Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles M70 Featherweight Compact 7mm/08

Campfire Classified special, rifle and rings from Mistem, scope from WoodsyAl last summer.

Rifle has unusual wood for a factory gun, each side differs from the other, on the left side the best grain is near the action, on the right side the best grain is on the butt.

Very cloudy day for photos with flat light that does not fully bring out the grain in the wood. {But the light was good enough to show marks on the barrel from handling that are not part of the bluing!}

First FN produced M70 I've looked at in detail. Very impressed so far with the fit, finish, action smoothness, etc.

13.0" LOP, 20" barrel, overall length about 39.5". Weight with scope (Leupold 2-7x28) and rings 7 lbs. 9.1 oz. on my scale.

To me it looks a little "chunky" -- also think many Kimbers look "fat" through the action area --(flame suit on!) when compared to some of the wonderful Mauser customs shown on another thread (e.g. TCI, Chetaf, and others). But it balances nicely and feels in the hand to weigh less than the scales show.





It has not been shot yet, waiting for better weather.

Rifle is intended for use by my petite DIL. Hopefully it will work for her. Otherwise I'll be forced to use it myself --- but sometimes sacrifices are necessary.

Very handsome rig!

One day, some rifle manufacturer will sacrifice 1 round of capacity for a rifle that doesn't look like it has the belly of a fat bass.

I thought the Kimber 84M had it about right, but the 8400 was pretty chunky around the magazine area.

Agreed, Dan.

Still, I think my son may end up with one of those, as a 'yute' gun. Assuming he doesn't grow right past that stage too soon! (He's pretty tall, like his dad.)

Update on rifle after shooting.

The fore-end on the factory stock touched the barrel along the right side. A quick group was over 3". Stock also weighs 2 lbs. 4 oz., about 8 oz. more than factory specs. Apparently the highly figured wood is quite dense.

So I ordered a blemished youth stock from CDNN, made for the New Haven made rifles. Had to inlet the stock for the one piece floor plate to fit. Blem stock weighs 8 oz. less than factory and has a 12.75" LOP. Bedded it at the recoil lug and tang. The stock has slight upward pressure on the barrel. Five shot group went into about 1". So it appears that the rifle will shoot if bedding is consistent - considering that I'm a mediocre shot.

Then I sanded out the barrel channel on the factory stock so that it no longer touched. It appears that the factory bedding is for a floated barrel. While doing this, bedding material was removed from the front and sides of the recoil lug (stay calm Redneck!) so I could more easily separate the stock from the action. Shot it after floating the barrel and got groups (5 shot and 3 shot) on a windy day that were about 1" and one at 2" (different load).

I am pleased with the rifle. With the replacement stock the fifth round feeds with more difficulty but the rest feed fine. (Probably due to my unskilled bedding of the floor plate.) With the factory stock all rounds feed smoothly.

The replacement stock is very plain, but functional. With it the rifle with scope and mounts weighs 7 lbs. 1 oz., about my target weight for the rifle.

In two weeks my DIL will see it for the first time. I'm hoping to do more load development before she comes as I may not have access to it after that!

My thoughts are that she will practice with the factory stock and hunt with it in the replacement stock. But that will be her choice.

(It is as much fun putting this all together for her as getting a new rifle for me!)

Nice looking wood on that rifle, good luck with the rifle!

Great post, sounds like you've just about got it all dialed in for her.....I do have one suggestion though, put some tru-oil down that barrel channel so it doesn't take in moisture and want to warp on you....it's a good preventitive measure that I always do to my rifles after sanding down the channel or if I have one that is pretty dried out. That rifle is a beauty too by the way. She's going to enjoy the heck out of it and I have to compliment you on your choice. Great rifle there.....

KDK, I hate to butt in here but how old were you when you got your first deer rifle and what was it chambered in??? You're a big guy like myself and i'll admit when I was 12 years old my dad bought me a sporterized m1917 30-06 with a heavy target barrel. That thing tipped the scales at over 10.5 pounds. With 6 cartridges in it I'm sure it went past 11....I carried that thing for miles and miles in the Nevada desert, just something to think about...Your son may outgrow a yute rifle in no time, maybe even over one summer if you think he's going to be a big guy like yourself.......

Dan, I thought that is what Ruger did with their Hawkeye??? You've got one just like mine (308 all weather) and it only holds 4.....Not that I like that idea

It's not for me but I will say it's a fine looking rig...good for you

Nice looking rifle.

Very nice.

BSA, thanks for the tip on sealing the wood. I did that with a coat of Varathane before buttoning it up.

Next will be a test of three different powders (H4350, Big Game, RL 15) in 1/2 grain increments with 139 g. Hornaday bullets because all I've shot so far have been starting loads from the manual.

Hoping for chronograph time tomorrow. (I don't test for accuracy with the chronograph because I don't trust myself and don't want to join the ranks of those who have killed their chronograph!)

Either love them or hate them, I've always had a sweet spot for the Featherweight stocks!!!!

That's a great looking rifle and a .270 in a short package can't be bad

Mike

Back from a session with the chronograph.

Three different powders, Big Game, RL 15, and H4350. PRVI brass, WLR primers, 139. Hornady BTSP bullets, 2.82 OAL seated just to cannelure. Did not shoot for groups, just a pressure/velocity series in 1/2 g. increments, two shots at each powder weight. With RL 15 and Big Game tended to follow Nosler #6 Manual for suggested charges, with H4350 followed Hodgdon's on-line data. Results:

Big Game:
45.5 g. = 2749 FPS
46 g. = 2780
46.5 g. = 2816
47 g. = 2821
47.5 g. = 2843

RL 15:FPS
40.5 g. = 2547
41 g. = 2599
41.5 g. = 2629

H4350FPS
48 g. = 2766
48.5 g. = 2766
49 g. = 2812
49.5 g. = 2842
50 g. = 2861

No sticky bolts or any signs of pressure other than slight cratering of primers on the Big Game and H4350 loads, but little or none on the RL 15 loads. 50 g. of BG with 120 Nosler BT also show a slight cratering. It may just be the rifle/primer combination. Another older M70 also craters primers with very mild loads. In my thin experience, primer cratering is highly variable and not particularly informative.

The higher H4350 loads are compressed and I had my first miss-fires in over 40 years of reloading (if my memory is reliable ), one at 49 g. and one at 49.5 g. Made me jittery!

Back home I pulled the bullets, one of the primers appeared to have ignited a little as there was some blackening and discoloration of the primer, not so with the other one. Both were struck twice by the firing pin just in case. Heavy dents in the primers and the rifle fired three subsequent cartridges with no problems. The powder was so compressed in the case that it would not all dump out and a thin wire to loosen it up was needed to empty the case.

So for me H4350 is out for this rifle. Do not like loads that compressed.

I have used this container of H4350 for other rifles and have had very consistent results (30-06, 257 R.). So don't think it is the powder.

The 7mm/08 PRVI brass has very tight primer pockets and that may be a factor. Or there were a couple of defective primers. But I've used a couple of hundred from the same carton with never a miss-fire. HMMMM???? Thinking that different brass may be in order.

Need more work with Big Game to see how accurate it is with 139-140 g. bullets.

RL 15 loads seem mild and the chronograph suggests that is the case but 41.5 g. is max in the Nosler Manual with 140 g. bullets so I have not ventured higher.

If the rifle will safely and accurately handle 140 g. Nosler partitions at 2800 FPS, then that should be adequate for anything DIL will ever hunt. Otherwise I'll load 120 Nosler BTs for antelope and deer for her.

ROR, I too very much like the fit and feel of M70 Featherweight stocks. Especially the old XTR stocks which run slimmer in all dimensions to the more recent New Haven versions and this SC FN stock.

Thanks for the post.
I value actual chrono data, although I realize that it pertains to your rifle only.

P

I'll be damned, it does only hold four....Maybe that's why I like it so much?

Might try some RL15 and 110 or 120 TSX. DIL might appreciate a little less recoil.

A very nice rig BTW.

Karnis, will follow your suggestion of RL 15 and 120 g. bullets. But believe I'll stay with the 120 Nosler BTS. I've never used Barnes bullets and for the cost of them, will stick with Nosler Partitions -- which I am familiar with -- if premium bullets are needed. If I go premium bullets; I have two unopened boxes of 140 Nosler Partitions with a price sticker on them of $8.99!! Yes, I've had them awhile! One advantage of being an old coot!

40 g. of RL 15 gives 2559 fps in the 20" barrel and a recoil calculator gives a figure of just over 9 ft. lbs. of free recoil for that load. Noticeably less that the 139 g. loads. That 120 g. load will get her some good trigger time and not be punishing.

Final update on M70 FW Compact.

DIL came last week, had to change the scope to one that was easier for her to use. The 2-7 Leupold ultralight has too small of an "eyebox" for a novice shooter. I put on a Leupold 1-4 shotgun scope with turkey plex reticle as it is very easy to use and see through for a beginner.

She shot it 28 times at targets and old milk jugs filled with water. With the replacement stock; all up the rifle weighs just over 7 lbs.

With the mild load of 120 g. bullets behind 40 g. of RL-15 she did not get sore and shot surprisingly well for a novice. When she got off the portable bench to shoot for the first time in her life from the sitting position my son and I were expecting her to miss. She nailed the 1st water jug, nicked the second but missed the 3rd. The jugs were about 125 yards away.

She loves the rifle and took it back to Colorado with them so she can use it when she takes hunter safety and to practice dry firing.

With her work schedule and my son's school and work schedules; they have little time to shoot so practice at home with dry firing is her best alternative (I did give her a complete Cabela's Big Game Hunter setup, just to provide some practice at getting on target quickly.)

She has more interest in hunting than any of my own kids (except for her husband) so it has been fun to introduce her to shooting and hunting. She went antelope hunting in 2010 when they were first married and pitched right in with the skinning and gutting. Now she wants to hunt them herself rather than tag along with us.

Mission successful in finding a big game capable rifle for a small statured adult!