Win model 70 accuracy issues

C

Coyote-conquest

Member
Back in January I ordered a Win model
70 in 7mm-08 from buds. It's a beautiful rifle with some nice Tiger striping on the stock. I've been wanting another Model 70 for several years. The only other I had was a 300WM that I sold 15 years ago because the recoil was horrible with that rifle.
The problem with this is it sucks accuracy wise. I've tried 120 vmax, 139 SSTs and 139 BTSP and 154 interbonds with StaBall 6.5, Varget and N550.
It won't shoot better than 2" and most times much worse. I had a Burris Signature HD 3-15x44 on it and switched it out thinking maybe it went bad. I put a 3-16 S-tac on and same thing. I also replaced the trigger spring. I need a Timney but it's hard to throw money at a gun that won't shoot. The bedding didn't look bad but it's that glue stuff.
On the plus side, I bought a Rem 700 CDL in .243 about the same time that is a laser. It's also a really nice rifle. I'm really impressed with it.
It's a little disappointing to me that my remingtons shoot circles around my Winchester.
Any ideas what to do or should I send it to Winchester? I may bed it but not sure what else to do.
Thanks for any input
 
I bought a model 70 in 2021 new from sportsmans. It is a extreme weather chambered in 264 wm. Gun would shoot 4-6" at 100 yards no matter what loads I made up. I tried different scopes and mounts... no luck. I sent to winchester last year and after charging me to drill and tap to 8-40 screws they called and told me it won't shoot within thier spec.

Here's the kicker. I was given the option of half off a new rifle, or I could take the rifle back as is. That was after they had it for 5 months. No other options, and that was after I paid them almost 200 dollars. Frustrating, maybe my fault for not sending it in sooner.
 
545445454 said:
I bought a model 70 in 2021 new from sportsmans. It is a extreme weather chambered in 264 wm. Gun would shoot 4-6" at 100 yards no matter what loads I made up. I tried different scopes and mounts... no luck. I sent to winchester last year and after charging me to drill and tap to 8-40 screws they called and told me it won't shoot within thier spec.

Here's the kicker. I was given the option of half off a new rifle, or I could take the rifle back as is. That was after they had it for 5 months. No other options, and that was after I paid them almost 200 dollars. Frustrating, maybe my fault for not sending it in sooner.
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That is terrible customer service. I would be demanding either a replacement rifle or a full refund - period.
 
Coyote-conquest said:
Any ideas what to do or should I send it to Winchester? I may bed it but not sure what else to do.
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Based on 545445454's experience, I don't think I'd waste time and money sending it back to Winchester.:mad: IDK anything about the newer model 70's but have a long affinity to the pre and post 1964 models. On the older models, first thing I'd look at is bedding. Take a look at the magazine box. It will go in upside down, but not allow action to seat correctly in the stock. Another possibility is if the recoil lug is bottoming out in stock which lets action rock back & forth.
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First, check your magazine box and make sure recoil lug does not bottom out; then I'd try making a couple of cardboard shims and place one under the tang and another under the chamber area of barrel just for kicks and shoot a couple of rounds to see if it improves. Again, if your rifle still has the center mag. floor plate/trigger guard screws, do not overtighten the center screw, (front and rear screws of 65 in# torque written on trigger picture was for my pre-64 Mod 70 match rifle w/glass bedded wood stock) .
If the shims help, a proper bedding is in order.
If the trigger on your rifle is the old model 70 trigger, which I believe they used on some of the last Model 70's made in the US, it can be tuned very easily by carefully polishing the contact surfaces and adjusting as follows. Very easy to get a clean 3.5-4# trigger on the old style triggers. For offhand shooting, I prefer to back off the overtravel screw so there is no stop, in fact I do so on all my rifles.

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I think I'm going to call Winchester and see what they say. I've looked it over really well and don't see anything that would make me think it's the culprit. It's supposed to have a 3 shot accuracy guarantee.
 
My gunsmith has a newer Mod 70. I can't off hand remember the caliber, but he's having accuracy issues as well. He was going to bed the action first but I haven't talked to him lately to know if it improved.
 
All you can do is check the usual accuracy disruption, mount screw making contact with barrel threads(thru receiver), action stress (warped)when action screws torqued properly. This warping is due to recoil lug clearance issues, binding in magazine, floorplate. Than its properly mounted , functioning scope. And good support while shootng(bags), no lead sled. Otherwise it's the barrel or the shooter.
 
I shoot a Hornady 139 grain BTSP and 47.5 grains of IMR 4350 in my Remington. Its my Go-To hunting rifle. This load is pretty mild in my rifle but will stack bullets on top of each other. Does a fine job of DRT on deer and hogs too. Its possible you just haven't found the right mix yet. My rifle didn't care for light bullets at all. I more or less just stumbled on to this load and it shot so well I just stopped there. Its not real fast, 2750FPS, but its so accurate I can live without more velocity.
 


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