Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Teach me about the Model 70

I think Bill’s is a push feed too.

As for feeding I would say both are acceptable if fixed. The 700 DM of mine is finicky. It feeds about as well as your old Mashburn PF70 that Bill has now. As in, it will feed if you work the bolt with authority quickly, but it pushes the round to the right if you move too slow.

My other 70s and 700s all feed without issue.

They can ALL have problems, if some were indeed bullet proof, no replacement repair parts would have ever been made, try as I might, pretty sure I'm never going have to buy a replacement head for my 8# splitting maul ; ]

Sounds like if I buy a model 70 classic with either moa or earlier trigger, in 30’06, 270 win, etc.....I can remove a spacer or put a 375 h&h mag in to get 3.6” oal cartridges in it?? Just confirming I’m reading right....

And maybe change the magazine follower, shorten ejector, open loading port. But a 375 H&H mag may be too wide and allow the cartridges to sit too low to feed well.

That’s a fact Gunner!

Yeah, the rifles you’re talking about Joel were Bills PF 300, my old Masher, and Bills old 700 7 Rem Mag. Not saying that Pre 64’s don’t have issues and the Classics can be parts rifles in a box but if they are worked out they are pretty damned hard to make act poorly.

Saying that, 700’s don’t bother me either. But like Gunner, things just break in my paws sometimes...

When you put a barrel on the model 70, true the action.

And even the PF70s are darn good. Like Gunner said I agree they can all have problems. My CRF 70 is a newer version, I’ve never had a Pre-64.

While I agree, my smith suggests most benefit little from this work and prefers to check them first.

Ive had plenty 700's fail to extract too. Finaly said im never buying another one of those sob's again. I dont trust them. Never had a pre 64 fail for any reason.

Ive short stroked my left hand 870 wingmaster while shooting doubles trap. Usually recovered and busted the bird when it was falling hard and fast though. I love Remington shotguns. Remington rifles and 22lr ammo, not so much. Seen far too many duds there

You really are out in left field, ain't ya???

Scotty does have a Pre-64 30-06 featherweight I would be willing to give a try...

You'd use the rest of your 700's to hang tomato vines..

Yup, wingmasters and featherweights make the world go round. The rest is kinda...meh

For a Win M70 Classic, as Utah said, shorten or replace the ejector and the bolt stop. Acquire a longer magazine cartridge follower. Mag box: simple way is to drill or dremel the spot welds on the rear of the factory mag box to remove the 0.200" spacer. Cleaner way is to purchase a .375H&H length mag box with out the spacer. Although not sure if it will work with 0.473" base cartridges. Probably will NOT need to enlarge the ejection port, which is a good thing. Many more options for scope bases and mounts for the standard 0.860" scope hole spacing versus the long magnum 0.330" scope bases.

FWIW, Redneck here on 24HCF would be a good resource if you wanted to just pay a Winchester M70 knowledgeable 'smith to do the work.

Yeah, those sacks gave me some kind of short barreled m700 in 308 Winchester with either an aimpoint or eo-tech on it, hell fire and brimstone, I short stroked a short action!

Well, that would be like a gorilla trying to ride a tricycle. What did you expect?

LOL, sombitch had a threaded barrel too, no telling what they'd been out doing!

IMO, nothing feeds like a M70 (except a 03 Springfield, which is basically cone-breeched the same way - imitation, flattery, and all).
I have 3 Pre-64s and one post 64 full length classic, and they are sweet, but I recently got a stainless 270 WSM which has a 3.00" magazine and that dang thing will cycle and feed a magazine full of EMPTY cases, those short, fat, steep-shouldered 270WSM cases, in and out of the chamber slicker than owl snot. Feeding just doesn't get any better than that, IMO.
The Rem 700 is a darn fine action and probably superior in inherent accuracy to the M70, but feeding-wise there's no contest. When it absolutely positively has to go BANG, the second (or third, or forth) time, use a model 70!

Cheers,
Rex