Okay, I broke down, in several ways. I swore I'd never buy (1) a 30-06, (2) anything during a feeding frenzy, or (3) a wood-stocked rifle for my "Go Anywhere at Anytime in Any Weather and Shoot Something Medium-Sized" rifle.

Instead I just bought a Winchester M70 Classic Featherweight Stainless Steel 30-06 with a walnut stock. Hey, a guy can have his principles and still be flexible, right?

I have neither shot it nor have had an opportunity to photograph it (I will, both), but because of the concern over USRAC quality recently, I thought I'd post a couple of initial observations.

This is one nice rifle.

- This M70 action is smoother than the Sako M75 actions I've been trying out recently, if not quite as smooth as a pre-Garcia Sako Finnbear.

- At 6#-12oz, it's lighter than my other M70 Classic FWT's 7#-0oz.

- The stock appearance is outstanding, with figure over a lot of the surface, including some fiddleback.

- This one has the factory recoil pad, which I believe is a Pachmayr. It's installed flawlessly, withy a technique that's much improved over the approximate-size fitting of the red "rubber" pad on my three-year-old M70.

- The muzzle crown is a very attractive, non-standard recess that I'd previously thought had to be applied with a lathe. Probably not, but it sure looks high quality.

- The barrel is squarely in the center of the barel channel and free-floated.

- The bottom metal is a two-screw setup, nicely done in alloy, with a steel floorplate. It's beter looking than I had expected from the new USRAC effort at one-piece.

- The trigger needs work, as it's creepy at seven pounds pull.

- The safety appears to be timed oddly, with four distinct positions. "Almost full back" requires a bit of additional thought to get to "completely full back."

- There are a couple of things that I've left for last because they're hard to describe, but which will come clearer later in photos.
-- First, (edited to remove the "difference" that the bolt had a ridge that rode the left rail. There isn't.)
-- Second, the magazine follower is a different design. Instead of the simple, rough aluminum cast piece I'm accustomed to seeing, this one is much more highly polished and has several ridges. Again, it's "different," but it's hard to articulate that difference.

It's not officially an "interesting" rifle until I've sent some bullets down the muzzle, but this one has a better start than anything new I've bought in a long time.

Jaywalker

Jaywalker, I too just purchased a new M-70 Classic Sporter III in 25/06, it is my 4th classic and by far the best! The trigger was heavy but with 2 -1/4" wrenches I got it to a fairly crisp 3.5 lbs.The hot glue was gone replaced with a small amount of real bedding material. Normally I have these rifles bedded and floated before shooting, but a friend suggested seeing how it was right out of the box.
This rifle averages 3/4 inch with Sierra 90 and 100 grainers. I have had several 3 shot groups at 1/4".I am extremely happy with this $600.00 rifle, it is a shame that they will be no more.
Chris

always good to hear positive reports regarding a rifle, but my 2nd experience with a m70 classic/stainless was bad. a couple years ago i owned and shot a couple elk with a m70 classic/stainless in 300wsm. the gun was great in every respect. sold that gun and got a new (sep 05) classic/stainless in 30-06 (with their rubber stock). never could get the ba to fit into a custom stock (and i tried 3 brands). my smith took some measurements and found that the barrel was of-centered in the action, as in the barrel goes off at an angle to the right. sold the gun the next day. after the dust settles regarding win m70s, i'll probably get another.

My Classic LT just arrived and I am amazed at how good the inletting is. The best Win I ever owned

I bought one not long ago and the inletting sucks, but the metal is ok. go figure.

Terry

Terry,

Hard to tell from the photo, but does yours have a more visible gap on one side? I'd find that unacceptable, just as much as my three-year-old M70, which is inletted visibly crooked. Just gaps, if they're even, I might accept, at least on a factory rifle these days.

Jaywalker

Yea, the gaps are even on both sides. It looks like the action is freefloated just like the barrel. They had three featherweights and two LT's left. I looked at all five of them and they were all the same. It's been a long time since I've bought a factory gun, I guess it's just a little disapointing. I looked at a Kimber too and it wasn't any different except the inletting was crocked on that one.

Terry