved into the short action Model 700, 40X and eventually the military Model 40 rifles.
Just for fun: Regarding the old long Unertles: They are an absolute treat to use on the range or the prairie dog fields. As noted though, they are fragile and care must be taken at all times with them. Another issue with them in the tropics (or Camp Perry in the summer) is that they are not sealed against the weather.
There was a synthetic material carrying case issued with them for transport when they were not actually on a rifle. One can make a similar carrying case for them out of PVC pipe with threaded caps.
I currently use three Unertle scopes on my varmint and match rifles as well as the Redfield version, the Model 3200.
This is a transitional safety from a Winchester match rifle made in 1947. Later Model 70 safeties had an extension dropping vertically down to improve the thumb's purchase. Either way, it is noticeably different from the Remington 700/40X/M40 safety.
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Keep your powder dry.
Last edited by Scharfschuetzer; 08-03-2020 at 07:44 PM.
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