Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters NEW WINCHESTER MODEL 70 ACCURACY?

Mule Deer, What was the nature of the bedding problems with the late NH rifles? Is there an easy fix for the problem? I have a .270 WSM that needs something. It seems to print two separate groups with several different loads and one 6" group with other loads.

Greg: Congrats on the pronghorn...that is a really good buck. I'm glad to see the new M70's are doing so well for so many people.I like mine!

Someone recently wrote that if the people at FN can satisfy government standards.they are gonna be able to keep us pretty happy!

I bought an Extreme Weather in 300 WSM the other day. I took it to a local range with 4 boxes of factory ammo. I had Winchester XP3 180gr, Winchester E-Tip 180gr, Federal Accubond 180gr and Federal Trophy Bonded Tipped 165gr.

The E-Tip load and XP3 didn't didn't seem to want to shoot, but the groups were not strung. Triangles, but 1 3/4 to 2 inch triangles. The Trophy Bonded 165gr load got me thinking happy thoughts with the first group when it printed two shots one on top of the other. Then, the third shot went 1 1/2 inches low. Two more groups later, no other bullets were tightly grouped. 1 1/2 to 2 inch groups. The 180gr Accubond load fired a 5-shot group into 1 1/4 inches. I'm not sure if it was me, but I would fire two shots touching and the next two shots 1 inch away and touching.

I'm not super excited with the groups so far, but I'm not going to get too upset until after I try handloads and a more comfortable bench. I was at a new range and could not get comfortable. That might have had a lot to do with it.

The trigger on mine is super heavy. I took it apart and there was a lot of goop covering the trigger pull-weight screw and the overtravel screw. I spent some time scraping the goop off and picking it out of the screw heads. Then found out that I didn't have a 1/16 allen head, so the tinkering stopped. I did notice that the trigger pull-weight screw seemed to be screwed in a lot further than the overtravel screw. After putting the gun back together, I could stick my finger into the trigger guard with the entire weight of the rifle and the trigger would still not break.

Dan: The 300 WSM I played with a bit showed a prefernce for certain factory ammo, too,but shot very well with what it "liked".I find this to be pretty common with rifles that are well bedded and they show a preference.This is unlike my 270 which has shot everything well so far.

Your trigger does seem heavy.....have not seen that with any myself so far.

You have serious problems. I had one so wild, like yours, I simply could not believe the size of the groups. The scope was tested on another rifle. It appears to be a bedding problem or loose scope or bases.

I bedded it at the forend, putting a lot of upward pressure there, not simply a neutral pad. It started shooting everything under 1.75, but several loads now consistently are under .5 MOA. It was difficult to believe that barrel harmonics were causing 6" grouups with some loads, but it happened and it was a light contoured barrel. It took a lot of experimenting with pressures and different reloads to get there.

If you can't resolve this, you are owed a refund for sure.

Can any of you guys offer a comparison of general quality and accuracy for the older Winlite PF rifles vs. the new SC Featherweight rifles? Thanks, Rooster

Slasher, I took it out of the stock last night and noticed a shiny patch on the inside of the forend and that the action would slide front to rear in the stock. They didn't put any shoo-goo in this one. I free floated the barrel and will try again it next week. I will try shoo-goo and some shims if that does not work.

Jim,

Just saw your posting.. Sorry about the delay getting back to you.
I'm not using a Chrony, although I have one. But, whatever 45 grains of H-414, and Federal 210 primers with the 140 grain Partition delivers for velocity, it what it is.
The other load that shoots well is the 100 grain Sierra HP, and 42.0 grains of Varget, along with the Fed 210's. Three shots into 1/2" groups for both loads, at 100 yards.


Take care,

Don

BobinNH,
not too much of a side-track, but what scope did you put on your 270fw? (figured a question faster than search function)
thanks.

I'm thinking the issues I'm having with mine aren't full-fledged "problems" yet. I picked up a set of itty-bitty allen heads last night. I'll try to adjust the trigger tonight. I'll then put it back together and check all the screws and then see what happens.

I have found the USRAC Model 70's sometimes had bedding problems and required that a small Accraglass land about 1/4 inch wide and 0.050 inches high be cast between two 0.050 thick plastic shims. This should be done in the stock's fore-end tip barrel channel not more than 3/8th inch back from the tip.

Make sure that the shims and barrel are coated with release agent and remove the shims after hardening and trim the edges of the Accraglass land with a razor. This bedding method will often cure stock bedding issues and will tighten up groups.

I have done the treatment on three Featherweight and two Sporter, USRAC Model 70's and it improved grouping and group consistency on all of these rifles.

wmeek: I have a 4X Zeiss Conquest on my FN 270;the 300 WSM belongs to a buddy,and it has a 2.5-8 Leup VX III.

Dan: The 165 Fusion shot well right away from the 300 WSM; the tipped TBBC did not do so well.

My FN Model 70 was glass bedded at the lug when I received it new.

Thanks for the reply..

Most of my load developement is done by the "H.I.T"(holes in the target) method, too.LOL

Accuracy is my first priority as well. All the speed in the world don't mean a thing if it is not put in the right place..

BobinNH,
thanks!

I took the rifle out of its stock and cleaned up some things. There was some fiberglass that had been pushed into the barrel channel from where the sling stud had been drilled in. I scraped the goop off of the trigger adjustment screws but haven't fooled too much with that yet. I took some Federal 165gr Barnes TSX loads and 150gr Nosler Ballistic Tip loads out and was amazed that each load would print tight cloverleafs at 100. Moving out to 200, groups stayed within 2 inches without a problem. I'm thinking that this rifle has some potential now.

Dan: There ya go!Do you hand load?

I do handload. I'm going against my better judgement and will be using this rifle for next week's mule deer hunt. I don't normally buy a rifle two weeks prior to hunting season and then actually use it.

However, I am very familiar with Winchester M70s in function and have been able to put 120 rounds through it over the last few days. I've shot it out to 300 yards from field positions, so that will be my limit. I don't know what kind of groups I'm getting, but I'm having no problem keeping 5 of 5 shots on a 10 inch steel plate at 300. That should be minute of deer.

This winter, I'll be doing the load development for the rifle. I picked up some RL17 and Magpro. I have H4350, RL19, H4831 and RL22. Hopefully, I'll be able to take a deer with the TSX. I've never used them before and am interested to see what the hububs about.

My go to load for my .300 WSM Browning A-Bolt Medalion is 69 grains of IMR 4350 with the Nosler 165 Partition, W-W cases and Fed 215 primers. This load is maximum and should be worked up to from 10% below. In my rifle, it shoots consistant groups at less than MOA to 300 yards.