Yesterday I wound up with a used Winchester model 70 in 270WSM at the local gun show. It is the all-weather version with the composite stock and stainless steel barreled action.

I'm not having much luck working out its date of manufacture, except that it was made after 1994... The composite stock has checkering, not oval-shaped gripping surfaces, and it has the old-style model 70 trigger, not the new one that is in a housing. The floor-plate is the newer two-piece type.

Inspecting it without my borescope since the associated computer is tied up with another task, it looks to have seen some use, but not much abuse. It cleaned up easily, but of course I will not know the whole story on it until I can use the borescope to examine the throat area, where any abuse of a magnum rifle will first show.

I noticed that it failed the "dollar bill" test pretty conclusively, I couldn't get a piece of paper in-between the barrel and the composite stock at any point. So I removed it from the stock and went to work on the stock with good old 100 grit sandpaper, using a square backing for the sides of the barrel channel except right at the fore-end tip, where a dowel worked out much better. Now it is free-floated except for some upward pressure at the fore-end tip that I decided to leave on there, for the time-being.

The trigger breaks at just under three pounds and there is not a lot of over-travel, so it looks like that is not going to need any attention.

I have owned one model 70 in the past, almost thirty years ago, and am very pleased to finally wind up with another one. I had forgotten how elegant and well-designed the action is. Sooner or later, the black composite stock will have to go.

Getting back to the 270WSM cartridge is something I look forward to. Recoil is moderate for a magnum, but it still has enough grunt for any hunting situation that I am likely to encounter. I bought a box of 150 grain power-point Winchester silver-box ammo, so I would have some brass to play with, and a set of RCBS dies. I already have powder, primers and a fresh box of a hundred 130 grain bullets that I can experiment with.

I had a Nikon Prostaff 3-9x40 BDC scope on hand, so I fixed it up with that, for the time-being.

Can anybody advise me on how to nail down the rifle's manufacturing date? The information at the Winchester web-site does not extend past 1994 or so.

Pictures later, I'm too lazy to go out to the truck and retrieve my camera.

Charles, I don't think there's any way to ascertain the date of manufacture without a letter to the Winchester folks. I'm always interested in Model 70s myself, so I gotta ask you which action it is---CRF, push feed, or controlled round push feed?

I agree with you strongly on the design (especially the CRF) of the M70. The triggers and the 3-position safeties just can't be beat. I've always liked Model 70s. After going without one for a number of years and then acquiring another one six or seven years ago, my safe has begun to fill up with them. As far as I am concerned, they are THE hunting rifle to have!

Here are some images, it looks like a variety of CRF. I am not familiar with CRF push feed, so don't know what to look for.

My previous model 70, a 338WM, was bought new in the push-feed era.









Hope to shoot it soon.

I finally got to inspect it with the bore scope, and found that it has seen very little use. - almost like a new gun, though I suspect it is perhaps ten years old or so. No sign of the heat-cracking around the throat area that I really expected to discover.

Remembering stories about feeding problems with the WSM cartridges, I loaded the magazine and cycled the action. It feeds and ejects flawlessly.

If it doesn't rain tomorrow morning, I intend to shoot a few times and see how it does. It is only laser-boresighted so I'll have to burn a few rounds to get it properly on target.

The butt-pad looks like it was once quite soft, but it is much like tire rubber now. It is going to kick a bit.

Controlled Round Feed:





Push Feed:





Controlled Round Push Feed:

Yours is CRF...and a nice rifle!

Nice rifle in one of my most wanted calibers.

I took it out and shot a box of 150 grain Winchester silver box loads that I had. As predicted, the tire-rubber recoil pad made me smart a little when firing it from the bench.

Groups at 50 yards hovered around 3/4 to one inch. I fooled around and waited five to ten minutes between shots. With the last round, I decided to shoot standing up at an 8" gong at 100 yards. I hit the gong OK, but after shooting 19 rounds from the bench, standing up did little to ease the sting on my shoulder.

After the shooting was done, I belatedly realized that I had left the 3-9 scope at 4 power. I might have got a little bit better groups if I had cranked it up.

That stock has got to go. If I were going to keep it, I'd put a better pad on it. I really intend have walnut or laminate though, so I hate to invest in the composite stock right now. I doubt if it be will on there for more than a month or so.

I'll just put up with being battered a bit until I can finagle the new stock. The new one will have a Pachmyer decellerator pad on it, you can be sure of that.

Here I will express my delight in not getting burned on a gun-show purchase of a used firearm, for a change.

Can anyone identify the brand of rings and mounts that I have from the pictures? - I'd like to get some shorter rings.

I have Model 70 Super Grade CRF in .270 Win., she's a tack driver and beautiful to boot. Not sure what rings and bases you have on yours currently, I have a set of DNZ medium height one piece base/rings on mine. Rock solid, I really like them.

Those are Leupold Dual Dovetails, Charles. That is an excellent mounting system, by the way. The rings look like HIGHs to me, and I think MEDIUMs would work perfectly. Actually, it's good that you want to replace them...a set in Matte finish would look a lot better.

I can't really see what the recoil pad on that stock is like. I know that you can find nice OEM walnut stocks for Model 70s pretty easily on ebay, but I couldn't say whether the recoil pads on them are any better. I'm sure you can handle changing one out, though.

Back in the day...not tooo long ago...CDNN closed out the last of the NH M70 stocks for way cheap $'s...might be worth a phone call to see if there any leftovers that'd help you. Same song third verse with a phone call to Boyd's for one of their closeouts that I get EMails about almost daily.
Ron

My son and I discussed the stock today. We decided on a Boyd's "Prairie Hunter" stock with the raised Monte Carlo cheek-piece in pepper laminate, a Pachmyer decelerator pad and "Fluer de'Lis Scale" checkering. With those options it will come to just over two hundred bills, and probably will not look too bad.

I was leaning toward walnut, but he made the point that the laminate is slightly heavier and will reduce the perceived recoil by some amount. He is a big fan of pepper laminate, and I suppose it should go well with the stainless metalwork. I know the Sako Grey Wolf model looks good that way.

I'll float the barrel and glass bed the action. We also agreed to thread the barrel and install a combination tuner/muzzle brake, but that will come a bit later.

It shoots well enough to hang onto. Somebody waved money at me today, wanting to buy it but I had to say no.

I had never heard of controlled round push feed either Charles so I just looked it up. The wonders never cease.

1992 Classic Model (Controlled Round Feed and Controlled Round Push Feed) Edit
At the same time as the CRF feature was re-introduced, a recent innovation allowed the short extractor used on the post-'64 models to ride over the extraction groove on a cartridge, giving controlled feeding without the expense of the long Mauser type extractor. This was called Controlled Round Push Feed. This is achieved by the use of the post-'64 extractor, combined with the pre-'64 bolt face relieved at the bottom allowing the round to engage the bolt face from underneath.

I've owned Remington, Savage, Weatherby, CZ(my favorite of what I've owned), Lee Enfield and 1903A3. It's funny that the one rifle that I've never owned is a M70. And an M70 is the rifle I would like to own the most.

So congratulations. When funds allow I'm going to get a new FN M70 Sporter .270 and have my 700 ADL rebarreled to 6mm-06 or 6mm-284. That is if the Winchester is a shooter.

The Sporter in 270 was the one that I was wanting to get, then I got this gun in a trade. I'd still like to have a Sporter, I like that stock the best of all. Those things are beautiful.

I'm with you. I usually hear people talking about the Featherweight but I've always liked the Sporter best. I also like the extra two inches of barrel you get.