Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Pre '64 Model 70 Question???

I have this Pre'64 Model 70 in 30.06 that my father got in 1951. In all I'd reasonably guess that it has only 100 or so rounds through it.

About a year ago I put it in a Bell & Carlson stock. Finally took it out today and was pretty happy with the accuracy I received.

Several times it failed to eject the spent round. The claw slipped off the rim of the case. Unfortunately I didn't separate those cases from the rest.

I removed the firing pin assembly and ran some 35 rounds thru it without a hitch.

The front of the extractor blade appears to be intact with no clips or anything broken.

Any idea what might be going on here???

If more info is needed please ask!!!

Doesn't sound like your typical pre 64 model 70. What gives???

I have had model 70's do this due to the claw not holding the case tightly against the bolt face. Check to see if the claw will hold a empty case against the bolt face with the bolt out of the gun.

rah, You say "failed to eject". Did it extract from the chamber and then fail to throw clear of port?
Or did the claw slip off and leave a stuck case?

Work briskly and see if it works correctly.

Try a new extractor. I think Brownell's sells them. Check the ejector and ejector spring. Replace if needed.

It never failed to pull the fired case from the chamber. The case slipped off the ejector once it was above the next round!

I removed the firing pin assembly and did work it briskly with loaded ammo, all the cases literally flew out.

At the range a couple times when a spent case slipped off I rechambered it and worked it briskly and several times it still slipped off!!!

Could the brass have any effect on this???

I had a M70 pre 64 300 Win Mag behave in similar fashion one time when I put it in an after market stock...I put it back in the original stock and it functioned perfectly.Why I don't know but suspect it had something to do with the whole follower,ejector/timing relationship.

I tossed the after market stock in the corner...pre 64 M70's work the nuts until folks start messing around with them.

Your rifle is ejecting live ammo because there is a bullet in the front to add inertia...this is absent in fired cases.It has to be retimed in the hands of a good smith.Something got screwed up moving it to an aftermarket stock.

Sounds like the ejector is not riding up as briskly as it should when the bolt is stroked to the rear.

How do you re time a Mod 70 action ???

Just did some looking into this and at Ben's suggestion I tried a few things. I was shooting Hornady and Federal ammo. The empty Hornady cases will not stay in the end the bolt. The federal cases snapped in and stayed in!!!

There are some rather substantial dimension differences among cartridge brands. For a year or so bags of Win 45-70 unprimed brass were arriving with 3 to 5 Horn cartridges inside. The Horns were about 1/16" shorter. A recent discussion on 6.5x55 cartridges exposed the fact that rim diameters vary substantially among makers too.

One might do some diameter and thickness measurements and get back to us with the results. Always glad to garner info here without having to do it through experience.

1minute......I did do some measurements. The outside diameter of the extractor groove was as much as .015" bigger on the Federal brass than on the Hornady brass. The Federal ammo stuck good on the bolt....so good that even skaking it wouldn't free the brass.

The Hornady ammo is the most accurate in this rifle.....it figures!!!

I'd say .015" is quite a bit. I would call Hornady and see if that is THEIR version of SAAMI specs or a QC issue that got away from them. Keep us posted.

Nicely done here to dope out the problem before an unecessary trip to the "gun doctor".

If that extractor is balking because of minor dimensional differences in brass,I'd replace it...in over 40 years of shooting and hunting pre 64 M70's, I've never seen an extrator fail to function for that reason....matter of fact I can't recall one failing to extract and eject ...period.

I think you got a bad one, or needs adjustment....seems it is not holding the cases firmly against the bolt face when the case hits the ejector.

rahtreelimbs,

This has been covered in the past. The first thing to check is the extractor cartridge "pinch". To do this remove the bolt from the reciver, rotate the extractor to the proper position, the extractor should hold the round on the bolt face. If not, the tail of the extractor needs to be adjusted. To adjust the extractor tail you must remove the extractor from the bolt and bend the tail to create pressure on the cartridge in the bolt face.

I hope this helps,
Headache

Just saw this thread today - and your advice is spot on..

I had a conversation with Redneck today and he told me how to make a few adjustments on the extractor. This seems to have cured my problem!!!

Thanx Redneck!!!

Always willing to help a M70 owner whenever I can.. Best wishes Rich..

Redneck/Headache:
Adjusting the "tail". Does it mean you bend it closer to the bolt face? How is that done? With a small hammer? Hand pressure?
Thanks, it would be a good thing to know given the number of 'pre 64's in the sage.