I got my M70 416Rem up and running. I decided to get her done before the 416Ruger came out causing me to give up on the M70. I'm glad I did it 'cause she turned out well. Just under 8 1/2 pounds w/ near perfect balance. Feeds and ejects cartridges so slick from the mag box you'd think it was empty.

I loaded the 350TSX w/ RL-15 at both 79gr and 80gr. They clocked pretty close to Barnes X velocities in the low 2500s for 79gr and 2550 for 80gr.

It took two rounds to settle the rifle into the new bedding after which the rifle stayed at 35in-lbs on the action screws. I got her centered up using fixed NECG sights then shot two groups at 100yds off a sandbag. Both loads printed very nice uniform three shot triangles. The 80gr load was about 1 1/4" wide by just under an inch tall w/ two in the X and the third just out of the 1.700" X ring into the 10 ring. The 79gr load was a bit tighter at just under an inch square.

I then hung a steel plate at 100yds about the size of an open hand. Using field positions the 80gr load tore the steel up. I was very pleased.

I shot two of the 350TSXs into a low dirt mound that runs across the range. It is a mixture of clay and sandy loam soil which is under sod. The dirt is fairly clean w/out rocks and it is easy to recover bullets by tracing their path. I shot the first one through the soil. The second one I shot through a hip girdle in front of the soil. The first bullet penetrated about 6ft of soil loosing two petals. It stayed head first and retained 314grains. The second bullet lost all petals and spun backwards retaining 249grains. It still managed to penetrate nearly 5ft.

At first I was a bit concerned with the bullet loosing the two petals, but when I found the petals it appears the bullet penetrated about 5ft before they broke off. To put this in perspective, most of the bullets I've fired into this mound rarely penetrate more than 4 or 5ft.

I've yet to decide on mounts, but I'll probably stick a LEU 2.5X on top. I'm going to work w/ the load a bit to get the TSX around 2600fps and then see if I can test her out on a bear and an elk.

later,
GVA

GaryVA - I asked for info on the rifle mods to the M70 under yukon delta's post asking about building a light 458 win mag - this might be a more appropriate place to tell what you did to lighten your rifle.

Thanks
KMule

quote:

Originally posted by KMuleinAK:
GaryVA - I asked for info on the rifle...
Thanks
KMule

Sure,

I was following advice from Phil Shoemaker to sort of duplicate his personal light rifle. I think he built three; one for his guide, one for his daughter and one for himself.

My 416 barrel contour matches that of the 375H&H "classic" so it has built-in weight savings right there. Phil used the standard 375H&H "classic" synthetic stock w/ the standard two-piece bottom metal and no barrel lug. He reports it has held up perfectly w/ hundreds of full house rounds. This stock is actually lighter than the Mcmillan.

I used the one-piece Williams bottom metal requiring me to re-inlet the stock for the thicker .312" unit. Since I was removing so much material and it is a 416, I decided to use the barrel lug. I wanted full recoil bearing strength of both lugs w/ minimal added weight to the stock. I fabricated .250" fiberglass rod cross braces to mechanically lock and support the bedding material for the lug-mortises. To save weight and to prevent using excessive bedding material, I fabricated a second 250" fiberglass rod to run lengthwise in the barrel channel to connect both lug-mortises. This served to mechanically locked both mortises as well as to stiffen the forend.

Phil used bedding material and metal shavings to shift weght in the stock to make the rifle balance. I'm of the opinion that added weight to the ends of an off balance rifle does make it balance, but this excessive end weight may also causes the rifle to handle sluggish. I decided to do the opposite and take advantage of the light stock and my engineered fiberglass reinforcement. What I did was determine the minimal amount of bedding needed for the receiver and barrel lug mortises. I then made my pours to give me a tad more. From this I was able to balance the rifle from its center by removing a slight amount of material until it balanced perfectly. In the end, my stock finished out only 2 ounces heavier than when I started and it is still lighter than the Mcmillan.

In addition, I followed Phil's recommendation to rasp and round off the bottom corners of the forend in front of the magazine and to take a bit off the top of the grip to open it up slightly. I also used Marine-Tex to texture the stock for added grip then painted it a nice olive green w/ flecks.

The rifle itself had the normal go-over. It was torn down and the barrel was pulled for normal squaring, deburring and hand fitting. I kept the barrel at 24" which I hesitated to do, but am now glad as it handles so well.

Back together it weighs 8pounds 5ounces. It would be very easy to go lighter w/ a ground pounder and a 22" barrel, but I'm happy where she's at now. I must have done something right because its shooting tiny groups w/ fixed sights. I expect it will shoot very tiny groups w/ a scope.

I'm now going to enlarge the base mount holes and change the rear .330" pattern to a standard 860" pattern. I'm then going to send it off to Texas for Armoly-TDC coating.

later,
GVA

GVA - thanks for the feedback on your rifle - I have been toying with the idea of slimming down my M70 416 as it always felt a bit sluggish to me - plus, standardizing the bolt hole distance for the scope mounts makes good sense -
I have been using BL(C)-2 powder with excellent results but limited myself to the 350 grain speer magtip (smaller critters) and the 400 grain nosler partition or swift a-frame (larger critters) - just stocked up on R15 so I will develop loads with that powder.
Thanks for the feedback
KMule

GaryVA,

sounds like you got a really solid DGR there. There is always the added pride in doing it yourself instead of "off the rack".

Rich
DRSS