I just bought a Winchester Model 70 manufactured in 1976 ... is it a piece of crap??

I'd heard the same about the M70's made after 63, good to here that they are not as bad as a lot of people say. One is on my shopping list someday.
 
cdncowboy said:
I just bought a NIB 1976 Winchester Model 70 .308. I've shot one from the 70's several years ago in .300 win mag and found it to be a superb gun in both function and accuracy. It's not the prettiest girl at the fair with regards to stock scrolling etc. but I sure liked the way it handled and boy was it accurate... sooo... a new 1976 one came up and I nabbed it. Now I'm reading all the reviews and hear that only the "pre-64 or new FN model 70's" are good and the ones manufactured between post '64 and the 90's are junk.... now I'm second guessing myself thinkin that I just bought a crappy gun... is this true?
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I have a crazy idea but it just might provide all the answers you're looking for.
GO SHOOT IT!

Tell us if you like it rather then asking internet strangers that have never shot it if it's a good gun.
 
tomjones said:
I have a crazy idea but it just might provide all the answers you're looking for.
GO SHOOT IT!

Tell us if you like it rather then asking internet strangers that have never shot it if it's a good gun.
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I hope you are joking. Don't you know that is the way it works these days. To hell with finding out for your self ask a bunch of armchair commandos if what you just bought is good.

Sarcasm off
 
I bought one a few years back in 308 to build a production silhouette rifle on, don't know the exact vintage but it was the mid to late 70s I think and it had a little sliding extractor imbedded in one locking lug. That extractor was a nightmare and gave me no end of grief, it kept breaking for no apparent reason. The loads were not even warm, I rebarreled it to 6.5X55 for silhouette and just couldn't keep extractors in it. I suspect the previous owner had similar problems which was why I got it for $250. Never did figure it out and just finally gave up on after 7 or so extractors. Chocked it up to design flaw and all the rhetoric about what a piece of crap the late 60s and 70s Mod 70s were.
 
Gun community can be a funny bunch ... sometimes they get an opinion on something and then run with it. You can look up any gun ever made and find bad reviews ... Look it up some where else and it will e the greatest thing ever made ...

Robinson arms XCR is a great example

It was made in 1976 ? think about that for a second ... Its older than me , Im sure it will be fine for another 38 years !

Enjoy !
 
I have a post '64 pushfeed Win 70 XTR in .30-06 with 24" barrel that shoots like a house on fire.

Despite having finally acquired a couple nice pre 64 Win 70's in recent years, I just can't bring myself to part with this rifle.

2Win70XTR3006a.jpg


2Win70XTR3006b.jpg


I even picked up a vintage Ramline stock [with Decelerator recoil pad] so I don't have to mess up the pretty wood stock:

2Win70XTR3006.jpg


:canadaFlag:
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NAA.
 
tomjones said:
I have a crazy idea but it just might provide all the answers you're looking for.
GO SHOOT IT!

Tell us if you like it rather then asking internet strangers that have never shot it if it's a good gun.
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I hear ya brother.. and I will. But, while it's on its way via Canada Post, I thought I would ask for a little reassurement. Like I said, I've owned one and was very pleased so I expect no surprises... it might have been all the beer I had before I posted the thread that got me so insecure :)
 
dahs said:
A bad M70 trumps the best 700, anytime.
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I would ask your personal experience to back this rather broad statement, or are you just perpetuating internet bias without actually having any experience to base it on. Before you respond I would remind you I have taken literally 100s and quite possibly into the 1000s of animals over a great part of this globe and done it almost exclusively with Rem 700s. They have fulfilled their roll flawlessly at all times and in every conceivable adverse condition, from -50 to +55, sea level to 18,000 feet, in rain, snow, blowing sand,0 humidity to 100% humidity. Never, never, never, have my 700s failed me in the field, not one failure to feed, fire or extract in literally 1000s of rounds.
If the 700 is such junk then I would ask you how is it that the 700 Rem is the all time single largest selling model of bolt action rifle in the world? So again I would ask your experience base to support your blanket statement damning 700 Remingtons.
 
It's just my personal preference. I like 700's, I like M70's more. Never said the 700 was junk. I also like how Winchester refuses to stoop to the budget entry level rifle. The 70 is a 70, and there is no cheapening it.

I'm sorry the SPS versions of the 700? It's like BMW building a car to compete with Kia.
 
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c-fbmi said:
I would ask your personal experience to back this rather broad statement, or are you just perpetuating internet bias without actually having any experience to base it on. Before you respond I would remind you I have taken literally 100s and quite possibly into the 1000s of animals over a great part of this globe and done it almost exclusively with Rem 700s. They have fulfilled their roll flawlessly at all times and in every conceivable adverse condition, from -50 to +55, sea level to 18,000 feet, in rain, snow, blowing sand,0 humidity to 100% humidity. Never, never, never, have my 700s failed me in the field, not one failure to feed, fire or extract in literally 1000s of rounds.
If the 700 is such junk then I would ask you how is it that the 700 Rem is the all time single largest selling model of bolt action rifle in the world? So again I would ask your experience base to support your blanket statement damning 700 Remingtons.
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little edgy today? He never said the 700 was junk, just the M70 was better. I tend to agree, and I've owned lots of 700's. As for the extractor, I never had any issue with a pushfeed M70 in .300 wby, worked flawless.
 
dahs said:
It's just my personal preference. I like 700's, I like M70's more. Never said the 700 was junk. I also like how Winchester refuses to stoop to the budget entry level rifle. The 70 is a 70, and there is no cheapening it.

I'm sorry the SPS versions of the 700? It's like BMW building a car to compete with Kia.
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Couple things wrong with these statements A) BMW does build a car on par with a Kia, just look at any 300 series Beemer and tell me it's any better than a Kia, it's just unjustifiably more expensive.

B) Apparently you're not old enough to have seen a Mod 670 or 70A Winchester.....both very low end Mod 70 variants aimed precisely at the entry level.

I would take an SPS any day over either of these Win models. I too like the new FN/Win and own a couple, hell I might even take one hunting one day. Are they better than my 700s? How can they be when my 700s have never failed to deliver, never broken down and never let me down, in more than 40 years and 10s of thousands of rounds......how can you get better? Are they prettier? Yep, my super grade 340 Wby and 75 year special edition certainly are, but it still don't make 'em better, just prettier.
If you think Rem is the only company that has ever had QC issues, maybe you should look at the rifles from Win prior to FNs aquisition, and the mid sixties to the mid 70s specifically. Take a look at some current Rugers and on and off over the past 30 years. They all have QC issues from time to time but only Remington's get remembered for some reason.

I'm not particularly testy today, and I'm aware some Rems have failed to perform for some people and if there is basis in someones life for statements as made earlier, then I'm all ears. It is the generalizations knocking the Rems or stating the mod 70 is superior in any form, than the best 700, I take issue with because my fairly extensive experience just doesn't bear this out.
 
Damn you're just gonna shove your opinion down everyone's throat like it or not arent you? I stated I prefer the Winchester over the Remington. That is my choice. Frankly I don't care about everything you've done with a 700. Believe it or not, you are not a god, and your opinion doesn't carry near enough weight with me to change my outlook.
 
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