Who shoots a new Model 70 Winchester ? What are your experiences with quality & perforance. What are your complaints if any ?

I have a mod 70 with the black molded stock.
Its in 270. shoots reasonably well 1"- 3 shot groups and 1 1/2"- 5 shot groups.
It shoots both my 130 ans 140 gr reloads to about the same point of impact. 140's shoot 1/4" higher.
I have killed deer with both loads and either one will get the job done with no trouble

I bought one of the new SC made Safari Express rifles in .375H&H last year. After 300-400 rounds through it, I have no complaints. Shooting 300gr A-Frames it routinely shoots one ragged hole.

Fit and finish is very good in my opinion with a nice albeit fairly plain stock. But it's an $1100 rifle, so I don't expect great wood. I will probably bed the stock at some point as just a precaution, but not from an accuracy point of view.

The only problem I experienced were uncrimped rounds would hang up on feeding. The front edge of the neck on the rounds was hanging up when chambering. Crimping the rounds solved this issue and is probably something that should be done in larger bores anyway.

I love this rifle and plan to buy a Super Grade in .300WM in the near future. I am also planning on buying one the Featherweight Compacts in .308 for my 13 year old. I don't think I've read a single bad report on the Winny's coming from the new factory, in fact all have been pretty much glowing.

I've had as many as six of them in my gun rack at one time....one is my personal gun (a .270 Win) and four were gifts for grand kids (all short action featherweights) and a sporter in .325 WSM for sighting in and load development.

All of them were functionally superb in feeding, trigger pull, safety functioning, workmanship, extraction and ejection.

IMO the stocks are a bit thick in the wood (wrist) section and I'd prefer the old 11 degree Winchester crown instead of the Browning recessed crown.

I didn't spend a lot of time shooting the four short actions except to verify they were functional so can't really say much about their accuracy but the .325 WSM and my .270 featherweight are both more than adequate for hunting accuracy and as a matter of fact have shown a few sub MOA three shot groups even though I usually fire five shot groups.

IMO the new M-70 is a fine hunting rifle and maybe better than any previous M-70 ever made.....and this includes the trigger....it's a great trigger.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
IMO the new M-70 is a fine hunting rifle and maybe better than any previous M-70 ever made.....and this includes the trigger....it's a great trigger.

Pretty much sums up my feelings on my new FW in 7mm-08. You get a lot of rifle for the money.

a couple months ago i bought an fn m70 super grade in 270 win. it is an excellent rifle! very accurate with 4 different factory loads, very smooth bolt, beautiful wood, and a great trigger right out of the box. if i ever buy another rifle, it will be an fn m70. ymmv.

I returned a Supergrade in 30-06 last Sunday that didn't shoot worth a crap. Too bad, I like M70s and wanted to like that one too.

Bought a .375H&H that I rebarreled to 400H&H the gun has functioned flawlessly and rebarreled ver accurate I agree that the wood is a bit heavy but as mentioned it is a $1100 gun the trigger out of the box was measured at 4lbs 12oz and very crisp I reduced it as much as I could (you get instructions in the owners manual) the final weight measured at 3lbs 12 oz its better but could be better the safety is very noisy but should be able to remedy that problem this winter
good luck

Have a new featherweight .308 Winchester and have been quite happy with it. The wood is decent and accuracy has been fine with both handloads and commercial loadings. The trigger was the only thing that needed some work initially.

I bought one of the first SS etreme models in .30-06. Out of the box it was nightmare accuracy wise. After a bedding job and a recrown the thing started acting like a competition bench rest rifle. The trigger is perfect, the action is silky smooth and the over machine work is light years ahead of the older New haven guns.

I recommend them.

I shoot two of the new Model 70 rifles, both are Featherweight Deluxe in .270 WSM. Both are georgeous with very fancy wood and shoot light out. Their fit and workmanship is excellent. I couldn't ask for better rifles to shoot. Good shooting.

I have one of the SC Safari M70 in 375 H&H. I have put 100 rounds through it so far. It shoots Fed Classic 300gr ammo great (3 shots touching, 5 shots around 1") @ 100M. It shoots Fed Premium with the 300gr TSX around 2". I will reload for it in the future but it definitely has potential. Looks great and kicks less than my Kimber 84L in 30-06.

SF Ranger - Have you tried reloads for the 375 yet ? Thanks for the info -- keep them coming.

I bought a new Featherwt limited edition in 2008 in 3006. Nice wood , great trigger, very accurate. I think it is the best model 70 I have ever had. I have taken several deer with it 2 at over 300 yards with 165 sst hornadys. Mine has a vx-II Leupold, I would recommend that combination to anyone.

I have two of them and hope to get a few more. One is a FW weight wood stainless in a 7mm-08. The other one is a extreme weather in a 30-06. The 7-08 shoots half in groups with 140 TTSX behind RL-15 and 1 inch with 160 gr TSX if I can do my part. The 30-06 will shoot 3/4 groups with 165 TTSX behind IMR-4350. I have not had this rifle so I don;t have a lot of load data for it. I really like both rifles. There actions are smooooooth, they feed perfect, the triggers are good once you adjust them. A little over priced, but they shoot just as good as a few of my customs that I have.

Oh goodie, another freaking Winchester model 70 thread!

LOLOLOL!