Last night I told my lovely wife that Winchester is closing its doors forever and that I would like a mod.70 in 22-250.Couldn't believe when she said to go get it.After sleeping on this,thought I should get a second(and probably more)opinion(s) on which of these makes (or maybe you have a better/different manufacturer in mind) to buy.Gun will mainly be a target piece,but with the kids grown and gone,a prarie dog shoot could be possible!I currently do not own any M-70's.your thoughts please.

You've got three models to choose from in the Win. line, StealthII, featherweight blued and stainless and the Coyote. All nice rifles, of the three I'd take the Coyote, unless you want a lighter rig, the Featherweight is nice, too. Jay

Nice to have the wife give the ok before the purchase!!!......what's her motive?..new stove, new refrigerator? Anyway, let the Winchester folks have their Winchesters!! Go get yourself a good rifle from the get go!! You stated that you will use it for paper and maybe a prairie dog hunt......how many Model 70 actions you see at target(BR and such) shoots!! For the money, the SAVAGE heavy barrels out of the box are a tough act to follow for most of the other manufacturers!! Their light barrels shoot great out of the box also!! Then I'd look at the Model 700 Remington in the heavy barreled versions...new model has stainless fluted barrel sitting in a H-S Precision stock....usually pretty good out of the box also!! The Winchester deal would only be for the nostalgia!! GHD

I'm a big M-70 fan....but if I was to get a P-dog gun it would be a savage

My wife have a motive?Yea she wants a new stove.And a new fridge,microwave,etc to put in the new house me and a buddy are building for her(but I get a shooting range in the deal).After some more thought on the the win.,I realized that I had developed an illness,Winchester-is-closing-and-I-better-buy-one-while-I-can-get-one-fever!I know savage "makes a pretty decent,accurate barrel,their triggers are fool proof to adjust(I know if I can do it...)and the rem.700 that I own,well that one took me 15 years to aquire(you know;kids,money,colledge fund first)that 30.06 is the most fun rifle that I have.just typing this reply is "curing" me.Glad I didn't run out in the snow last nite and buy something I "thought" I wanted.thanks for the quick responses.

22-250, get a 700...

I love my stealth it is the older model in 22/250 i purchased it used from steve reeves here on this forum.
it shoots .5 5 shot groups@ 100yds consistently with my handloads. my best group is a .411.

arky65

Get the Win in .223WSSM, I just bought one in .243 WSSM

You can allways get a Rem, they are as common as dirt, and about as interesting! Get the Model 70 while you still can!

The Mod 70 is being discontinued for a reason. It might be that the Rem. 700 is as common as dirt. The reason more people buy them is they are a superior rifle. Some might say it's price but if that was true then Savage would sell a few more rifles.
Dr B

I would get a Ruger 77 Mark II .Ruger will be around a long time after Winchester and Remington are gone.I would get their heavy barreled 22-250.The wssms are history without Winchester.The Ruger heavy barreled varmit riflke is an awesome gun for the money.

I agree with Major Caliber. The model 70 feather weight is a nice rifle, and almost all factory rifles can be made to shoot well if accuracy isn't great out of the box.

ColoradoMatt & Major Caliber
I agree tha you can make a Mod 70 shoot but at what cost?? here is my story.

I bought a new in the box mod 70 .25 wssm. for whiteail and other small game. On my first trip to the range I brought some win factory loads 100gr supreme. When I fired them the bolt was difficult to lift the handle but I continued to zero the scope and the shoot some groups. This gun shot worst than any gun I have ever fired. 3-4 inches at 100 yards was the best group. so I checked the scope cleaned the gun and tried again another day the results were tyhe same. I could not belive my results so I took the gun to my gunsmith and had him remount the scope and then took the gun to a local guy that makes realy good custom ammo and left it with him to work up a load, after a few days He called me and said to come pick up my rifle that he could not make it shoot. I called winchester and the service people treated me like I was a idoit and were no help. Just told me to send them the rifle.
I talked to my gunsmith he said that in his experince that they would send the gun back and say there was nothing wrong with it. I belive him after my conservation.
I'm stuck with a gun that I can't feal good about selling so I guese I'll let Kevin Weaver rebarrel and square my action.

The results

Kevin Weaver just finshed my new 223 wssn. He built it on a mod 70 action (from a scraped 25 wssm that only shot 3 moa on a good day) with a 26" 1-14 #2 fluted by Panor. We are still in the barrel breakin and load development stage. It just fired a 4 shot group with 40gr Nosler BTs over 46grs of Varget at 4406 fps into a sub .4 inch goup at 100yd.
We are going to work up the 52 TSX for whittail after we are satisfied with the coyote loads.
It should only shoot better as the barrel shoots in.

A good outcome But verey EXPENSIVE. $720 pluse what ever I paid forthe Mod 70. I think I could have bought a Cooper or Kimber for less.

Dr B

I've got a NIB Mod. 70 featherweight in 30-06 if anybody interested, I'll set a good price, just want a quick sale, as I need the cash. e-mail me gbrowne@spro.net

Greg

prplbkrr,

Get what YOU like and never look back! You can go through reams of horror stories about any and every brand of rifle manufactured, on these boards as well as all the other "coon chasing" boards.

I shoot four M70 Classics, hunting rifles all, and all function perfectly and are extremely accurate as well! And one is even that bastard step-child 7mmWSM. None has required anything except the mandatory trigger adjustments (mandatory on virtually ALL production rifles), except the 7mmWSM, which needed some very minor sanding in the barrel channel.

I don't have a clue what your finances are, but the M70 Coyote Lite, I believe it is, is an interesting rifle made in .22-250. Runs about $800, I think. I would like to have one of those. (Oh, my God, but it has those ugly slots cut in the side of the stock!!)

A really beautiful rifle, IMHO, is the Remington 700 VSSF II, which is made in .22-250. This will run a few more greenbacks than the Winchester Coyote Lite. Be sure to get a 2006 model with the new trigger, if you go this route.

There are other models made by both Remington and Winchester in .22-250. These are just two models that have caught my eye. But there are plenty of other choices. Savage is a darn good rifle, if you like both accuracy and a lower price tag. That really ugly Savage with the Choate stock almost followed me home, but that model isn't so cheap. There are, of course, others that cost more as well. Weatherby has some darn nice rifles for instance!

Bottom line? Since you originally were deciding between a Remington and a Winchester, I would probably give a slight lead to Remington for a prairie dog shooter, but I wouldn't hesitate to try a Winchester either. For a hunting rifle, one that is exposed to "the mud, the blood, and the beer", the pre-64 style Classic is heads and shoulders my choice over a 700, but lets not go there right now! Good luck, however you proceed!

to Quote the Highlander !!!

There can be only One!!!

and its the 700

don't settle for seconds get the Winchester model 70...... the new ones (2009) look marvelous
I know this post is way outdated but as long as its up and running why not add to it

REMINGTON !!! 700!!

look at the cz's too--.222

rem 700 1st
ruger M-77 2nd

Thread necro... Look at the posting dates guys

That being said, I'm not a fan of the new M70 yet. I'd go for the M700.

WOW! Can't believe this came up 2 years later.Though I didn't then,I will NOW let you all know that I did indeed purchase a NIB Rem.700 in Feb. of '06.And it shoots those 'lil Hornady 52 grainers into an impressive 'lil hole.Thanks for your replys.Made my day!