While collector value is absolutely a factor, I love to see these old guns altered enough to have no collector value so people will actually take them out to the field and enjoy the fine machines that they are. All of my pre-64's are hunting guns and I don't care about collector value at all......including my 300 Magnum and 257 Roberts. ------SS
Collector value and interest has softened for Pre-64 model 70's for two main reasons:
Reason 1-
Pre-64's didn't become sought after due to rarity like many collectable guns it was because post-64 model 70's were seen as inferior to the pre-1964 Winchesters. Winchester made cost cutting efforts to stay competitive in the market (the Remington 700 was it's main competition at the time and could be manufactured cheaper and easier) changes included eliminating the mauser style claw extractor for a two piece push-feed bolt, cheaper bottom metal and other changes in barrel and receiver manufacturing methods.
Newer model 70 Winchesters "Classic model 70's" went back to the Pre'64 style extractor in the early '90's and manufacturing quality also went up. The introduction of these new model 70's coincided with the peak of Pre-64 model 70 prices. Now for the first time you could buy a similar rifle new in the box and a lot of people started going this route instead of chasing old Winchesters at gun shows(pre-internet made it harder to find a particular rifle). There were still the cheaper push feed model 70's being made at the time for price conscious buyers these were mostly the "shadow" model 70 Walmart specials.
and Reason 2-
Besides the fact that the pre-64 model 70 was now competing against itself with the newer "classic" model 70, the generation of shooters and hunters that propped up the pre-64 by paying a premium are now aging and no longer buying rifles but rather selling them or giving them to younger family members. Todays firearm buyers are not as interested in older firearms but rather newer models and custom built rifles. Like anything else in a free-market when there is less competition for a product the price has to drop for it to sell.
Pre-64 collectors are a small niche of today's buyers and for a pre-64 model 70 to have any value as a "collector" it must be complete and all original and that includes the original finish and stock. These guns still bring high prices to collectors especially rare models like a pre-64 .300 win mag that came out in 1963 so it was only produced that year. Otherwise an altered Pre-64's value is as a higher quality shooters rifle. If you know where to look you can buy non-original pre-64 shooter grade rifles in the $800-$900 range. That doesn't mean people aren't pricing them according to what they were bringing several decades ago but if they do sell at that asking price it is usually by an uninformed buyer who heard that "pre-64's" are valuable so they better buy it.
In 2006 Winchester closed its doors and stopped production in New Haven claiming that Union labor costs made it once again impossible to compete in the market. There was a big run on Model 70's at the time and people bought as many as they could find thinking they would be a great investment. As a retailer I bought all I could find from distributors and they sold as soon as they came in. That buying spree lasted a couple years until word got out that model 70's were being made again and found to be even better quality than the New Haven Winchesters.
The truth is, as nice as the Pre-64 actions are there has never been a better built Model 70 since FN took over production in 2007.
For the record I am a lover of Winchester rifles. They are my first choice. My first job selling firearms started in 1990 in a store that specializes in Pre-64 Winchesters and other older collectable guns(Collector's Supply in St. George, owned by Hondo Rondo). My first centerfire rifle was a push-feed model 70 Winchester Westerner in 30-06 I bought as a kid. I paid $325 in 1987 and that included a hard case and 3-9 Bushnell sportview scope
. I still have that rifle but it has been rebarreled to a 30-06 Ackley, it has the original stock which still bares the dings and scratches from the time it went sailing out the window of my new ford Ranger in 1990. I rolled the truck end over end out by Motoqua trying to get a couple hours of deer hunting in after work. It still had a tiny piece of gravel imbedded into the stock until it worked it's way out a couple years ago. This rifle had no collector value at any time in it's life but it has value to my kids because that beat up stock and scratched receiver reminds them of stories that I have told them.