I purchased a used Win 70 Classic Stainless in 375H&H. I noticed the follower spring has a big rectangular bend at the rear and that the follower itself is rather thick. I had a spare follower and spring (from a Dakota 97 - the same as a rem 700 I think) so I replaced the original. The spring does not have the rectangular bend and the follower is thinner.

It now holds four down easily and feeds reliably although not as smoothly as before (but still pretty smooth). I did the same test with another Win 70 in 7mm STW. It easily held 4 down but the feeding was much less smooth than before.

Is that all that is needed to get a mag capacity of 4?
Am I missing something obvious?

David

If feeding is not as smooth as with the factory-original follower, you have indication that the new follower is not the correct answer. Feeding needs to be 100%, 100% of the time or it just isn't right.

The original belted magnum chamberings that Winchester offered with the introduction of the Model 70 back in 1936-37 were the .300 H&H and .375 H&H. For these, Winchester correctly engineered the magazine boxes to provide the proper stack angle for those cartridges. They are no deeper than M70 boxes for standard cartridges such as the .30-06, yet they hold four-down, and feeding is incredibly smooth and precise.

When Winchester introduced the short magnums (again, based on the belted H&H case), beginning with the .458 Win. Mag. in 1956, they did not follower the same correct engineering stratagem as with the H&H cartridges some ten years earlier, instead, they modified .30-06 boxes to fit the short magnums. This tweeking allowed for generally reliable feeding, but magazine capacity was reduced to three, and feeding was not quite as good as is correct boxes would have been introduced with the new cartridges.

The same shortcuts have been followed with the 1964-to-present Model 70 versions, only things have gotten worse through the deployment of some pretty cheesy magazine boxes, baffles, blocks, and dog-leg shaped follower springs. They are trying to make one basic box do it all, with modifications made to same for various cartridge classes. These expedients tend to work OK (much of the time, anyway), but as expedients, there are some compromises involved, and magazine capacity (in the case of the belted magnums) is one of them.

That's why Ted Blackburn makes proper replacement magazine boxes and followers for the Model 70 (for belted-magnums) that hold four-down, and that's why D'Arcy Echols makes his own followers and boxes for the Model 70 that hold four-down: To increase magazine capacity, and to optimize feeding. D'Arcy doesn't sell his boxes to anyone, but you can get Blackburn's version: www.blackburnmachine.com

These parts are NOT drop-in setups. You'll need a good riflesmith to fit them, such as Mark Penrod. It's either that or else live with three-down or look for a pre-64 Model 70 in .375 H&H.........

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Any comments?

David