1st CF rifle I owned was a push-feed M70 sporter in 243, purchased in '68 when I was a junior in high school. The old gentleman who ordered it in and sold it to me mounted a used Weaver K4 in Weaver rings on Weaver bases, adjusted the trigger down to a couple of pounds, then sold me dies, bullets, and 100 used pieces of mixed headstamp brass. I thought I had the world by the tail on a downhill pull with that rifle - used it on prairie dogs & coyotes, and couldn't have been happier, though I eventually swapped the K4 for a new K6. Back then, I could buy Speer 80gr PSPs or Sierra 75HPs for $3.75/box, and surplus H4831 for 80 cents/lb.
Since then, I've owned several push-feed M70s, including one NIB HV in 223 from '95 with a stinker of a bbl - there was a ding at the crown that looked like someone had deliberately placed a 1/8" pin punch there and given it a whack with a hammer, displacing metal out over the bore. I had a local smith re-cut the crown, only to discover that the chamber was grossly oversized. Sent it back to a Win. Service Center, where they re-barreled it; the new bbl.'s chamber was eccentric to the point that you could roll a fired case across a smooth countertop and easily see how out-of-round it was.
I had a good gunsmith in Wisconsin true another push-feed M70, and then chamber & install a 28" Krieger 1-8tw in 6 Dasher. I skim bedded it in a surplus H-S Precision Laredo stock, added a Jewell trigger, and the rifle shot at least as well as another Dasher on my custom Nesika action, done by the same 'smith.
Bought a M70 Stealth in 223 in '05 that shot pretty darned good, even though there were some nasty machining marks over the last 3" of the bore at the muzzle when viewed with a Hawkeye borescope. That bbl was advertised as having a 1-9 tw, but measured at 1-8.3, and shot S80MKs pretty accurately. By this time, I'd bought a lathe and started doing my own bbl work, so I replaced that OEM bbl with a 1-7.5tw PacNor, and the rifle is still an excellent shooter today.
There's no doubt in my mind that some questionable management decisions - coupled with very poor quality union labor - really put the hurt on the old Winchester reputation during the '90s. I also believe that if the aftermarket parts availability was as good for the M70 as it is for the Rem M700, we'd see a whole lot more M70s in the field and on the line.
Since then, I've owned several push-feed M70s, including one NIB HV in 223 from '95 with a stinker of a bbl - there was a ding at the crown that looked like someone had deliberately placed a 1/8" pin punch there and given it a whack with a hammer, displacing metal out over the bore. I had a local smith re-cut the crown, only to discover that the chamber was grossly oversized. Sent it back to a Win. Service Center, where they re-barreled it; the new bbl.'s chamber was eccentric to the point that you could roll a fired case across a smooth countertop and easily see how out-of-round it was.
I had a good gunsmith in Wisconsin true another push-feed M70, and then chamber & install a 28" Krieger 1-8tw in 6 Dasher. I skim bedded it in a surplus H-S Precision Laredo stock, added a Jewell trigger, and the rifle shot at least as well as another Dasher on my custom Nesika action, done by the same 'smith.
Bought a M70 Stealth in 223 in '05 that shot pretty darned good, even though there were some nasty machining marks over the last 3" of the bore at the muzzle when viewed with a Hawkeye borescope. That bbl was advertised as having a 1-9 tw, but measured at 1-8.3, and shot S80MKs pretty accurately. By this time, I'd bought a lathe and started doing my own bbl work, so I replaced that OEM bbl with a 1-7.5tw PacNor, and the rifle is still an excellent shooter today.
There's no doubt in my mind that some questionable management decisions - coupled with very poor quality union labor - really put the hurt on the old Winchester reputation during the '90s. I also believe that if the aftermarket parts availability was as good for the M70 as it is for the Rem M700, we'd see a whole lot more M70s in the field and on the line.
