I have been wanting to buy a Model 70 for some time and now have a good excuse to do so. I am planning a trip to Africa in '05 for plains game and my current rifle is not up to the task power wise. I want a 30-06 and will handload some type of premium 180-200 grain bullet. The rifle will be the Classic sporter wood/blued.

My question is, what type of work should I have done on the rifle to increase function, reliability, and hopefully accuracy? And also, who are some good gunsmiths that specialize in model 70's? I have always shot 700's and everyone works on them and I'm pretty familiar with things you can do to improve them. When looking at gunsmithing websites the 700's are always mentioned by name but they never seem to say anything about the model 70.

Thanks for the help.

Take a look at the thread right next to this one started by Mr. Leeper (Interesting Defect . . . ). That will give you an idea of a start as to what you might want to do to a new model 70.



In addition, you might want to have the trigger repinned, and have the trigger worked over for a smooth and crisp letoff.

I'd bed it and shoot the hell out of it!

Seriously, as it comes out of the box the 70 (or the 700 for that matter) will do fine for about 99 percent of the hunting any of us will do.

If it was my money, I'd get the Super Grade with the good Williams bottom metal, maybe put a Williams extractor on it, bed the thing and shoot it. Then fix any problems that crop up.

Joe.

A new M-70 should be full length glass bedded (or pillar bedded if you wish) and the barrel free floated. The trigger should be adjusted to 3.5 pounds max and replaced if necessary. The safety needs to be smoothed over and the magazine springs replaced potentially.

They can be restocked with a fiberglass stock or if you wish a fancy walnut piece added.

There's no end to the modifications.....but glass bedding and floating the barrel and trigger adjustment is the biggest share of the alterations that I'd recommend.

See how it feeds, shoots, goes on safety etc. first. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Some work fine out of the box. All can be improved but some need it more than others......DJ

dj,
Well said, just what I was thinking.

Agreed, but mine fell in the latter category and I had to replace everything, except action and trigger

Andre', We keep all of the good Winchesters over hear and ship all the bad ones to Belgium...... ....DJ

And to Canada .

Chuck

djpaintles

No problem with me, we keep all the nice mausers 98 here. The ones with worm holes, bent barrels and rotten action goes to USA Fair trade


I would get a new extractor in spring steel and have the action timeing adjusted soo feeding, extraction, safety works perfect. Perhaps has the action printed, lugs lapped and fit it with a custom barrel. Please, hire a competent gunsmith

Cheers
/ JOHAN

Or everyone could just wait for the new Williams action to be placed on the market. Triggerguard said in previous threads that his action would address all of these problems that the winchester action seems to have.

That reminds me, Triggerguard, what is the timetable on your new action hitting the market?????

Blue

I think you should find a pre-64 model 70 and "no worries mate!" They are some of the most reliable and smooth operating rifles ever made.
ss

I'm about to believe you

Wyatt--Congratulations on the upcoming 30-06. You might try Jim Cloward for M-70 work. He designed the Pacific Research (now Rimrock) stocks for the M-70. I've got one of his rifles and he's building another for me now. If you like I'll PM you his number.

I have not been to Africa and it will be quite a while before I can go. But I'm getting an idea of how and what I want to hunt, and the 30-06 keeps coming up. Just out of curiosity, what rifle are you saying is "not up to the task"?

Okie John,

I am from Alabama and up to this point the only big game I have hunted has been our deer. I shoot a 6.5x55 that I had custom built on a Rem. 700. I feel this makes an absolute perfect whitetail round but it could let me down in Africa. If I didn't have Zebra and Wildebeest on my wish list then I would probably take it, but I think I will feel better with the '06 on these larger animals.

Yes, send me Mr. Cloward's number and I will give him a call.

darinwyatt@yahoo.com

I hate to say this, but I'd prefer to stay with the Model 70 and have that action reworked by a good riflesmith. If you carefully select your action before hand, there's absolutely no reason to go with a "pseudo-70" action, and I won't.

AD

Mr. Wyatt,
For what it's worth, I would pick a rifle with no obvious flaws. Then I would have it properly glass bedded and the trigger work done. Then I would shoot it a lot! I would sight it in then let it sit in the sun and try it again. I would try a shot cold in the early morning. I would check point of impact with a clean barrel and a dirty one. Then I would address any shortcomings which manifest themselves. Speak with Jerry Stockinger at Clio, Alabama (Clio Gunshop). He will be able to handle any accurizing or reliability improvements you might require.
Don't buy a WSM! The potential for reliability problems is too great in my opinion.
If you want to build a rifle then I would not be averse to using one of the "psuedo M70s" as Allen calls them. I think the M70s are a decent action but I think the MRCs might be a bit better. All actions have shortcomings. All can be fixed, some easier than others.
The truth is though, a well tuned and well tested factory rifle can, and probably will, serve you very well. Regards, Bill.

I'm afraid I would have to disagree with a far more experianced gunsmith than I in Mr. Leeper and recommend a WSM. Mine indeed didn't feed well as new but it didn't take too much to make it feed perfectly. Less work lets say than getting a Ruger RSM to feed 458 Lott as well as it should. My M-70 300WSM will feed empty's upside down smooth as glass and has shot 1 1/2" groups at 300 yds with Nosler Partitions........DJ

After owning four factory "classic" model 70s I also think they are one of the best rifles to be had in today's factory rifle market.

The only thing I had trouble with was the extractor on one of them, which happen to be a 270 Winchester. The hook on it simply broke off. As others have mentioned I would replace that part with a quality aftermarket one on general principal and go from there. One 300 Win mag was so accurate out of the box it was scarey. Another 300 and a 30-06 were more than adequate out of the box and benefited greatly from glass bedding. I never really gave the 270 a great chance, although it showed promise, it just wasn't the same as my pre-64 270.

Thanks Mr. Leeper to putting me on Jerry at Clio Gunshop. I spoke with him yesterday for some time and now may have a whole different set of plans. I may just have him build me a rifle on a MRC action. I figure if I buy a Model 70 Super Grade and and have the minimun stuff like bedding/free floating/trigger adjust, then I will be withing a couple hundred dollars of the MRC custom.

I know the MRC actions are somewhat new and I haven't read anything bad about them. Does anyone have any comments on these actions?

I own Many Model 70s ( all pre-64s or new CRFs)and as yet have not had to make any improvements /adjustments to them whatsoever. The Model 70 is an evolution of the mauser ( notice thatn I didn't say improvement onpurpose, but it a sense, it is)in that it eliminates things like the stripper clip cutout, cumbersome safety, etc. Hoever, there has been a recent decline in Winchester's quality control, but like some said, shoot it first, I think the odds are you will be satisfied "as is." jorge

Wyatt, getting back to your original question, if you want a Model 70 in .30-06 and you want to eliminate the bugs but not go overboard, you really don't need to do very much.

The most straight-forward way to go is to find a good pre-1964 Model 70 in .30-06 (standard grade or Featherweight), install a good scope, find an accurate load, sight-in, and go hunting.

I prefer the pre-64 rifle and action for cartridges like the .30-06 or .270 Win., simply because the magazine box and follower are completely right for those cartridges and need no modification or replacement. For that class of cartridges, the pre-64 action is decidedly better than the current Classic Model 70 in that regard.

Also, the pre-64 already comes with a proper spring-steel extractor, and the quality and workmanship are tops. Most shoot like a house 'o fire right out of the box -- just find a accurate load or two and you're in business.

For what you're getting, these rifles are STILL a very great bargain, and a good investment.

AD

wattd,



If I were buying a new bolt rifle in 30-06 it would be a M70 Classic Featherweight. In my opinion those rifles with their lightweight barrels and excellent balance were the rifle of the last half of the 20th century and still are of the 21'st.



The 30-06 does not benefit from a 24" barrel all that much in terms of expansion ratio, muzzle blast or actual velocity. Of course if one likes muzzle heavy guns then the standard model might be for you or the Super Grade.



I have a M70 Classic Super Grade here in 300 WM. It weighs a ton. In that cartridge I suppose we want the weight but in a 30-06 the opportunity for a handy rifle is before you. Don't let it pass by.



I just dug the 300 WM Supergrade out of the back row and put it on the scale. It goes 9 lb 4 oz with a Leu 4-12 on it. Who needs that?