About once per day, someone contacts us because the bolt for their rifle is missing. We've heard every possible reason, ranging from "I lost it during a move", to the painfully humorous "It was claimed by my ex-wife during divorce proceedings". Regardless of the reason, if your rifle is missing a bolt, we can help get your rifle back up and running again.
This listing is for a complete model 70 bolt. It is fully assembled and ready to install*. All parts are factory original Winchester parts graded in NRA very good condition, or better.
To get the correct** bolt for your rifle, you will need to determine two things:
- The correct bolt STYLE, based on the year of your rifle
- The correct bolt GROUP, based on the caliber of your rifle
There are five major bolt STYLES for the model 70, depending on production year and predominantly determines the shape of the bolt handle and safety.
- Style-1 - 1936-1944 - serial # 1 - 60500
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Style-2 - 1946-1948 - serial # 60501 - 87700
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Style-3 - 1948-1952 - serial # 87701 - 225000
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Style-4 - 1952-1959 - serial # 225001 - 450500
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Style-5 - 1959-1963 - serial # 450501 - 581470
There are also five major cartridge GROUPS for the model 70 bolt, depending on the caliber of the rifle.
- Group-1 - .22 Hornet
- Group-2 - .250-3000 Sav & .35 Rem
- Groups-3/4 - .220 Swift, .300 Sav .243 Win, .308 Win, .257 Roberts
- Group-5 - .270 Win, .30-06 Sprg, 7 M/M
- Groups-6/7 - All magnum calibers
To select the right bolt for your rifle, you must determine both the STYLE of bolt and the cartridge GROUP that is correct for your rifle. For example, a .220 Swift rifle with serial number 262371 will need a "STYLE 4, GROUP 3/4" bolt.
*CAUTION - Replacing a rifle bolt may result in incorrect headspacing between the bolt and the chamber. Incorrect headspacing may make your rifle unsafe to fire. Verifying proper headspacing after replacing your bolt is a simple procedure which any gunsmith can perform in less than 60 seconds. For your own safety, please have a qualified gunsmith verify your replacement bolt has proper headspacing before firing your rifle.
**A note about the bolt you will receive - There are endless variations of the model 70 bolt involving numerous minor changes to various parts, which were incorporated at seemingly random points of production. In his book, Rule broke the model 70 bolt down into 3 major "types", which were further broken down into seven subtypes. Even within this system, there were differences of incorporation point for parts depending on magnum and non-magnum chamberings. In addition, Winchester was seldom decisive when it incorporated a change, often creating a mix of new and old features over many hundreds or thousands of rifles. For these reasons, it would be impossible to create an online listing which offered every possible configuration of bolt and narrow it down to a specific serial number range. The "STYLE" and "GROUP" method used here is a simplified way to define a bolt that will be functionally correct for your rifle and which will also have a the correct appearance. In some cases, the bolt you receive may have minor internal and/or cosmetic differences from your original bolt. These differences (if any) will be very minor and often internal to the bolt - things such as the style of the firing spring spring retainer. The differences are things a student of the model 70 might notice, but which absolutely will not affect the fit or function of your bolt. If you have concerns about the exact parts used in the bolt you will receive, please contact us and we will work with you to make sure every detail is just the way you want it.
