I'm new to the M70 and was wondering about a couple feeding problems I had on Saturday. They could've been user-induced since I'm not very familiar with the rifle but as I was shooting from the bench and slowly running the bolt to eject the spent cases, I had a couple instances where the shells would stay put in the mag box (even with the bolt completely rearward) until I touched them with my finger and then the top cartridge would completely pop out of the box and be sitting loose on top which, as I undertand it, isn't a good option for a CRF rifle.

Any ideas? Also, if it needs attention, recommendations on good M70 smiths would be much appreciated. Thanks.

The model 70 has a fixed or static ejector. You, as the shooter, are in control of how that shell leaves the port. A normal "hunting" bolt cycle should put the shell well clear of the rifle.

Chuck

I'm with ya on that one. I really liked that feature when shooting from the bench. But.....how come the cartridges stayed put in the box instead of popping up normally into a "ready" position?

Nebraska

Is your M70 chambered in a WSM?

Nope. It's a good old 338WM.

I've had that exact same problem on occasions with Remington 700's and I believe that any bolt action with a separate mag box can experience this problem when the box gets a bit out of alignment and puts the follower and spring in a bind.

Separate mag boxes are not designed to be load bearing on the vertical plane so there will always be a slight space between the trigger guard and the bottom of the box. That means that the box can have a slight amount of up and down play and/or movement and unless it makes that move the exact same amount both front and rear (not very likely) it's going to place the follower and the spring in a bind and cause the problem you describe.

That is one reason I decided to weld the mag boxes to the receiver on all of my 700's. The USMC armorers always did this with their sniper rifles and I think it's a great idea for actions that use a separate mag box.

I'm sure that others will have a problem with this but I know for a fact that it works...and the Marines have been doing it for 40 plus years on rifles where a failure to feed could cause far more than just a bit of frustration at the range.

Rick