What's the feedback on the new Winchester Model 70s?

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philthygeezer

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These seem like they are even better than the pre-64s. Design improvements of the last gen were incorporated into this one.

Have you heard anything positive or negative? Quirks? Production quality?
 
I was loading for a buddies new "Extreme Weather" model. It looked and felt good, has a B&C stock and if I was looking for a rifle right now, it woudl be near the top of the list...

Chambered in 300WSM and it feeds fine, too....Who'd a thunk it?;):p
 
New M70's

The few I've handled at local shop were very well finished and smooth. Fellow who bought a Supergrade .30-06 said was very accurate. I've heard there were a few stock warpage issues early on. I'm anxiously awaiting a new for 2010 Super-grade in .338WM, but Winchester is painfully slow to produce and ship. I hear the new Safari Express .375's are ready for shipment though.
Geoff
 
I liked the ones I handled so much, I ordered one in .325wsm. I'm already saving to buy one for the old man when he retires next year. fantastic rifles.
 
They're a very different rifle than the true pre-64's.

But they seem to be machined straight and to tight tolerances, are assembled and bedded well. As a rule they seem to work very well and are accurate. Nice rifles!
 
I just bought a Featherweight in .270. I haven't had the chance to get it out on the range - let alone mount the scope - but it I'm sure it'll shoot just fine for a hunting rifle. The fit and finish on it is amazing. It's a beauty of a rifle.
 
I bought a 70 featherweight last year before moose hunting season and if I had aimed correctly I would have had moose for a while..

They are awesome riles, accurate and very well made.

Go for it :)
 
I think they are very nice rifles, the fit and finish are great. A friend of mine just bought one in 270 wsm and its accurate, sub moa. Guess what, it also chambers smoothly, who'd think that, two for two on this thread. Regards Pete.
 
I have found only good in my research on the new Model 70's and I am about to buy a Supergrade in 270 next month. Will break it in on a caribou hunt in September if I can get it scoped and down to MOA in time. The walnut on a 30-06 that I saw recently was the nicest grain I have ever seen!

There are a couple of good reviews of the new Model 70's on the Winchester website right now.
 
I can only comment on mine, since it's the only one I've shot. Mine is a Featherweight in .308 Win. It is a very handsome and well made rifle, with machining and finishing pretty much impeccable. It also has pretty nice wood, for an American made standard production rifle.

Here are the only negative points I found on mine:

- The bedding under the tang was missing a little piece at the rear/right corner. A very easy 5 min fix, with JB Weld epoxy.

- The trigger, despite all the hype about it, could not be adjusted to my liking. So I just pulled out the trigger return spring, trimmed it a little and put it back in. This was a little tricky, since it is captive and even unscrewing the adjusting screw completely out would not give you access to it. I just pried it out the bottom behind the trigger blade, and put it back in the same way. It now has a very, very nice 2.25lb trigger pull, better than any other rifle I have, which includes Weatherby MK-V, Savage with Accu-trigger and a Mauser M96 with an adjustable Timney.

- Last, but not least, mine came with a very rough bore. Rough to the point of deteriorating accuracy, even after only 5 rounds have been fired. It would easily take hours to clean after 20 rounds had been fired, and almost one hour of strong solvent (Bore Tech Eliminator) cleaning after just only 5 rounds have been fired.

Luckily, the bore situation was a fairly easy fix, I just polished the heck out of it using JB Bore Clean and JB Bore Polish compounds. On my last trip to the range, testing a load with 6 different C.O.L.'s, it shot all groups at or around 1" at 100m. Most of them, except for the ones I gouffed up myself, were under 1". And the best of all, it took me about 10 min to completely clean the bore of all copper in it. Now I am a happy camper!

I would definitely recommend these new M70's, mine looks and works better than any M700 I've seen in years, and they're still priced right (mine cost me $750 including taxes).

One more thing, if you like the stainless/plastic ones better, make sure you hold them in your hands before buying. I really liked the looks of the Extreme Weather model, but once I held it I realized that the stock is really not made for me. It is way too beefy, so I passed. YMMV.
 
DIGGER2 said:
I was just looking at one tonight on there website only in 375 H&H. I think either one of the Model 70's or a new CZ550 magnum would look great in the safe.:D Lets us know when it arrives Dogleg.
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A couple friends have the .375s on order. I wanted one too, but since I already have a couple of those I went the four five eight route. It should make a dandy Lott, if I can't get the velocity out of the Win Mag case.
Regarding the CZs, I like those except for the CZ USA "American" pattern stocks. They managed to take something that was a worldwide success for decades and make a thick overweight club out of it.
 
DIGGER2 said:
I was just looking at one tonight on there website only in 375 H&H. I think either one of the Model 70's or a new CZ550 magnum would look great in the safe.:D Lets us know when it arrives Dogleg.
Click to expand...

I don't know about the CZ550 but I did have a ZKK602 and a Winchester model 70 Super Express, both in 458WM. Between the two, my preference was to keep the model 70. To me it just seemed to be a little more refined.

Model70Winchester458WM-1.jpg
 
philthygeezer said:
These seem like they are even better than the pre-64s. Design improvements of the last gen were incorporated into this one.

Have you heard anything positive or negative? Quirks? Production quality?
Click to expand...

I don't own one but a friend recently bought the Stainless & Synthetic Extreme in 3006 and we sighted it in.

Pros:
- Good fit and finish, IMO better than the New Haven Classics.
- Trigger breaks cleanly
- Started getting cloverleafs at 100 meters with Federal blue box ammo after I backed the weight on the trigger off

Cons:
- Trigger pull is too heavy, feels like about 5 lbs.
- Synthetic stock could be a little more svelte

Whine:
- I wish they would have left the trigger design alone, the original trigger IMO was one of the best around



If I didn't already own several Win 70's I'd be buying one.
 
Gun Lover said:
- Last, but not least, mine came with a very rough bore. Rough to the point of deteriorating accuracy, even after only 5 rounds have been fired. It would easily take hours to clean after 20 rounds had been fired, and almost one hour of strong solvent (Bore Tech Eliminator) cleaning after just only 5 rounds have been fired.

Luckily, the bore situation was a fairly easy fix, I just polished the heck out of it using JB Bore Clean and JB Bore Polish compounds. On my last trip to the range, testing a load with 6 different C.O.L.'s, it shot all groups at or around 1" at 100m. Most of them, except for the ones I gouffed up myself, were under 1". And the best of all, it took me about 10 min to completely clean the bore of all copper in it. Now I am a happy camper!
Click to expand...

I also find that I have to clean the bore on mine more often than other guys with different guns. Maybe I should try to give it a full-on mega polishing...
 
KO said:
I have posted this before, but I'll say it again, I love my.30-06 FW. I got one shot off this year at one white tail and he is in my freezer(well a couple steaks left anyway).
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Well, if you guys are goign to be posting pix, I'll do the same.

I've posted this before, but honestly, any escuse will do...


gun.jpg
 
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