Winchester Model 70 .220 Swift Heavy Varmint fluted stainless

[1953Longrangesniper]

Hi Guys
Hope some-one on the Forum might be able to shine a light on this problem of mine, i have a Winchester Model 70 Heavy Varmint in the fluted stainless barrel , it is the push feed version that has the claw type ejector, I think that the push pin ejector is under too much tension and thus making the bolt initially hard to close the bolt, when you go to open the bolt it opens OK ! after you have closed it .

This action seems to be damaging my new brass, can any-one shed any light on this problem or help me cure this ! problem easily

I believe the rifle to be of mid to late 1990s manufacture possibly 1995/7 and the serial number is G2156785 , I believe it has the ( Kevlar/fiberglass stock )picture included.

Regards
Steve

 

[40X Guy]

Steve, title of your thread caught my attention as I have exact same rifle that I bought new in 1994 and my serial # precedes yours. Mine does not have fluted barrel or claw type extractor though. Odd to hear of a problem with your M70. Does your M70 have a lo round count?

Frank

 

[1953Longrangesniper]

Hi Frank
Nice to hear from you mate, Yes the rifle does have a low round count , when I purchased the Rifle it came in the original Red Box with the instructions and was as virtually as new I gave $630 US for her I dont know what you recon to that , I bought a RCBS .220 Swift 3 Die set and a Redding .220 Swift Neck Die , and topped it off with I believe Burris mounts & Burris Signature 4-16 X 50 Scope, I have not had chance to shoot her yet though. I'm hoping to load some rounds up and shoot her shortly ! :-\

Just worried about the bolt being tight when you first close the bolt I took the extractor claw out and made sure it was OK it appears to me that the spring behind the plunger is too strong unless its the extractor being pushed side ways onto the case head , I was hoping to hear from some budding gun smith that might be able to throw light on the problem !

Any chance of some pictures of your rifle Frank ! what does your rifle close like is it the same bolt ! :-[


Regards
Steve

 

[TooTallRosenwald]

Steve, are you pushing the round down in the magazine? If not what you are feeling is the extractor going over the rim.

 

[bheadboy]

the Win bold/ extractor is designed to pick upthe case from the magazine as Steve indicated, thus a single feed with the case on top of the follower does not allow the bolt face to pickup the case sliding the grove in behind the extractor thus the extractor (a spring) is forced to ride up over the rim into the grove, that is most likely the closing pressure you are felling.

Bob

 

[1953Longrangesniper]

Hi Guys
The bolt appears to be pushing the case out of the magazine in front of the bolt until it goes in the breech then the bolt head extractor claw is pushed side ways till it locks on the case head , I believe , in other words the bolt does not pick up the case from the magazine it only locks onto it in the breech with the extractor claw ! for ejection !

Regards
Steve :-[

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I think there is a terminology difference here, in relation to the "claw" extractor. As far as I know, and from what I can tell from the picture, these guns don't use what is commonly referred to as a "claw extractor". Instead, the op is correct in that the action is referred to as a "push feed", not a "controlled round push feed", that DOES use a claw extractor....like a Mauser or Ruger. What he has should utilize a sliding extractor like a Savage or Kelbly action.
Does this sound right?? Correct me if I'm wrong, but what I'm trying to describe is how all of the Winchester Heavy Varminters, that I've seen or owned were made. Great rifles!--Mike Ezell

 

[40X Guy]

Steve, post a pic of your bolt and bolt face, Your bolt has to be the same as mine. As in push feed standard style ejector. The controlled feed claw type bolts are used in the bigger M70 calibers. Heres pic of my bolt: As to feeding mine is good, but 90% of the time I single feed them even while varmint hunting.

Frank

 

[1953Longrangesniper]

Hi Mike & Frank
Sorry about the time it has taken to reply Guys , You are both correct mate it has a plunger with a spring behind it & an Extractor please see the Winchester 70 PDF Link I have enclosed for you all to see ! Items 11, 12 , 13, 14, 15 & 16 on the PDF ! Page 4 for picture.

http://www.stockysstocks.com/pdf/M70Parts.pdf

Sorry to say Guys that I forgot about the Parts PDF for the Winchester Mod 70. :-[

Frank the picture is exactly the same as my bolt !

Regards
Steve

 

[jonbearman]

See how hard it is to use your hand to slide the extractor away from the bolt face,just like a cartridge pushing it out of the way.Secondly,take a cartridge case head and push the ejector down.If you can barely push the ejector pin in with a case head,then I would go to a local smith and see if he has a lighter spring.Now if the extractor is so hard and can barely be moved by hand sideways,have your gunsmith look at it.It may need a softer spring as well.I will bet the ejector spring is what is doing it.

 

[1953Longrangesniper]

Hi Jon
I have done all that you have suggested with the pin and the extractor claw, my conclusion was that the spring behind the plunger was too strong , the extractor claw fits on top of a pin that is conically pointed in shape with a very small cylindrical pip on the end of it that locates in the small hole in the extractor claw which has a cone or countersunk hole in the rear of the extractor claw for locating in place ( could this be the problem the pip on the pin ) , which in turn has another small spring behind it I do not think this is the problem ! :-[ this little pip may just stop the extractor claw moving side ways easily before gripping the case

My initial enquiry was to see if any Gun Smiths or Amateur Gun Smiths had encountered this problem with these Mod 70 Winchesters , I had already come to the conclusion that the spring behind the main plunger was the major cause of the problem , I just wanted to hear the thoughts of other people on the forum or maybe someone who had cured a similar problem. :-\

Thank you for your comments on this subject again ! Answers welcome from people who have sorted this problem !

Regards
Steve

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Strip the bolt...try it with and without a sized piece of brass. Then replace one thing at a time until the problem shows up. Let us know what you find from this.--Mike Ezell

 

[WyleWD]

I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but are you "stair stepping" your rounds in the magazine?? Remember the 220 Swift is a rimmed case and the rounds need to be stair stepped, if not they could be damaging each other enough to cause some binding on the boltface / extractor.

Maybe a dumb question, but ask me how I know..... WD

 

[1953Longrangesniper]

Hi WD
The Problem is still there if you only load one round into the rifle it does not matter whether the round is in the magazine or dropped into the breech , the same symptoms occur when closing the bolt onto the round ! :-\

Regards
Steve

 

[WyleWD]

Longsniper, I'll give you the standard mechanic's reply... eewwwhhh, hmmm :-\ WD.

 

[Ole]

I have the same rifle in .222, but no problems with it. I know this doesn't help, but I just had to say it.

Tom

 

[bozo699]

Steve,
I have been busy with the fall round up, just been in and out but got your email and p.m and will respond soon, first I will respond here, as someone already stated "Terminology" When I hear "claw" and "Winchester" in the same sentence I think of the classic controlled round feed with massive Mauser style claw extractor , you are referring to a typical little extractor found in Remington's and newer Winchesters w/o the CRF. If you had a CRF bolt I would agree with others in that you weren't feeding from the magazine and the claw was being forced over the head of the brass into the extractor groove, that can mark up the brass, the small little extractors like you have usually don't mark up brass, could you post a pic of the marked up brass, get a good focus on it, re-size it to 600kb or less and post it so we can have a looks see, if not email me a picture. the ejector has a spring and detent, make sure it doesn't have a piece of brass or debris stopping it from moving, you should be able to take a small wooden dowel or brass stock and easily move the extractor, if not start looking why it's not moving.
Wayne.

 

[dan06]

First thing I would check is to see if it actualy has the right extractor. I just had to replace one on a .223ack. They are not easy to find. Does winchester list a seperate extractor for the .220?
might have been switched at birth some how. The spring in mine isn't very rugged and my extractor moves around pretty easily but only to a point.

See if you can snap a empty case under the extractor with the bolt out in your hand and watch if the extractor has movement enought to allow this without much problem. the extractor could be opened up just a bit pretty easily with a round file following the orrigional contour

 

[Predator1]

Hope you figure out what the problem is. I have a 222HV and upon extraction it just barely gets the case out of the port. I think the spring has been lightened in the ejector pin so as to not put pressure on the round when chambered. Sounds like your getting some good ideas. These are great rifles and shoot very accurate. Here is 3 5-shot groups from my stock 222.