I just bought a Model 70 Classic and am having trouble with the 3-position safety. It goes from full-safe to intermediate to fire easily. And it comes back from intermediate to full-safe easily. The problem is when you try to move it from "fire" position back to either of the other two positions. It is VERY hard to move backwards and sometimes will not move period. I have field stripped the firing pin from the bolt to oil everything and to spray down into the safety latch and that did not help either.Anyone seen this? Got any ideas?

I have the same problem on my Winchester. It's headed to the Smith this week.

Things like this bother the hell out of me. I have always been a Remington guy and have never had to have one worked on. Lucky???Maybe. Not to be biased though as I have heard good things about both, but in the last couple of weeks I have bought a Savage VLP and a Winchester Model 70.....both of which I am having problems with.

Have you tried taking the safety lever out of the shroud. Theere are usually only two reasons for stiff lever movement. There can be dirt ang grime in the detents that will cause some stiffness, and there could be a burr on the lip of the detent. Both easily fixed Unlike a seized trigger group in a hunting situation. Not fixable at all !!!!!

No, I have only taken the whole firing pin assembly out of the bolt shroud. Exactly how do you go about taking the safety lever out of the shroud?

My Model 70 .375 had the same problem, the gunsmith fixed it when he fixed all the other problems that Winchester couldn't correct.

They are great rifles when set up properly, but don't plan to buy one and take a big hunting trip a month or two later, you might be disappointed. Mine took about 6 moths to get right, that is worse than most.

If your safety is clean & free of burrs, the culprit is the engagement between the safety arm & the cocking piece/firing pin. If not properly fit, the safety will be hard to engage. When the safety arm is moved from "fire" to "safe", it engages the cocking piece & cams it to the rear & lifts it off the sear. The solution is to fit the engagement surface on the cocking piece to the safety arm. As a gunsmtith, I know I'll incur the wrath of all the do-it-yourself folks, but this is a job best left to someone who fully understands the M70 trigger & safety. This is an easy adjustment but can result in an unsafe weapon if improperly excuted.
Roger