Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles New Haven Model 70 feeding question

I have a 5 digit stainless Classic. The rifle started life as a .300 Win. mag., which I had rebarreled to a .338 Win. mag. It is by far and away one the most positive CRF rifle I have ever encountered. At rest with the bolt to the rear, the nose of the follower in this rifle is above the rails and almost at the same elevation as the top of the feed ramp. It may not be technically correct, but it sure as hell works. CP.

Thanks for the replies. I am not at home so can't get pics right now. My follower is just above the rail and nowhere near the top of the feed ramp. It only seems like the front 1/2" to 1" of the follower is narrow enough to get above the rails. The rifle feeds ammo ok but seems the cycle with a "hitch"!! Not like greased sausages by any means!! My spring is not like your pics. I don't have that loop on the bottom leg at the back pof the magazine. My spring has a little dogleg bend on the bottom just behind where it slides into the floorplate.

It would be good to hear from the OP about what exactly the rifle is doing. I have seen what he's talking about with the follower. he might need a new one.

Winchester/USRAC never got it completely straight when it came to followers, as evidenced by them using the type bsa shows in the photos,as well as a double dished variety that has those scooped out areas in the middle of the follower.They also produced some Classics with followers made of plastic.(?). It was a grab bag of lowest common denominator.

In any event, I had one last spring that did what the OP talks about;not popping out of the rails (which really does not mean much with a full magazine).But the back ends of the cartridges did not ride up parallel with the noses of the cartridges. The bolt would ride over the case head instead of picking the case up to feed.

It turned out to be a simple fix....I grabbed the follower spring at the top two "V" curves and gently, but firmly,bent them up with my hands. This had the immediate effect of making the follower ride up parallel in the box instead of tilting,and feeding was perfect thereafter.

Could I have over bent the spring and broken it(before some one asks)? Sure, who cares?...... it didn't work anyway.

This might not put me in the same class with Darcy Echols or Penrod when it comes to making a rifle feed right....but it worked fine after that and I could not make it jam or fail to feed.

Are there any replacement springs available that are of higher quality and strength?

Thanks Brad... And you and your family be sure to have a merry Christmas. CP.

Are there any replacement springs available that are of higher quality and strength?

Hello

I have an early 5 digit G series New Haven classic in 7mm Rem Mag. The gun is not 100% reliable with regards to feeding. I have a new spring ordered but was wondering about the follower. When you cycle the bolt with no rounds in it the follower dips at the rear and the front portion seems to get above the rails a little bit. It ends up on an angle so the bolt doesn't bind on it and just pushes it back down into place below the rails. Is this normal or is something wrong with the follower or receiver? The follower doesn't get way up above the rails but just a bit at the very front of the action. Thanks for any help.