What is the best magazine box size for a 416 remington? I have a prewar model 70 and the box that is in it isnt big enough and I dont know if its original.

quote:

What is the best magazine box size for a 416 remington? I have a prewar model 70 and the box

My M70 Classic in 416 RM is a hair over 3-9/16".

I'm sure your magazine box is factory-original, but Winchester designed and built it specifically for the 300 and 375 H&H cartridges, NOT the 416 Rem. Mag., which of course was some fifty years from being offered at that time. So yes, it is too short to work with the 416 Rem. Mag.

This type of magazine issue is never easy to resolve without extensive work, and for ideal feeding -- especially for dangerous game cartridges and Mauser-type action -- the magazine boxes and followers need to adhere to Paul Mauser's original formula as closely as possible, which is that the box and follower must be engineered to provide proper clearances and to create the correct stack angle for a specific cartridge. Winchester understood this, and the fine pre-64 Model 70 was designed accordingly.

So there's no cheap and easy fix available. The best solution is to obtain a proper magazine box from Ted Blackburn, the have an expert riflesmith remachine and modify your exisiting receiver to accept the new magazine box and cartridge. To me, a "cut, paste, guess, and hope-for-the-best" approach by some local-yokel gunsmith with your exisiting parts just isn't an acceptable solution. I say this because I've seen self-deluded butchers ruin good actions and magazine systems because they didn't know what they were doing, and I've been on the receiving end of such shenanigans myself, before I knew any better.

The cheapest and least-frustrating way to go is to save your pre-war M70 action for a custom 375 or 300 H&H and buy a complete Model 70 Classic in 416 Rem. Mag. If the later shoots, keep it, and if it doesn't, rebarrel it. At least the magazine geometry will be correct in any event.......

AD

Send it to Dennis Olson and he will lengthen the box a tad and make it feed 100%...Might as well let him rebarrel while he has it. That not much of a chore btw....I just measured two Blackburn boxes, one in .416, and another in 375, as far as I can tell they are the same unless I got the wrong box from Ted....

How do I get ahold of Olson??. The existing magazine box is 3.64 inches.

Dennis Olson, 500 1st st., Plains, Mt. 59859

Tel: 406-836-3790

Blackburn likely uses the same box for the 416 as the 375, alright (so does Echols) but I assure you that his box is indeed longer than ther pre-64 box that's in your rifle. I also assure you that if you add Blackburn's box, or else cut, add, and weld your current box, you'll have to remachine the magazine box mortise of your receiver. You can't add on one end without taking away from the other....

AD

Thanks for the informatiom.