Men, I have a newer Win M70 classic stainless, for which I purchased a custom stock (kevlar, black with the white spider web, pillar bedding and full length bedding block) from a company you would all recognize. I don't want to mention the stock makers name until I get a response to a letter I sent to the President of the company. Anyway, here is my problem - The action mounts perfectly (or so it appears) in that portion of the stock, but the gap betwen the barrel and the inside of the stock barrel channel is twice as wide on the left side as on the right. In other words, the barrel is not "centered" in the stock. I have 4 other rifles wearing these stocks (all rem 700s) and they are all centered. What is the problem with this winchester. Is it the stock or is my barrel crooked? Thanks

problem is that it's not made for a nice piece of turkish walnut

Slip a dowel or snug drill bit in the rear action hole, tie a string or floss to it and draw it tight over the center of the front hole and down the channel. You should be able to tell if the channel is crooked.

Well, the stock could be perfect and the barrel on crooked. My M70 FWT Classic came from the factory like that, and the replace stock I ordered from USRAC shows the same symptoms. I don't know whether the problem is stock inletting or angled barrel.

IIRC, McMillan wrote on another forum about that problem. He'd been given a model barreled action to build his stocks around, and it fit fine. It was the production rifles that were off, and one degree error at 15 inches is over a qurter of an inch. I don't know if that's it, but you might want to consider the possibility.

Jaywalker

I have a Win 70 that I bought around 1985. It is glassbedded. I recently got access to a lathe and mounted the receiver on a mandrel and trued the receiver face. I also stuck the barrel in a 4 jaw and spider and got it turning true and then cleaned up the barrel shoulder to reduce the looong headspace. The barrel is now closer to one side of the channel. I had to sand the channel out to keep the free floating barrel. I then checked the OD of the receiver against the bolt bore and sure enough the OD is not concentric with the bolt bore.

So it could be the action and the barrel. Or it could be the stock.

Gunsmith buddy of mine had a problem with a certain brand of graphite stock. It kept getting tighter in the barrel channel. He spoke to an engineer that manufactured close tolerance graphite products. According to the engineer it was a critical quality control issue to ensure proper mixing of the graphite slurry. If not warping could result. The stock in question was reclearanced in the barrel channel 3 times until after about a year it quit moving, which again according to the engineer is about the final cure time for an improper graphite mix.
I'll qualify this as being a second hand report albeit a reliable one considering who it came from. And of course you can't make a long distance diagnosis, I could as said be the action barrel or stock. But it did seem to be an interesting posiblity that even graphite epoxy stocks can move. I'd like to hear if anyone else has ever witnessed it.............DJ

Is it indeed free floated, just cosmetically asymmetric?

Does it shoot?

If both are YES, then who gives a shit? Are you a poser or a shooter?

Maybe it´s just fugly?

I sent the stock back to the manufacturer today as I have little or no patience for stuff like this. I have this same brand custom stock on a M700 SS 270 and it is centered exactly and shoots great. I also had one of these stocks on a M70 300WSM (now gone), and it was centered exactly as well. I am just a hunter, but I live on a farm, have a shooting bench, and do lots of shooting just to see how my rifles group different ammo. Today I put the factory win plastic stock back on the BA, tightened the heck out of the 3 screws, and it shot some 1" and some 2" groups with different ammo, but I hate that rubberized/plastic stock and just don't have that much confidence in their ability to keep a good zero. Any of you folks been getting good groups with the plastic win factory stocks and are confident that they will hold said groups? Since the custom stock is gone (In my enclosed letter I went into great detail about the problems, looks, and my gunsmiths comments) and demanded a refund) should I have my smith check the barrel for straightness? What would this procedure entail? I appreciate your thoughts.

quote:

Originally posted by LBGuy:
... Today I put the factory win plastic stock back on the BA, tightened the heck out of the 3 screws, and it shot some 1" and some 2" groups with different ammo, but I hate that rubberized/plastic stock and just don't have that much confidence in their ability to keep a good zero. Any of you folks been getting good groups with the plastic win factory stocks and are confident that they will hold said groups? ...

Hey LBGuy, It has been a very long time since I've owned a M70, but I believe you "might" be best served by first loosening all three screws. Set the rifle on the recoil pad with the barrel up and tighten the screw closest to the muzzle fairly snug but not to the point you are straining. Next go to the screw closest to the recoil pad and just snug it up. Third only tighten that middle screw enough that it will not fall out, no need for it to be real tight because it has the potential to put the action in a bind/warp and cause accuracy problems.

If it shoots good with them there, place some "Witness Marks" on the screws so you can return them to the same position whenever you remove the stock.
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Only reason I'm responding is because of "I hate that rubberized/plastic stock and just don't have that much confidence in their ability to keep a good zero." I have a couple of S&S M7s that have similar stocks. When I bought the first one I handled it a bit and noticed how flimsey the stock is at the Tip. Easy to wiggle around with two fingers.

Took it out of the stock and noticed there was ZERO Bedding Compound of any type - nothing! Interesting to say the least. Figured it would shoot Patterns instead of Groups, but decided to try it anyhow. I was very surprised to find out it easily shot under 1" with nothing but a good cleaning and trigger adjustment.

Thought it might be a fluke, so I tried it a few more times and always removed it from that flimsy, non-bedded stock to clean it real well. And it still continues to shoot great. Best loads are well under 1" when my concentration is up.

When I got the second S&S M7, I wasn't surprised to find the same flimsey stock and no bedding compound. Just like the other one though, it shoots great with that set-up.

I also dislike flimsey stocks, but when they shoot well, that is really all that matters to me.
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So, even though it is unlikely that I would have bought a M70, that flimsey factory stock might just surprise you about how well it will shoot.

Best of luck to you.

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