Dave, may I ask where you looked at the M70s? I have always been pretty impressed with the craftsmanship on Winnys. Yes, I have seen stainless guns of all brands with some rust on the barrels from people handling them and then they are not wiped down.This is especially true at establishments such as Walmart. Just my opinion, but stainless does not necessarily translate into 'maintenence free'. They have to be cared for just as any other firearm of value. Congratulations on your purchase, hope it works out for you. Regards, Wyo

I have a Ruger Stainless in 30-06 that is a very fine rifle. I really like the look of the laminated stock and it is a fine shooter. I own 4 other 30-06 rifles but this one is the best shooter of them all. It went into less than an inch with the hunting loads that I first tried it with, and that was without any work of the rifle, just put a stainless trigger shoe on it and mounted a brand new scope and went and shot it. I like it so well that it has become my primary hunting rifle. The scope and mounts were in such close alignment that it was only shooting 2 inches to the right and right on vertically, very minor scope adjustment to have it well sighted in. < !--color--> < !--color-->

If you want a real, pure STAINLESS STEEL rifle, go RUGER. I've seen many Remington's SS getting red with just half day of snow....

The rifle that I use for virtually all my hunting is a Remington 700 Stainless Synthetic Mountain Rifle in .30-06 that I picked up about 10 years ago. It's incredibly light, trim and accurate.

Pretty well any stainless rifle these days made by the majors will suit your intended uses; it all boils down to whatever has the best look, feel and cost in your personal opinion.

My money would be on the Remington, or Winchester. The trigger on these two can be adjusted, not so on the Ruger.

All are good choices, but these two are just better for the $ spent.

Dave, if you are concerned about moisture penetrating into the laminated stock on the Ruger, treat the interior inletted surfaces with a polyurethane like Minwax. Also, I would make double-darn sure that the barrel was totally free floated except for maybe 2-3" ahead of the chamber.

I would bed the action, float the barrel and treat it with poly to guard against moisture and prevent swelling. Lots of luck, Wyo

Thanks for all the replies. I also ran across a Rem 700 BDL SS and bought it, too. Mainly, because it had a 24" barrel. Looking forward to trying both of them out. Now I'm trying to figure out a .338 Win Mag in SS to get. Wanting a 26" barrel on that. I saw the 700 VSS on Remington's web site and it has a 24" barrel, BUT NO .338 Win Mag! Good grief. It looked pretty good. The Ruger's only have a 24" barrel, so I probably won't get one of those in .338.

Thanks again,
Dave

Dave,

Winchester offers their Classic Stainless in .338 WM with a 26" tube. I don't even see where Big Green chambers for a the .338 WM anymore on the website. They chamber for the Ultra Mag of course! Personally, I like the lines of the Winny over those of the Remingtons anyway. I don't think you could go wrong with the Classic Stainless for your .338. Let us know how you like the two new toys! Good Shooting, Wyo

My Classic Stainless 338 is the most accurate gun I own. Best group so far is 7/16's. Thats with factory Rem. 250 gr CoreLokt's. It will shoot most ammo into an inch. Prefers 250's though.