Dear Guys,
I know what I am about to say is total blasphamy. But before you scorch me with vicious replies, rest assured that I am a big Model 70 fan.
A few posts ago, folks were discussing the news that FN, at its South Carolina plant, is going to start making the Model 70 classic again (or some variant of it). Of course, everyone was cheering and hoping they would start cranking them out.
My question is: Why? Why in the world does anybody think that we need more Model 70s, classic or otherwise, cranked out of any factories? I've been going to four or five gunshows a year, for 35 years, and to be totally candid, I believe that there are now probably 3 or 4 used Model 70s for sale, in very good to excellent condition, in any make or configuraton, for every person in America who may conceivably have a serious interest in buying one. Most of these rifles have probably had 4 boxes of shells or less fired through them. And, unless you are talking about a rare caliber pre-64, they would all cost less than any new Model 70 cranked out by FN.
The Model 70s are ubiquitous. They are everywhere. They are anywhere. There are quite literally MILLIONS of them out there. We don't need "brand new" ones cranked out.
Regards, Mannyrock