Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles FN Winchester M70 - MOA Trigger

Hello All,

Wanted to let you guys know that Timney is working on a trigger for the SC Winchester M70. They didn't want to give me any information regarding a release date but said it's likely to be out this year.

Tom

Thanks for letting us know.

Wondering out loud what is wrong with the factory trigger that a Timney will improve?

Main thing it will do is make Timney some money.

What is wrong with the trigger? I'm guessing it's one of those things that if you've ever shot a fine trigger you'd just know.

It will make Timney some money but it will also make some folks really happy and in my opinion help complete an otherwise amazing rifle. I just wish they had left the original trigger in the rifle instead of [bleep] with it. Makes me never want to own a Browning rifle. Likely won't.

Tom

Ditto...

That I agree with....going Timney seems like just a lateral move to me...don't care for an enclosed trigger in a BG rifle....but that's just me...

I also agree that the Timney is a lateral move but it will be a far more superior trigger. The Timney's that I've dealt with have been amazing.

Tom

From what I've heard, the old open trigger required hand fitting, which would explain why they varied a lot. And to make them great, you nearly always had to stone, adjust and time them further.

The MOA doesn't require as much hand fitting and adjustment during assembly.

Based on my sample of 2 MOAs and 3 Timneys (on Remington 700s) I would take the MOA every time. At least until verifiable reports of problems with the MOA start coming in.

In a perfect world, I wish FN had just figured out how to keep the old trigger, but they didn't. So I'll buy whichever rifle I want, regardless of what trigger it comes from the factory with.

Obviously, YMMV.

I agree, both of my MOA triggers are very good.

Here is my issue with the above. Yes they are very good. But no matter how much money and time you have they can't be made to be great. That is the biggest failure in my opinion.

The original M70 trigger with a $40 trigger job would be spectacular, safe and very unlikely to fail.

Tom

That's a moot point because I don't think anyone here has really had enough time to put the moa trigger to the test. It may prove to be just as good as a timney, I agree it is just a lateral move and not much if anything will be gained by replacing it (except your wallet will be that much lighter). I agree they shouldn't have [bleep] with the original design. Hell, my FN PBR XP trigger is just a refined model 70 single stage, but boy is it nice . Why couldn't they have just put something like that in instead, is my question.

If you look at the changes in ownership of those who are licensed to build the M70, you can see why they would have replaced the Winchester trigger with the Browning trigger:

- On January 16, 2006 U.S. Repeating Arms announced it was closing the New Haven, Connecticut, plant where Winchester rifles and shotguns were produced for 140 years.

- On August 15, 2006, Olin Corporation, owner of the Winchester trademarks, announced that it had entered into a new license agreement with Browning to make Winchester brand rifles and shotguns, though not at the closed Winchester plant in New Haven.

- In 2008 Fabrique Nationale announced that it would produce Model 70 rifles at its plant in Columbia, SC.

The Winchester Repeating Arms Company WAS a prominent American maker of repeating firearms, located in New Haven Connecticut. The Winchester brand is today used under license by two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group, Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Morgan, Utah.

As a result, they made a business decision to dump the Winchester trigger and replace it with their in-house Browning box trigger.

Because Fabrique Nationale/Browning changed the M70 receiver to use their Browning box trigger, the Winchester trigger no longer fits. As a result, I have a preference for the older NH rifles. If you have a SC M70, you're stuck with a box trigger, and their Browning box trigger is probably as good as any for a hunting rifle, including the Timney. Some could care less as they prefer the feel of a clean breaking trigger straight out of the box without any tinkering. But, some like to tinker with their rifles and are fond of the robust Mauser design for a hard use hunting rifle. I prefer the former for target rifles with the later for hunting rifles.

Best

Great post Gary. It makes sense.

Gary's post was well stated,and I agree with it.Really a shame they changed the trigger,as in every other way an out of box SC rifle is nicer than the NH guns across the board.Just built better IMO.

I never regarded the old trigger as any sort of a handicap in a BG rifle......just get it tuned.No problem.

When I say superior I mean from a trigger pull weight, feel and consistency.

Not mechanically but I do also think they Timney would be superior in that category as well.

Tom

After sending about 100 rounds down range with my new 308, I really don't mind the moa trigger. I still like my Ruger m77 hawkeye LC6 trigger (don't get me wrong, the LC6 needed some fine tuning like all M77'S) better though. One thing I've noticed with the moa is it has no creep like I originally thought but has a side to side movement that makes noise that is noticable when my cheek is welded to the stock and I'm getting ready for the shot. It is a little annoying, but as far as the function of the moa, it is pretty crisp, smooth and like I said before has no creep. I may have to try one of ernie's springs in it, as I've adjusted it as light as it will go and it is still somewhat heavier than my hawkeye.

Hell I just yank the thing and it goes bang. What's wrong with that method?

Nothing karnis, if you are a caveman . Karnis, I know you are a bigtime model 70 guy, what is your take on the new trigger vs the old one?

I think they are fine, certainly not as "bomb proof" as the NH trigger. If I was going to hunt in extreme conditions, I think the older trigger or better yet, a single stage 98 type trigger would be the berries.

I've fiddled around with a couple of the MOA triggers to get them to 3 lbs with no creep. They feel lighter than that to me and are very "repeatable". Really not an altogether different idea than the 700 triggers and I've never had problems with them. Sooooo...........I'll keep yanking on the one that brung me until it fails.