The only part of the lug that should be making contact is the rear surface. I like to see at least .020 clearance everywhere else. If the bottom of the lug is bedded tight, that needs to have at least .030 minimum on the Model 70's. Make sure and take a needle point file or something similar and radius/roll over all the 90 degree corners and edges in the bedding....another cause of bedding problems. You can see the edge relieving in this pic:
What I wish my bedding jobs looked like. Good job
PAC NOR featherweight model 70 fliers
- Thread starter Markg308
- Start date
Alright I relieved the flat spot at back of bedding near tang, sanded down the “C” by front screw filed down all the sharp edges and noticed the bolt handle was slightly rubbing on the stock and had a small dent I’m guessing from bolt moving through recoil. Sanded that down some and waiting on a chance to get to the range.
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The front and bottom I taped off the sides I didn’t.
FNSafari
Gold $$ Contributor
Al, excellent point regarding win 70. I just dove into an early 1950's 30-06 M70 featherweight I bought and backed the center screw out them turned in in just barely to hold it. It brought the 3 shot groups with Sierra 150 grain pro hunter bullets down to about .95 from 1.25.
I dont have much to add other than saying that I think you are on the right track with relieving binding areas in the bedding surface. I have a Remington 700 varmint laminate that acted simalor with fliers until I relieved bedding material under the chamber and the sides and front of the recoil lug.
Mark, did you make the pillars yourself or did you find a kit? I see Ernie the gunsmith sells a kit for ~$30 but the pillars are machined to match the bottom metal angle
I made them myself on a mini lathe.
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Well picked up a box of 168 fgmm and shot 3 5shot groups and same thing. I did notice the bolt was hard to close on all of the rounds I shot like the headspace was a bit long on the brass.
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To me it looks like you’re flyer is gone, now it’s just bad harmonics. I’d stick one of those cheap limbsaver tuners and adjust 1/2” each group. If it tunes into one hole, I’d take it off, then I’d adjust bullet depth until it’s the tightest and then .01 ladder both directions until 1 hole.
hogpatrol
Gold $$ Contributor
Many skinny barrel factory guns have pressure points and shoot worse if removed. I'd try a dab of bedding two to three inches from the end of the forearm. Still allow time between shots when developing loads. Another option is packing some material under the barrel in the same spot.
I'm not a Winchester guy, but if I had a 700 or a custom action that was tossing shots out I would check for overly long screws touching something they shouldn't, such as the bolt or barrel tenon. A bolt handle that touches the stock can cause similar problems, but your pics suggest that is not the case.
If everything checked out, I would scrub the heck out of it with emphasis on the throat and carry on with load development.
If everything checked out, I would scrub the heck out of it with emphasis on the throat and carry on with load development.
Guess it’s time to try and tune a load for this gun. Tried some factory Berger ammunition today and the horizontal groups turned into vertical The three shots left of center target I used the outside corner of center square as a poa and is it’s own group as I ran out of stuff to shoot at.
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Mark, just a thought here. I recently picked up a new Super Grade. Early on I had frequent failure to fire with the rifle. I eventually replaced the firing pin spring with a modified Remington 700 short action spring. I did this because at this time Wolff doesn't yet offer a spring for the new production Winchesters. I selected the 32 pound spring and shortened it to match the length of the original Winchester spring. The rifle has been 100% reliable since, and does quite well for a factory tube.
I bring this up because I also have a similar vintage Featherweight that, while reliable, has a similar soft "thud" while dry firing versus the hearty snap my M700's have had. I believe the new 70s could be considered under-sprung, which would potentially cause ignition inconsistency. It would be worth it, in my mind for you to try upping your firing pin spring to 28-32 pound. It'll cost you about $12 and a couple hours of your time to rule it out.
I bring this up because I also have a similar vintage Featherweight that, while reliable, has a similar soft "thud" while dry firing versus the hearty snap my M700's have had. I believe the new 70s could be considered under-sprung, which would potentially cause ignition inconsistency. It would be worth it, in my mind for you to try upping your firing pin spring to 28-32 pound. It'll cost you about $12 and a couple hours of your time to rule it out.
I’ll have to give that a try
AlNyhus
Silver $$ Contributor
You clearly made some headway by tweaking the bedding as the big fliers are gone. If your not shooting over some type of wind flag, it's pretty tough to know whether the horizontal is real or not.
The horizontal with the Berger stuff is actually good to see....shows that the barrel will tune. The Berger stuff just needs more or less powder to get the vertical out. It also shows that the barrel responds to a good bullet.
As Adam in Wi suggested, giving it some more firing pin springs is advisable on the 'new' Model 70's. Poor primer performance from weak hits can certainly show up on target....sometimes. And sometimes not. But for a couple of bucks, it's cheap insurance.
Factory ammo is always a tough road, especially with a light barreled gun like yours. Honestly, if you don't want to get into hand loading to tune the gun, I'd suggest testing the Hornady 168 stuff some more and if it repeats that performance, buy a bunch and enjoy it.
All in all, 1/2" Model 70 FW is pretty nice!
-Al
The horizontal with the Berger stuff is actually good to see....shows that the barrel will tune. The Berger stuff just needs more or less powder to get the vertical out. It also shows that the barrel responds to a good bullet.
As Adam in Wi suggested, giving it some more firing pin springs is advisable on the 'new' Model 70's. Poor primer performance from weak hits can certainly show up on target....sometimes. And sometimes not. But for a couple of bucks, it's cheap insurance.
Factory ammo is always a tough road, especially with a light barreled gun like yours. Honestly, if you don't want to get into hand loading to tune the gun, I'd suggest testing the Hornady 168 stuff some more and if it repeats that performance, buy a bunch and enjoy it.
All in all, 1/2" Model 70 FW is pretty nice!
-Al
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