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winchester m70 featherweight rebarrel options

23 Jul 2016
@ 08:39 pm (GMT)

Sebastian Shand

i have a winchester m70 featherweight in 270 that my dad owned and hunted with for many years and gifted it to me before he died, i hunted with it for a few years but the barrel is well and truly shot out so it has sat in the cupboard waiting for something to happen to it. I've decided I'm going to rebarrel it and tune it up and start using it as my everyday go to hunting rifle as i always loved shooting it and its a good weight and size for the type of hunting i do in the south island.
unfortunately the safety got snapped off so i will have to try find another one from somewhere.
im considering calibres for the new barrel and I'm interested to see what peoples thoughts are? I'm leaning towards keeping it in 270 or 280 or possibly 30-06 but open to ideas. I'm after something reasonably flat and fast shooting for new zealand game from goats to large red stags, ranges from 0 to 700yards or further if the rifle is upto to it , i realise any of the above will do the job but I'm interested to see if theres something i haven't thought of? i also toyed with the idea of a AI case in the above calibers?

Replies

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26 Jul 2016 @ 07:34 pm (GMT)	Quote this Sebastian Shand Re: winchester m70 featherweight rebarrel options Yeah I don't know anything about extending magazines but my first thought when I took it spat was that don't look easy haha. Yeah it's going to be a challenge for sure but unfortunately I feel I'm going to have to go stainless steel because my house is 30metres from the sea and 99% of my hunting is coastal. My other hunting rifles are cromemolly and I have my work cut out for me trying to stop them rusting away in afew hours hunting trip. Haha I was bloody lucky on that side of things my wife is an amazing cook thankfully!
27 Jul 2016 @ 12:13 am (GMT)	Quote this Paul Leverman Re: winchester m70 featherweight rebarrel options I used to go out with a girl that had an answer for everything. But the one thing I only had to hear her say once was "I'm not for cookin', I'm just for lookin".
27 Jul 2016 @ 01:34 am (GMT)	Quote this Thomas Kitchen Re: winchester m70 featherweight rebarrel options I knew I had a keeper when one day I got home from hunting and she had mown the lawns, had a roast in the oven and was baking a cake.
27 Jul 2016 @ 01:41 am (GMT)	Quote this Sebastian Shand Re: winchester m70 featherweight rebarrel options Haha! Can't put up with that sort of carry on aye Paul :p So I've had a long day of steaming around the sounds today so plenty of reading time and I've read thru the practical guide to long range cartridges focused mainly on the 270 7mm sections. I've decided 7mm is the way forward for me for this rifle so I just need to systematically work thru the ins and outs of how to go about the process. If I can't easily modify the magazine to utilize a longer case then I guess I can go to a short or medium length 7mm. My thoughts at this stage is 284 win which looks like it could possibly work quite well? The 7mm saum caught my attention but I'm not sure how this would go as far as feeding and bolt face would need alterations. There is a 284 shehane but I know very little about it to be honest. There's the 7mm wsm but my personal preference is the saum over the wsm What major issues might I encounter going to these short action options that I need to seriously look at?
27 Jul 2016 @ 03:41 am (GMT)	Quote this Warwick Marflitt Re: winchester m70 featherweight rebarrel options Just my thoughts.! 270 is from the 30-06 so the obvious choice is to keep and improve that case and Action. Choose the calibre your after? 270 AI, 30-06 AI, 7mm-06 AI, 338-06 AI, 35 Whelen AI. Keep it simple and easy. for example if you did 30-06 AI you can get n use standard factory ammo. You'll get the best from your reloads and it's going to smoke anything inside of 400 yards. What would your Dad say? My Whelen has SS barrel onto the coated steel action and everyone who holds it love's it. I think if you take something good and make it better by doing some proven improvements you'll be happy. Just like you do when you Blueprint a car engine matching the ports, balancing the crank rods and pistons giving you a smooth efficient reliable more powerful motor, by making it work better? It's a fantastic looking weapon keep it looking as original as is practical . http://s1143.photobucket.com/user/waughloch/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160406_121302.jpg.html
27 Jul 2016 @ 07:04 am (GMT)	Quote this Thomas Kitchen Re: winchester m70 featherweight rebarrel options hi Seb My opinion don't wreck a decent action mucking around with the short magnums. these are good for tikka's and few others actions. feeding issues and opening up your bolt face a few issues. im still all for the 270. the 284win is a good option but the mag may need modification to feed smoothly. i would pick the 284 win over the shehane just for the sake of being able to get dies, i believe lee does 284 win dies. i did wonder about the 7x57 or getting it chambered in 7x57 then doing a second cut with a 280 AI reamer to remove some taper and move the shoulder forwards, would it be worth the hassle or even possible who know's. Warwick have we got the 35 whelen scoped and sighted in now?
27 Jul 2016 @ 10:01 am (GMT)	Quote this Sebastian Shand Re: winchester m70 featherweight rebarrel options thats one hell of a sexy looking rifle warwick you've got to be happy with how well that turned out, hows been shooting? had it out on some animals yet? no doubt i'll do a few U turns along the way and most likely end up were i started but i don't learn as much that way! i think your right thomas it would most likely need to much modification for the short stumpys and in all honesty I'm not a big fan of the wsms, much prefer a long case myself. 284 win could be worth looking into i think i might try get some dummy rounds and see how the go feeding out the mag. 7x57 AI is another but I'm un sure on how easily reamers and dies etc are to obtain? that was my whole idea with the 280 AI is it gets me the performance I'm looking for and all the gear is easily obtainable in new zealand
27 Jul 2016 @ 03:43 pm (GMT)	Quote this mark korte Re: winchester m70 featherweight rebarrel options If it was my dad's rifle I'd restore it as original - .270 all the way - it was good enough for him to shoot the barrel out of. If you want to play around with something different you can always grab a used gun off the rack.
27 Jul 2016 @ 08:53 pm (GMT)	Quote this Bob Mavin Re: winchester m70 featherweight rebarrel options Hey Mark... That's what I'd do too. No doubt Dad will be watching.
27 Jul 2016 @ 09:06 pm (GMT)	Quote this Bryan Webster Re: winchester m70 featherweight rebarrel options It is hard to tell the state of the wood in your photos. Does it appear to you that oil and grease may have soaked the wood in places enough to weaken the wood. The reason I ask this is because I had a pre-64 model70 in 30/06 that the prior owner had only shot a box of shells from over the years he had it, and when I bought it and took the stock off, a lot of the wood was badly oil soaked and I had to remove a large amount of it and replaced it with an epoxy compund called Bisonite. That rifle won me many matches and killed many moose, elk, deer and sheep. I still regret letting it go, but the offer was too high to ignore.
28 Jul 2016 @ 12:25 pm (GMT)	Quote this Warwick Marflitt Re: winchester m70 featherweight rebarrel options Thanks Sebastian, I've been busy with work and building accommodation at my new place. The Whelens had two rounds into a pile of dirt I cleaned the barrel and it's back in the safe. It's nice to shoot for sure. I have to get some more stuff done before I get time to finish it off. It's a lifetime purchase and I don't think I could have chosen a better calibre Thanks to everyone who has been involved. That model 70 is a good foundation for you to make a fine Rifle. The added bonus being the history and memories associated with it being your Dad's rifle. So take your time look at the options and think about what flavour you want to smoke your bacon? As the Rune Stones say! Once the decision is made the doing becomes easy! What to do eh?