Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Winchester Model 70 Push Feed gas handling

Does the Winchester Model 70 push feed action suffer from the same ailment which allow the gases from a ruptured case to get to the shooter's face?

Pushfeed Winchester 70s don't have a coned breech, so by design they should handle escaping gas better.

Thanks. I just bought one for a song with a synthetic stock. With the integral recoil lug and 3 position safety which looks the firing pin, I am impressed with it. It is a really nice design and quite smooth.

They are supposed to be the top of the mark for push-feed actions - including forged receivers.

Had a early walnut sporter in .30-06.

A really nice rifle.




GR

It indeed had forged action, which reduced machine-time compared to the pre-'64s--which were machined from bar-stock, which used up a LOT of machine-time.

The gas-handling was far superior to the pre-'64, which basically had zero....

Whether the extractor is superior is a matter of opinion, the reason Winchester eventually came up with the Model 70 "Classic" action around 1990, which despite the supposed "gas-block" behind the extractor was pretty close to the original in allowing gas from a blown case to blow back into the shooter's face. I know this from personal experience....

The post-64's have generally been very accurate, especially if the barrel's free-floated per the original post-'64 design. But so were many pre-'64's, though often the bedding had to be tweaked.

Thanks for this confirmation. Bought a post 64 in 30-06 and it is a very good shooter. Price for the features on the used market was very good. But have wondered about wether the gas issue that the pre 64 design left exposed followed in the push feed redesign.
Still a fan of the original New Haven builds but don’t hot rod reloads or brass life in the 308FWT example I get to shoot.
Still sentimental for rifles built in the old building in NH, push or claw.

I view them as Winchester's evolution into the recessed bolt face feature while retaining the older m70 trigger system and 3 position safety. I have kept 2 of them and still enjoy, but they feel heavier than Rem 700's or Tikka's.

I used to see them every time I went to a used gun shop, but not so much anymore it seems people are keeping them.

They are pretty nice barm. Especially the XTR models.

My late friend had a .22/250. Nice walnut and bluing, excellent fit and finish, no spacers. I doubt he ever fired a group with it, but did shoot some deer with Hornady 55gr SPs my brother loaded for him, along with chucks in his hayfields and a feral cat.

He also shot the eye out of his own cat, mistaking it for a fox. He said he knew what he’d done when the cat flew into the air at the shot. It disappeared for a couple of weeks, then came home, most of him anyway…..

I accumulated a few push feeds. One 3006; I shot the primer blew out, gas escaped ( first time for me).
It was no big deal.

Hardly noticed it.

What am I doing wrong? Reloading and shooting everything, including some military boat anchors, since early 60's, every cartridge under the sun, thousands of rounds downrange in competition...still not a single gas escape event, I even fired a 6.5 Swede in a 7x57 once the only clue was, I missed the target.

I've owned a few post 64 M70s over the years. Really can't say anything bad about them. Never had one fail to fire or feed; accuracy was always quite good with a few close to being spectacular. A .308 that I won in a raffle now sits in a Ramline stock as the factory stock on that Youth Ranger was too short for me and my stepson was even bugger than me so the restock was necessary. I finally found a short action Featherweight stock so will probably bed it in that one sometime soon.
Paul B.

I bought an All SS M70 Push feed rifle 2 years ago in 300 win mag. I can kick myself for ever selling it.

I've been reloading since 1967 and have had 1 pierced primer and 0 case separations.

Rare events? Sure. Well, maybe not so rare if the rifle in question is a Ruger 10/22 that has been converted to 17HMR or 17HM2.

Can escaping gas events happen? Sure.

Bearrr264 had a case separation in a Savage 99 that had been rechambered from 300 SAV to 308 WIN. Whoever did the rechamber work didn't over-stamp the roll stamp on the barrel and may have cut the chamber wrong such that the case separated just forward to the case web. The escaping gas blew out the stock's "cheeks", peppering his right hand and the right side of his face with wood splinters. A high pucker factor event that illustrated the wisdom of wearing shooting glasses every time you squeeze the trigger.

That's scary!

I have a .30/06 FWT from 1981, it is a wonderful rifles. I just put it into a custom stock that I shaped and checkered myself. It is one of my favourite rifles, and is very accurate with many different loads.

(I have had only two case head seperations in my life, both from bad reloading practices of a friend of mine on the same afternoon. Felt the gas go by but that was all. This was in a BSA Majestic not a WIn70 though....)

VERY nice stock, both the wood and the workmanship, Carlsen!
What wood is that, BTW?

Thanks! ...I picked the stock wood from an old gunsmith, and the best I can say is that it is a dense walnut, knowing the guy I think its black walnut and probably originated from the USA. As usual the colours of woods dont photograph as well as they look in real life.
I enjoy checkering, and this design I stole from the kind of thing Jack OÇonnor used to have done to his in the old days. It's petty theft I know it, but hes not doing anything with it.

I am a big fan of the Winchester push feeds from the 1980's, I have had three over the years, they were all fault free, fed and extracted like a dream and shot into an inch with no experimentation. I let a .243 get away from me and have cursed my stupid past self ever since.

To me, the Winchester model 70 is the handsomest of rifles.

I really like your stock Carlsen.

That is a beautiful stock!