Winchester Model 70 Alaskan Rifle: Wonderful Design, Contemporary Legend

Channel your inner adventurer with this .375 H&H rifle.

March 20, 2025 By Logan Metesh

In its pre-’64 glory days, the Winchester Model 70 was regarded as the “rifleman’s rifle,” and that’s a title that’s hard to dispute. A Model 70 chambered in .375 H&H was (and often still is) the choice for many hunters on the Dark Continent. When it comes to dangerous game, that’s often the smallest legal cartridge, and there’s certainly no plains game that it cannot take down.

Winchester introduced a wide variety of different variants to the Model 70 such as the standard, featherweight, Alaskan, and African, all in an assortment of calibers that were best suited to the rifle’s specific configuration. The Alaskan was originally introduced in 1960 in .375 H&H and only had a short run as the “rifleman’s rifle” before manufacturing changes occurred in 1964.

Modern Stylings

close up of rifle stock checkering — (Photo courtesy of Logan Metesh)

Today, Winchester offers two versions of the Model 70 in .375 H&H, one known as the Safari Express and the other known as the Alaskan. The latter is what I chose when looking for a hunting rifle in the iconic 113-year-old cartridge. Sporting a 25” barrel with a brushed polish blue finish and a sporter profile, it makes the Alaskan a half-pound lighter than the Safari Express with its safari profile barrel. Winchester says the Alaskan weighs 8.5 pounds, but according to my scale at home, it comes in at 7.5 pounds.

At any rate, whether you’re lugging the gun and all your gear through Alaska’s frigid backcountry or you’re trying to move nimbly through the African brush under the sun’s punishing rays, the weight difference becomes noticeable in a way that wouldn’t on the range.

Fit and finish on the Model 70 has been the topic of so much discussion since 1964. Since I own a Model 70 from 1951, I can do an honest comparison between the two types of manufacturing. The bluing on the metal surfaces (save the bolt) is a rich, deep color that looks almost black. In that regard, it is much the same as my vintage rifle. The bolt, which uses controlled round feed, is beautifully jeweled and offers a nice contrast to the blued steel and black walnut stock.

Modern production guns often get picked on when it comes to their wooden stocks. This one is actually really nice. Obviously, it’s not highly-figured custom gun quality, but both the color and grain are pleasing to the eye. The checkering on the forend and the grip are cut to 20 LPI, which gives a great purchase for both hands while not being overly aggressive or painful to hold. Machine-cut checkering will never have the warmth and soul of hand checkering, but the perfection that comes with the precision of machine work is very well executed here.

Ammo Selection

boxes of ammo on tailgate — (Photo courtesy of Logan Metesh)

Despite its age, the .375 H&H enjoys a robust offering of factory loads from which hunters can choose. During this process I acquired a wide variety to see how the gun would handle each one.

These factory offerings included Federal 300 Grain soft point Power Shok, Federal 300 Grain Woodleigh Hydro Solid, Federal 300 Grain Swift A-Frame, Hornady 250 Grain CX, Hornady 300 Grain DGX Bonded, Nosler 260 Grain Accubond, Nosler 300 Grain Accubond, and the 270 Grain Barnes TSX offered by Doubletap Ammo.

On The Range

close up of rear sight — (Photo courtesy of Logan Metesh)

Before loading the box magazine, I spent a bit of time shouldering the gun, working the action, acquiring the sights, etc. The adjustable flip-up rear sight has a white diamond in the center and it’s hard to miss when looking down the gun. Combined with a hooded brass bead front sight, it’s impossible not to easily pick up a solid sight picture with the Model 70 Alaskan.

I did note, however, that because of the long, magnum-length action, the bolt comes exceptionally close to my face when working the action from the shoulder. That’s not really an issue; it’s just something to note, having only ever shot standard-length action Model 70 rifles.

When it comes to guns, I’m a bit of a glutton for punishment (I once fired a .600 Nitro Express pistol), but let me tell you, a day full of .375 H&H testing is rough. (I know, I know, world’s smallest violin, etc.)

From the first shot fired, I knew that I was already thankful for the Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad!

With eight different loads and multiple different bullet types to test, I was curious to see if there would be any feeding issues along the way. At the end of the test, I’m happy to say that there wasn’t a single issue; everything fed fine. I even tried to see if I could cause an issue by loading different types with one another. For example, putting Hornady’s CX, Federal’s Woodleigh Hydro Solid, Nosler’s AccuBond, and Doubletap’s Barnes TSX all in the gun at the same time. (Full capacity is one in the chamber and three in the box mag.) Still, no dice; the gun fed, extracted, and ejected everything.

For this particular test, I was shooting from a portable shooting table and sandbags. I didn’t see the need to break out the Lead Sled because this gun isn’t going to be shot for precision. I don’t need it to punch one ragged hole at 200 yards or more. I need it to be able to hit the vitals of different types of African plains game (and perhaps a Cape buffalo, one day) at that distance or less.

To that point, the Model 70 Alaskan was able to do exactly that at the 100-yard range at which I was shooting. Not bad with open sights and heavier recoil from the .375 H&H ammo. I plan on adding a scope to the gun in the future—probably a 1-10x and I have no doubt that this will make me even more comfortable in this rifle’s performance.

Final Thoughts

manufacturers stamp on barrel — (Photo courtesy of Logan Metesh)

If you’re planning a trip to Africa and you only want to take one rifle with you, I’d highly recommend the Winchester Model 70 Alaskan in .375 H&H. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no such thing as “too much gun” here. When you’re hunting in an environment that could very easily contain a well-concealed and thoroughly pissed-off Cape buffalo, you’ll be glad to have it.

For the plains game, you ought not to have any trouble at all. Sure, the recoil is heavier, but it’s not like you’re going to spend an entire afternoon shooting dozens of rounds through the gun in one sitting. More likely, you may go through one whole box during your entire trip—and that’s probably being generous.

Bottom line, take the plunge and get yourself a Winchester Model 70 Alaskan in .375 H&H. Since Winchester went back to the pre-’64 controlled round feed, you can get the legendary performance and reliability that comes with the Model 70 without having to break the bank by buying an actual pre-’64 gun and you don’t have to worry about roughing it up a bit in the field, either.

Buy the gun. Hop on the plane. Go on the hunt. Life is too short not to do fun things with fun guns.