Hi
I have been considering a Win Mod 70 .375 H&H for my hunt in 2007. Hase any one had any experince with the Mod 70 Like mine.
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 after I bought another couple boxes of amo with the same results.
I could not belive my results so I took the gun to my gunsmith and had him remount the scope and then too the gun to a local guy that makes realy good custome 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. around $500.
Has anyone else had thes problemes with winchester.
More important do you want a DGR made by a sorry Co. like Winchester.
Baylor Jewell

The situation at Winchester is a bloody disgrace to the USA and I wouldn't own a new Mod. 70. But, there are lots of good used Classics and P-64s available and I would buy one, have it tuned and go from there.

You do NOT need a .375 H&H in Canada, in fact, it is a poor choice for hunting here due to rifle weight, steep terrain and heavy recoil which tends to make longer shots harder. I have had several, can shoot it well, live here and have 40+ years experience. For western Canada, a .300 Win. with 200 gr. premium bullets or, my favourite, a .338 with 225-250 premiums is a far better choice. Actually, a good .30-06 is all you REALLY need, loaded withh 180 premiums.

Do not be "bushwhacked" by all of the bullshit about snarling, charging Grizzlies and cunning, savage Cougars that you hear, read about and find on the 'net. The Guide/Outfitters are VERY careful about Grizzlies and the danger thereof is NOT a major concern. I worked alone for months on end in the most remote parts of BC and AB and used a .30-06 as did almost all of my colleagues and nothing bigger is much better.

Several People have sugested that the barrel might shoot in after 200 or so rounds. I have no desire or do I think I should have to spend $300 - $400 on ammunition and hours of time shooting in a barrel. Why cant Win get it right.
I have owned dozens of Rem 700's, 600's, 742's and 760's, also Browing BAR's, spring field M1A', H&K's, and colt's, None have shot this poorly. Hell I have a SKS that shoots better than this Winchester Mod 70.
What think I'm going to do is have my smith go through it and possibly change the barrel. One thing is forsure I will never buy another Winchester
Does any one have a sugestion on which DGR I should buy.
Does any one know what Phil Shomaker shoots.in 458 win mag.
Dr B.

I belive he shoots a Mauser 98 Custom. Sorry to hear the bad news about your rifle. I will agree that a good ol' '06 or .300 Win Mag would be a great choice. Good luck.

My Winchester 70's are my favorite rifles, they both shoot and feed great. There must be something wrong with yours (obviously! ) Did you gunsmith have a look at it?? Internal dimensions or some defect from the factory?? It's not too often that you can't end up making a rifle shoot properly one way or the other.

DrB
Have you considered a Sako 75? They make a helluva good rifle and come in .375H&H.
Try it you'll like it.

I have a Finnbear in 375 H&H, it is a beautiful rifle, shoots well.

My gunsmith friend says the new M-70 actions run from useless to the best Winchester has ever made.He likes the design better than the pre-64.

I have replaced a barrel on what was a "new" FN and had the action trued up,it needed it.But when it was finished I had great shooting rifle.

Kutenay's recommendation on caliber,338, is often repeated.But we hunt without guides or back-up.So a 30.06 is more than enough.I like 180 Accubonds for moose.

I htink that Winchesters are every bit as good as any other 'regular' factory rifle out of the box, and better than some.

I would send it back to WInchester.

You can't complain about it until you give them a chance to make it right.

I just bought a Model 70 classic sporter in .338 win.mag.and so far she works great.No problem getting 1 1/2" groups at 100 yds.with very little load work up.Sorry your having problems and that sucks that Winchester doesn't seem to care.Does the bolt still give you problems opening?are you sure one of your base mount screws isn't causing the bolt to jam by hitting or rubbing against it ?did your gunsmith check to make sure the barrel is free floating?because i know from personell experience that will ruin accuracy.Hope you get her fixed up and there's nothing wrong with the .375 if you can handle the recoil.Also that's a bunch of BS that you need to put 200 rounds thru a gun to shoot in the barrel my gun printed a nice 1 1/2" group after 3 or 4 sight in shots.

Have you tried a different scope? This may be the culprit to the large groups!

Another try is some JB bore paste and work the barrel to a nice clean/fresh start. Could be some burrs on the rifling...this is where the 200 shot thing comes into play but the JB should expedite the procedure.

Does the bolt cycle ammo (unfired) cleanly? If so, I would take it back to the gunsmith and ask him to check the bolt face, headspace, stock torque and your chamber for any machine marks that may have been left. This requires the pulling of the barrel and scope, but he should be able to see something that is causing the bolt lift tightness.

All else fails send it back to winchester with a detailed letter of the things you have tried and problems that seem to remain unsolved.

FWIW most factory rifles I have owned required some tweaking to get the best out of them, stock honing, lapping, trigger job, bedding, etc.

You may also consider a trigger job to reduce the pull but do not do this if your sending it back under warranty!

Best of luck, nothing worse than getting a new rig and being frustrated.

What are you hunting in Canada that you feel a 375H&H is required? Just curious to why you picked this chambering?