A friend has a model 70(made in '61) in 264 mag that has no provision for a front sight-the barrel is the correct length(26"). It also has no dovetail cut for a rear sight. His father bought the gun new in '62, I have never seen a smooth barrel standard grade pre 64 model 70 , nor do any of my references mention one. I suppose you could special order anything from Winchester then-but my friend says his father was strictly an "off the shelf" man. He wants to sell ,and it's about a 98% gun, but I'm at a bit of a loss to tell him what it's worth. Have any of you seen a configuration like this?