Parting with two of my babies!!

R

RIDE-RED 350r

New member
Well, my name is Joe and I am very new here, but not to forums. I was referred to this forum by a friend and I like the wide variety of interests here. Glad to be here... :)

I have a "thing" for S&W revolvers, especially the older models. I have a pair of auto pistols, but not for long..They have been interfering with a long-ish term want/goal of mine... A FN produced Winchester M70 Supergrade in 338 Win Mag...


So, I have decided to part with my S&W 1911TA E-Series Stainless and Walther PPK/S to finance my first M70. I have owned one other "W" in the past, a 1954 M94 in 32 Win Spl.

My brother is a "W" nut and he has collection of (4) m70's ranging from pre-64, to early 70's, late New Haven, to a current FN produced... Then there are his m94's, 3 of them to be exact... (2) Trappers, a 30-30 and 44 mag, and the aforementioned m94 in 32 SPL that I had previously owned... and shot my first buck with..

I have been content with my basic little Remmy 700 ADL in 270 for several years... but burning desire to get my grail rifle on my rack, the rifle my son will admire and eventually inherit from me has been ever increasing. I decided to let go of a pair of my handguns, one of which I have been very proud of to finance this new "W" for me. I decided I want to go right for the flagship with the Supergrade, and I want it in a kick-butt caliber.

Now I haven't acquired my Supergrade just yet. I am just very excited about this whole event and wanted to share. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce myself.

Anyone have any feedback to share about the new FN made m70's?? I have yet to see anything bad about them. And I promise to update this thread with pics and range reports when I get mine. I look forward to reloading the 338 as well!

Regards,
Joe
 
Yes, the new model 70s are very very good. Outstanding in fact, IMO. You will be quite pleased.

Are we not allowed to speak the Winch***r name, for fear of summoning malevolent spirits? :)
 
Speak the Winchester name all you like... I'm sure there are some who are not fans of the new m70's, much like there are some who don't care for the current S&W wheelguns... The whole "W" thing is just code talk between my brother and I.


Between all of the good feedback I see online and my brother being so happy with his FN/m70 I have no qualms about this upcoming purchase, and can't stop thinking and talking about it... :)


I have bought a few "higher dollar" handguns over the last few years..this will be my first ever rifle I would put in that category.
 
I personally don't like them but it really just boils down to personal preference. they are good rifles, but I don't like the safeties, bolt design, and if I'm going to spend the money on a new mid tier hunting rifle, I would likely go with ruger as they are all US made. that's just me though, like I said, good rifles other than personal dislikes.
 
I've never owned any of the pre 64's but I do have a FN built stealth and it's easily my favorite rifle. My classic from the nineties is smoother but has a jeweled bolt and is polished blue whereas my stealth all has a matte finish. The stealth shoots pretty darn good too.
 
Hard for me to buy one since I'm a classic nut and am very partial to "W's"(in fact I just posted my new high class "W" in this sub section you should check it out '85 low wall) considering it is made by FN. Makes it a little harder for me to really desire one. But I love that they build them like the old pre '64 rifle. So if one crossed my path for the right price I'd have a hard time turning it down. Beautiful rifles.
 
Just made a deal for a new Super Grade!!! :D:D:D:):):)

I am SO excited!

I will post pics in a few days when the transaction is complete and it is home with me!
 
So, I picked up my new rifle from my LGS last tuesday. I have to say, my first impressions when seeing and handling this rifle first hand are that it is everything I had hoped it would be and then some. The high polished blue finish is very much like my older Smith and Wesson revolvers, almost a smoked chrome look when viewed at certain angles. The pictures really didn't do this m70 justice....

Now, 338 WM isn't exactly common to find around my area. And being that I am not yet tooled and supplied to make my own ammo for this thing I figured I would try to find a couple boxes of factory ammo locally to get me started.. Well, that didn't work out so well... of the 4 places I hit I was able to score a partial box from a small gun shop... 16 rds. Luckily that was just enough to get her darned close at 100yds. It is grouping 3/4" about 1/2" high an 1/2" right. If I had 5 more rounds I would have been able to bring it in those last couple of fine adjustments. But I wanted to save 3 rds to hunt with so thats what I did... Still more than adequate for hunting purposes, I'm just a little OCD about these things.

Now that bad:

First time to the range to sight in was an epic fail. I have never returned home with a target with no holes in it. Yep, pulled the trigger and click. Tried several times and several different cartridges... no boom.

So, after a bit of playing around I figured out that the firing pin was for some reason not protruding through the bolt face when fired.

On the side of the rear bolt shroud (which houses the firing pin and safety) I noticed a small roll pin, and another identically sized small empty hole next to it. So I got to wondering... is there is supposed to be another roll pin in that second hole and if for some reason it was seated to deeply and wound up inside the bolt shroud and interfering with the firing pin?

Took the firing pin out of the shroud..(tricky) and there it was, a small plug for the hole in the shroud! I reinstalled the firing pin (MUCH trickier than removal!) installed the plug in it's proper hole, flipped the safety to the fired position and BINGO!!! Problem solved!

So that was the only problem, minor as it turned out to be I was very dissapointed there for a bit.

But after today's session at the range I am head over heels for this new Winchester! The 338 barks (even with muffs on) but its is actually no sharper in terms of felt recoil than my synthetic stocked Remington 700 ADL chambered in 270. I attribute this to the very well functioning Pachmeyr Deccelerator recoil pad and the fact that the rifle has some weight to it.

Biggest differences I notice about my new Winchester compared to the 700 ADL I have been using for the last 8 years or so is that it is significantly heavier, and the barrel seems a mile long! It has a 26" bbl compared to the 22" on the Remmy. 4" doesn't sound like much, but when you are used to the handling characteristics of a 22" bbl and then walk through the woods with a 26", it feels like a huge difference!

Hunted with it for the first time tonight..came close to bagging a deer too but I could not take the shot for safety reasons. That would have been so cool to bag a deer first time out with it!

Bottom line: Overall, I am more than happy with this new rifle and have zero regrets.
 
SWEEETTT!!! I would love an m70 in say....220 swift. Something a bit odd. 225 winchester maybe. Glad you like it.
 
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