Rifle won't shoot-advice?

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762shooter

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I bought a Winchester 70 Light Coyote Rifle in .308 thru the Equipment Exchange last fall.

This rifle: http://www.winchesterguns.com/products/catalog/detail.asp?family=001C&mid=535115

The seller told me he paid about $1100 taxed for it but wanted to move on to a new project so needed to sell it. He sold it to me for $700. Well, guess what? It won't shoot. I suspect the seller knew the rifle was a problem and dumped it. Lucky me!

The chamber is way oversize and there is a major flaw on one side of the shoulder area of chamber. The tooling gouge is so deep that brass flows in to the gouge and leaves a large imprint on one side of the case shoulder. The seller told me he put about 100 rounds thru it and I've put about the same thru it so 200-250 round count now.

So what do I do with it?
- Is there any chance that Winchester would help me out, given that I'm not the original purchaser? Does anyone have contact info for the Winchester Service Depot?
- Given how much oversize the chamber is (not sure exactly, I'll have to do a chamber cast to confirm) I don't think there is enough length on the shoulder before it tapers down a lot to allow me to have the shoulder pushed back and re-chamber to standard or tighter chamber dimensions.
- Advertising it as I've described it, basically selling for the value of the action and fibreglass stock, what would it be worth?
- What would it cost to have it rebarrelled with a reasonable quality barrel (not necessarily match grade barrel)?
- Any other suggestions?
 
I would try and contact Winchester. Look them up on the internet; it will at least give you a number to call. Pressing them for service will be by far your best bet, I think.

I don't think there's anything to do with it except rebarrel it. Unless you can find a used barrel, you're looking at around $400+ once it's all done.

As for resale as is, I hate to say it, but I don't think you'd get more than $400 for it (on a good day), as any buyer is still going to have to put another $400 into a re-barrel.

Sorry for your situation. :(
 
The difference in cost between a cheap barrel and a match grade barrel is not that much and the labour is the same...

Use it as the basis for a build and spend another 6 or 7 hundred...

Or see what Winchester will do... or sell it...
 
Like someone suggested, set the barrel back a bit and rechamber. So simple, with no sights to worry about.
 
It look likes there's lots of shank to work with for a set back but in the long run if you like the rifle it would be better to rebarrel as having a barrel set back costs the same as having a new one installed , at least that's been my experience. Hopefully Winchester will do the right thing and fix an obvious factory defect. Good luck.
 
Like many posters said, make sure that Winchester has a good look at your rifle.
Assuming this is the case, they have no business shipping a faulty rifle and it's a huge liability for them in anything goes wrong.

Alex
 
762shooter said:
...It won't shoot. I suspect the seller knew the rifle was a problem and dumped it. Lucky me!

The chamber is way oversize and there is a major flaw on one side of the shoulder area of chamber. The tooling gouge is so deep that brass flows in to the gouge and leaves a large imprint on one side of the case shoulder. The seller told me he put about 100 rounds thru it and I've put about the same thru it so 200-250 round count now.
Click to expand...

Am I missing something here, you're saying that "It won't shoot" but you put "about 100 rounds thru it". Can you explain.
 
jackrabbit000 said:
Am I missing something here, you're saying that "It won't shoot" but you put "about 100 rounds thru it". Can you explain.
Click to expand...

There is absolutely no consistency to a string of shots, they're all over the place 2-2.5" "groups". I'm getting some rupturing cases and necks splitting. I've never seen anything like this before. I'm not a newby, I've got three other varmint/target weight .308 rifles and not one of them at their worst ever did what this does every group. I'm shooting handloads with 168 gr match grade bullets and standard loads of Varget and H4895. I've been handloading .308 since 1975. I've put more like 150 rnds thru it with a variety of loads. Trust me, there is a problem with this rifle.

I haven't had a chance to do a chamber cast yet but I got an idea of how to do a quick and dirty check to see how far back the shoulder would have to go to cut a new reasonably tight chamber.

I put the bolt in and pushed a rod in from the muzzle until it touched the bolt face and marked the muzzle location with a piece of masking tape. Then I carved a stick until I could jam a case on it. The case rim measured .470". Then I pushed the rim end of the case as far in to the chamber as I could with moderate pressure. Then I measured the distance from the muzzle to the tape. It measured about .580".

Then I repeated these steps on my Savage 12 FV. I've always felt, based on case observation and reloading that this rifle has a fairly tight
chamber. The measurement was .303".

Then I repeated on my Sportco. The measurement was .420".

So in order to rechamber this barrel it seems like the shoulder would have to go back about .300" to cut a decent new chamber. The shoulder is actually cylindrical for about 1" so it should be possible to rechamber it.
 
762shooter said:
There is absolutely no consistency to a string of shots, they're all over the place 2-2.5" "groups". I'm getting some rupturing cases and necks splitting. I've never seen anything like this before. I'm not a newby, I've got three other varmint/target weight .308 rifles and not one of them at their worst does what this does every group. I'm shooting handloads with 168 gr match grade bullets and standard loads of Varget and H4895. I've put more like 150 rnds thru it with a variety of loads. Trust me, there is a problem.
Click to expand...

Give the seller a bad rating. Guys should not be offloading their problem guns without giving you the heads up. If someone did that to me I would expect them to help me with Winchester. Your not the original owner but did he complete the registration. Contact him and find out.
 
I would simply set the barrel back the appropriate amount and re-chamber it. Once done, you'll soon forget the whole ordeal.
 
pbonura said:
Give the seller a bad rating. Guys should not be offloading their problem guns without giving you the heads up. If someone did that to me I would expect them to help me with Winchester. Your not the original owner but did he complete the registration. Contact him and find out.
Click to expand...

:agree: What kind of a trader rating did this guy have?
 
archie_james_c said:
Have guntech punch it to 300WSM throated for VLDs open the bolt face up and rock on :D
Click to expand...

Thats what I would do...

pbonura said:
Give the seller a bad rating. Guys should not be offloading their problem guns without giving you the heads up. If someone did that to me I would expect them to help me with Winchester. Your not the original owner but did he complete the registration. Contact him and find out.
Click to expand...


Normaiily I would agree, but seeing how the OP has had the rifle for 6-8 months, and has fired over 100 rds, I think its a bit late for a neg rating...
 
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