I bought a used Win Model 70 Safari Express in 375 H&H from Gander Mt. about a month ago. It has been piller bedded and the front recoil lug removed. It shoot good, but usually has one flyer in a 3 rd group. Anyway tonight I wanted to neck size the brass and found that the fired cases from that rifle would not re-chamber. It looks like the fired brass has seven linear high spots that run the length of the case head to shoulder, around the case. If I force the brass into the chamber and force it back out again, I can see the seven rubbed lines on the case, also when I full lenght resize, the die is resizing the high spots. I can also feel the high spot by rotating the brass in my fingers. What would cause the chamber to have seven streight (I think) lengthwise grooves in it? They are spaced about 0.25" apart. I'm taking it back, but wondering what happened to this chamber and how it will be fixed; Re-barreled? Anyone know what the heck happened here?

it sounds like you just simply got a rifle with a bad chamber in it. i have a friend who got something similar from Remington. he sent his rifle back to the manufacturer, not the vendor, and it was fixed and returned very quickly. i'm sure Winchester will do the same for you. i cannot imagine that Cabela's will be able to help. they might refund your money, but you'll then be out of the rifle. if you want the rifle, i'd send it back to Winchester. i own one of these rifles and that chambering in that rifle shoots really really well.

as far as the recoil lug situation goes....i can't imagine why anyone would dink with that.

Can you see or feel any rings in the chamber? Use a bore light or a stiff piece of round plastic to use as a feeler.
Could be a bad chambering job, the reamer could have been turned in the wrong direction, bad reamer all together. I would have the chamber cast, that would tell you more. But since your taking it back, why bother.

The reamer chattered. A person knowledgable on this can set back and rechamber to remove the chatter. This can be difficult for many since chatter is kind of self perpetuating. If you can return it that is indeed the most effective repair! Regards, Bill.

I have the same rifle that is left handed, and do not like
how muzzle heavy it feels. Especially when compared to my custom Remington 700 with a Douglas barrel probably a #4
profile. I thought about removing the front barrel recoil
lug. Or recontouring or fluting the barrel or rebarreling to get it to balance better. Does your rifle feel muzzle
heavy with the lug gone?

Off the subject, but removing the recoil lug won't make it noticeably lighter. Win. profiles are too thick, hence the muzzle heaviness. I am in the process of re-doing a 416 to the Douglas #4 contour to lighten it up.

Especially with a fiberglass stock, the reoil lug is superfluous.