I've had my brand new Model 70 Classic Safari Express to the gunsmith. Against the advice of friends who said I could do it myself, I had this well paid fellow do a trigger job.

I have done nothing to the trigger but remove and re-install it in the course of working on an ejector problem. I put the rifle back together and worked the action briskly. The striker fell on its own . Is this normal behavior for a Winchester trigger that's been adjusted a little too light?

The mostly black trigger has a distinct flat white area of bare metal adjacent to the notch where it contacts the sear. Is it possible too much metal was removed, or does a Winchester trigger look like this normally?

This gunsmith did a sloppy job with the bedding compound, did not fix an ejector problem he said he'd fixed, marred the trigger guard with his screwdriver, and now I find his trigger job could have allowed my rifle to fire unexpectedly with the bolt unlocked.

Is it worth having him work on this rifle again? On the one hand, the fellow has been paid and would probably correct the problem for free. On the other hand, I've yet to see him do a good job. I have friends whose guns he's also messed up.

What to do?

H. C.

I wouldnt let him touch mine, not after your friends told you not to use him and you did and got crappy results.

HenryC470---

He altered the geometry of the trigger, or sear, or both. He's obviously not qualified to do a trigger job. The rest you'll have to judge for yourself.

Another gun butcher raises his ugly head...particularly since the simplicity of the M-70 trigger requires no genius to fix as long as you keep all the existing angles the same. this one cannot even glass bed and that is a pretty simple procedure.

I would send it to a qualified gunsmith...

Fortunately, I was able to clean up his glass bedding mess. The line of bedding compound did not smoothly follow the contour of the barrel. Instead, the compound came out over the wood in spots and left gaps in others. On the top edges, along the barrel channel and back by where the the chamber inletting is, the compound had been insufficiently wiped off, and if you looked at it at an angle, the finish looked like it was glazed with dried snot.

I found that with just the right pressure and angle (a little more forward than perpendicular draw filing), my finest minature file would cut through epoxy but glide over the wood finish. With the right touch, the epoxy felt as if it crumbled, but the wood finish felt as is it could not be cut. I handled the uneven line by bevelling it in about 30 degrees. That got me to the bottom of the gaps and took off all the high spots. Now there is a very thin, even line between metal and wood. Nobody needs to see the bubbles and gaps below the wood line.

After dressing the snot glaze off the top of the stock with the file, I cleaned up the remaining film with 1500 grit cloth.

I have decided to order me a new hammer and sear for educational purposes ($30 worth of parts from USRAC). I want to see what the correct factory angles and finishes look like. If there is an obvious difference in geometry, I'll make one last trip to "my" gunsmith to show him what he did wrong and ask for my money back. Someone else will install the new parts.

I'm almost glad I don't have to leave for Africa right away.

H. C.

P. S.

My buddy didn't tell me anything bad about this smith, but he showed me a pair of revolvers on which this smith had incorrectly chamferred the cylinders. I didn't know whether it was my friend's idea or the smith's to also chamfer the ejector star, and I didn't ask. I felt as if I'd be breaking his heart, because these were brand new guns before they got worked on.

Henry, What part of W.V. are you from? I have had bad luck dealing with a local smith in my area.

BTW, I am no gunsmith by a long shot but have "tinkered" with a few M70's. I will only work on my own rifles but have done everything you requested of your gunsmith. The work you requested is not that hard to do and I would definatly not take a rifle back to any "gunsmith" that flubbed up that bad on such simple jobs.

I hate to redundant but like most everyone else the work you had done is not all that difficult and any competent gun smith should be able to do all your work in a first class fashion. I wouldn't do this work for anyone else either but I've done all this work and ended with a safe, properly bedded firearm. Send your rifle to someone who is a real smith.

Everyone makes mistakes. My gunsmith took a little too much off the bolt face when he installed a Sako extractor on my Remington, but he is a competent small town gunsmith--our family has used him for decades--and he gladly fixed the problem for free. Works like a charm now. Unfortuantely, your gunsmith doesn't sound as capable. I wouldn't let him in the same room as one of my guns. I am surprised you gave him as many chances as you did. Find a better gunsmith and have him take a look at it. It'll be worth the money to prevent permanent damage to an expensive firearm.
Not being a Win M70 expert, I humbly submit to those more knowledgable on the subject.

On a different note, I wonder why this post doesn't have 122 replies...

I have no ax to grind here, but IMO, if someone botches a couple of simple jobs as badly as your smith has, I think you owe anyone who can read the information.