Suggestions for Mods to a NIB Mdl 70 416 Rem

26 October 2005, 09:41

404WJJeffery

Just got it, put 20 rounds thru it. Seems fine. Are there some suggestions for basic modifications for a new Winchester Model 70 some of you guys would like to pass on.

I hope to return to Africa for my third visit in the next few months for ele and buff- will use the 416 Rem for big stuff and take my 308 or 300 WinMag for small stuff

Many thanks

26 October 2005, 10:30

Shumba

I had the same rifle in 458 Win Mag. I had the following happen by about +/- 50 rounds through the gun:

Bead in front sight came out and was lost

Front sight became very loose.

Rear sight became very loose.

Cracked stock at the crossbolt (basically, the front crossbolt on the right side moved back about 1/8 to 1/4 inch and cracked the stock behind it.

Cracked the lens of my Leupold 1.5-5x scope

Based on the above and to get ready for Africa, I would do the following:

Rescrew both sights (front & back) with loctite

Glass bed the stock

Change out the front sight bead to something a bit larger (large white bead)

Have trigger adjusted to 3.5 lbs.

Make sure the screws for the scope bases are as long as possible (screw all the way through the action and stopping before they interfere with the bolt).

Shoot the rifle over 100 times, fast, slow, from every position, etc. with full house loads.

After you do all this, then go shoot an ele & buff with confidence in your rifle.

Tim

26 October 2005, 11:39

Christian N

Make sure the screws for the scope bases are as long as possible (screw all the way through the action and stopping before they interfere with the bolt).

Is the above really god advice, through the action with the screws?

All rest is super but that part i am not so sure of.

Best regards Chris.

quote:
Originally posted by Shumba:
I had the same rifle in 458 Win Mag. I had the following happen by about +/- 50 rounds through the gun:

Bead in front sight came out and was lost

Front sight became very loose.

Rear sight became very loose.

Cracked stock at the crossbolt (basically, the front crossbolt on the right side moved back about 1/8 to 1/4 inch and cracked the stock behind it.

Cracked the lens of my Leupold 1.5-5x scope

Based on the above and to get ready for Africa, I would do the following:

Rescrew both sights (front & back) with loctite

Glass bed the stock

Change out the front sight bead to something a bit larger (large white bead)

Have trigger adjusted to 3.5 lbs.

Make sure the screws for the scope bases are as long as possible (screw all the way through the action and stopping before they interfere with the bolt).

Shoot the rifle over 100 times, fast, slow, from every position, etc. with full house loads.

After you do all this, then go shoot an ele & buff with confidence in your rifle.

Tim

26 October 2005, 18:14

jorge

I'd send it to a good gunsmith like Mark Penrod and have most of the stuff already mentioned checked out. In addition, I would replace the cast extractor with a spring steel version, and smooth and polish the rails.

Regarding your scope, you need to be very careful where you affix the front ring. Virtually all issues with that scope and cracked lenses have to do with imprope positioning of subject rings. jorge

26 October 2005, 19:33

Shumba

Chris,

With respect to the screws, I just meant to get the longest screws possible, that are functional, so that they are contacting all of the threads. The next step would be to tap the receiver for the larger 8x40 screws, but that is not really necessary for a 416 Rem.

Tim

26 October 2005, 19:56

500grains

Also,

1. Remove the barrel and widen/radius the extractor cut so that the bolt does not bind when dirty or dusty.

2. Radius the sharps on the feed ramp, edge of mag box and chamber edge to facilitate feeding.

3. Polish/widen raceways so that the bolt does not bind when dirty.

4. Consider shortening the barrel to 20-22 inches because you do not need 24".

5. Install good sights, such as NECG.

6. Install better recoil pad.

7. Consider Williams bottom metal instead of the flaky factory stuff.

8. New extractor of course.

9. 2nd recoil lug on barrel for heavier calibers.

10. Steel bed action and 2nd recoil lug in stock.

11. Shoot 500 rounds for practice.

12. Go hunting.

28 October 2005, 21:21

loboga

I assume its a Safari Express, I just got the same gun this year and used it as a PH daily for three months in VERY dusty conditions. I inspected it carefully when I got it and found nothing that had to be corrected. I also shot it quite a bit to make sure it had no functioning problems which it didn't. I'm not to sure about some of the comments here, since it came with a NECG rear sight and a recoil lug on the barrel already. The bedding compound could use a bit of touchup, it had a couple gaps, loctiteing the screws is always a good idea. The safety and trigger were a bit rough at first, but just using them a bit has taken off the rough edges and they both have improved. I took a nail and dipped the head into bright white enamel and touched it to the front bead, voila an instant bigger white bead, price and time almost zero.