I think that the Winchester, Remington, Ruger debate is analogous to the Chevy, Dodge, Ford debate over which is the better pickup truck.
I've owned well over 100 Winchester 70s and a like number of Remington 700s, never had, or have personally seen, any of the problems with the Remington 700s that are repeatedly brought up. There have been over 5,000,000 Remington 700s sold, so it is logical to expect that as in any high volume production environment there will be a small, less than 1%, error rate. In high volume production, perfect is the enemy of good.
Buy whatever product appeals to you. Use it as is, or modify is to better suit your specific wants and needs. Personally, I have modified hundreds of firearms to suit my specific wants and needs better than they did in their original factory specs. I've cared enough to buy 70 or so McMillan stocks to replace perfectly useable original factory stocks because they fit my wants better. Most people don't care enough to spend much extra money to close the gap between good and better.
I can make any safety fire when taken off safety, if I can adjust it.... M70 type included.
But I leave the M70 triggers stock, and always replace the Rem700 triggers.
I own:
9 M70s
11 R700s
So far I have rebarrelled:
3 M70s : 270, 280ai, 25-06
9 R700s, 6mmBR, 6mmBR, 250sav, 6.5-06, 6.5-06. 7mmRM, 7mmRM, 7mmRM, 7mmSTW
I like Rem 700s and M70s the best for rebarreling, restocking, and hunting.
I like Mosins and Mausers next for rebarreling,
Arisakas are ok
Sav 110 designs, I think I am done rebarreling.
