School me on a new production Winchester M70

I was offered a M70 Ultimate Shadow chambered 325 WSM. I was a bit reluctant at first, but the price was
attractive.

When it arrived, I cleaned it up, and resized some 300 WSM brass so I could try it out. The first load I tried
went under moa [196 Norma Dual-Core/ Norma MRP]

Took it hunting, shot 2 deer and an elk, found it quite persuasive. Liked everything about it but the synthetic
stock. I found a Laminate that I liked, and with a small amount of fitting, and bedding, it is the perfect stock
for this rifle, IMHO.

The thing is not fussy about bullets/loads. Shoots practically everything well, but I have pretty well settled
on the 196 Norma Oryx, chased by Norma MRP or the 200 AB and Reloder 19.

I really like this M70. Dave.
 
Owned and competed (Precision Rifle) with Varmints, Heavy Varmints, Stealth, Stealth II. Then I’ve hunted with push feeds in .308. And I once owned an Ultimate Shadow in .243, as much as I love synthetic stocks, this factory black stock just never warmed up to my liking. That .243 was a tack driver though with factory Winnie Power Points 100 grains…. All cloverleafed. More accurate than I can hold it.

Currently own a CRF Portuguese assembled Featherweight Compact in .243 for coyotes and deer. Sold off the walnut stock with shorter LOP to a great CGNutter in Kamloops BC. Then bought myself a Bell/Carlson stock from Prophet River in Lloyd, AB.

Here’s a picture before and after the stock swap…..


6EE2B845-7045-405D-BFDD-7F398097E3BB.jpg


And then here’s a picture AFTER swapping/selling the walnut stock out for the Bell/Carlson….. The Bushnell 10-40mm Mildot just got sent back to Bushnell in Vaughn, ON for more warranty work.


51145AB3-13A5-4A68-92A3-A0F8D4CCBD13.jpg



This .243 FW Compact with a factory 22” (just corrected it to 20” ) barrel is a tack driver. So much potential with 38.0 grains of IMR 4320 and a 75 grain Hornady VMax booolit. Cruising just around 2976 fps. Life is Good!! Nice and accurate. :eek:

Go for the current made Winnie’s, they shoot better than I can hold the rifle.

Peace Be The Journey!
Cheers, Barney
 

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Going to keep an eye on this thread. I just bought a 1985 Winchester M70 xtr sporter 6.5x55 in walnut with black forend tip and and Miroku scope. Always wanted a M70 and the 6.5 swede sealed it for me. Should have it in a week or so. Looks like a european offering in great condition. The fact that it still had iron sights also swayed me.
 
handofzeus said:
Going to keep an eye on this thread. I just bought a 1985 Winchester M70 xtr sporter 6.5x55 in walnut with black forend tip and and Miroku scope. Always wanted a M70 and the 6.5 swede sealed it for me. Should have it in a week or so. Looks like a european offering in great condition. The fact that it still had iron sights also swayed me.
Click to expand...

They still make the Alaskan, and Safari models with iron sites.
 
Hungry said:
Owned and competed (Precision Rifle) with Varmints, Heavy Varmints, Stealth, Stealth II. Then I’ve hunted with push feeds in .308. And I once owned an Ultimate Shadow in .243, as much as I love synthetic stocks, this factory black stock just never warmed up to my liking. That .243 was a tack driver though with factory Winnie Power Points 100 grains…. All cloverleafed. More accurate than I can hold it.

Currently own a CRF Portuguese assembled Featherweight Compact in .243 for coyotes and deer. Sold off the walnut stock with shorter LOP to a great CGNutter in Kamloops BC. Then bought myself a Bell/Carlson stock from Prophet River in Lloyd, AB.

Here’s a picture before and after the stock swap…..


View attachment 545972


And then here’s a picture AFTER swapping/selling the walnut stock out for the Bell/Carlson….. The Bushnell 10-40mm Mildot just got sent back to Bushnell in Vaughn, ON for more warranty work.


View attachment 545973



This .243 FW Compact with a factory 22” barrel is a tack driver. So much potential with 38.0 grains of IMR 4320 and a 75 grain Hornady VMax booolit. Cruising just around 2976 fps. Life is Good!! Nice and accurate. :eek:

Go for the current made Winnie’s, they shoot better than I can hold the rifle.

Peace Be The Journey!
Cheers, Barney
Click to expand...

Great info, thanks Barney! I am thinking of a Compact as well, I thought they had a 20" barrel?
 
I bought a French Walnut Super Grade in 30-06 recently. Fantastic rifle all around. The only pre-64 Model 70's that come even close are the pre war Super Grades, but even those aren't quite as smooth.

aiQaAHV.jpg
 
Yes, I stand corrected, it’s a 20” barrel that I’m fondling right now. Mounting up a spare Bushnell PR scope that I had from my .260 Remmy rig that I just sold. So this scope; a Bushy HDMR2 with Horus59 is going to get the call to the coyote fields.


View attachment 546418


Looks to me like this could be my “Last to sell” rifle since I’ve made the mistake of letting so many Model 70 rigs slip through my hands over the decades. Never met a single Model 70 that could not shoot, and all of them shot better than I did! :eek:

Peace Be The Journey!

Cheers, Barney
 
I have a EW in 264. Made in Portugal. I have had a few M70's in the past. The Portugal build is by far the nicest and smoothest I have owned.
Trigger is alright. Took a few rounds but got it consistently at 3/4". Loves 140AB and N570.

I don't think you can go wrong with a new production M70.
 
I've never owned a Pre-64 Model 70, but have owned several push-feeds and two CRF models. I still own a push-feed .30-06 and hand-on-heart, selling the CRF guns (a Featherweight in 6.5x55 and an Extreme Weather in .300 WM) was a huge mistake. The push-feed is a Featherweight-contour so kicks like a canon in it's beech stock, but it has a "fast" barrel (as in FPS, not twist rate) and shoots easily MOA when I'm on my game. The CRF guns were nicer in fit and finish, just as accurate, and hunted hard.

If I had to pick one gun for all things, a Model 70 would rate high on my list. Extreme Tungsten in .300 WSM? Solid package, real short action, 24" barrel, hard-hitting cartridge, removable muzzle brake for range use, good ergonomics (B&C stocks fit me very well although they are probably the "entry-level" to good stocks) and Decelerator pad, 7 pounds all-up. Not a perfect mountain rifle or ultra long-range rifle, but close enough to do well at both.
 
Sharps45-70 said:
I bought a French Walnut Super Grade in 30-06 recently. Fantastic rifle all around. The only pre-64 Model 70's that come even close are the pre war Super Grades, but even those aren't quite as smooth.

aiQaAHV.jpg
Click to expand...

That right there is a beautiful rifle! If it shoots half as good as it looks then you have a winner there. Very nice indeed, congrats.
 
I've owned a BACO made in USA .375HH Alaskan and a BACO made/Portuguese assembled Supergrade 300WinMag. Both new, never shot them, sold them on the ee. Beautiful guns. Only 3 things I don't like: it's not a one piece bolt like a true pre64, I'd prefer that the trigger was the original pre64 style, and lastly the markings are stamped very cheaply into that beautiful blueing. These might be minor details but I'm particular I guess. I have no doubt they would all make fantastic hunting rifles in function.
 
sharp shooter said:
I’ve had two. Both shot well under an inch with the right hand load or factory load. Both fed really smooth and had great triggers. Both also had great fit and finish. They were 2012 and prior (not that there is anything wrong with new production). I Regret selling both actually but I had to fund rarer guns for the collection and now they have almost doubled in price.

I wish they made a few more cartridges in the supergrade. A 375 H&H and 300 H &H supergrade with iron sights like the Alaskan would be amazing. I would also love to see short action supergrades like 204, 222/223, 22-250 offered. Could you imagine if they would do a different cal every year that they don’t normally do? 7x57 supergrade, etc. The list goes on!!!!
Click to expand...

I think they sort of tried that - Cabela's commissioned a bunch in 7x57 - next year at Shot Show several hundred showed up in Super Grade stocks - not Super Grade metal finish though. They were kinda cool. But not truly "Supergrade".
 
Well I took the plunge and ordered one from Ellwood Epps, sort of an early Christmas present to myself. Got the walnut/blued Featherweight in 308, gotta say I am pleased with it upon initial inspection, it cycles my dummy rounds flawlessly, ejects them with gusto, the wood, while plain is straight grained and pleasing to the eye, trigger seems more than adequate for a hunting rifle and the blueing is very good. I got a set of Winchester branded Talley 1" low with it, mounted up my Razor 1.5-8, and will bore sight and maybe make a range trip tomorrow depending on the weather. I will report back with my results, I have a variety of factory and handloads I could try so i am rather excited about this one!
 
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