Winchester Model 70 Lightweight Barrel Hot

N

ngalgon

Inactive
Last Monday I had purchased a Winchester Model 70 Lightweight S/N G188... in 270 winchester. This past Friday I took out to the range to but some rounds through it. After the 5th or 6th round the barrel was too hot to handle. While I am going to use this rifle for hunting and you don't shoot 6 times (2 groups of 3 rounds) but this is still bothers me. I don't have a lot of money to spend but where can I get a replacement barrel? Maybe in 24". I am not a gunsmith nor do I have the space right now to work on it so I would need to find a gunsmith to install it and blue it maybe.
Thanks
Nick
 
In what condition was the barrel in to begin with? What ammo did you use? How quickly did you fire the six shots? And lastly what are you seeing that makes you feel the barrel needs replaced? The more info we have the beter we can help ya out.
 
All rifle barrels get hot from continued fire.
I shoot 2 or 3 rounds, let the barrel cool and then shoot another group of 2 or three when at the range.
BTW, my Winchester is a Model 70 Coyote with a medium heavy SS barrel chambered in 7mm Winchester Short Magnum. I can assure you, it gets hot.
 
I was shooting Winchester super X 150gr soft point factory loads. I shot the first 3 rounds and it was about 5-7min till I reloaded and shot my next 3. My first pattern was a 2" group on the 8 ring of the target. This rifle was in used condition when I got it. The barrel looked brand new, no rust, pitting, or even blue wear on the muzzle. I checked the bore with my flashlight and I found no problems either. With my remington 788 in .308 win. I can run a full box through the rifle and still grab hold of the barrel with my hands. I saw no discoloring in the barrel but my following shot groups were wandering bigger making me wonder if the barrel was moving too much while I was shooting. Again I am not shooting 6 rounds when hunting. One to two at most, but I like to go shooting and like to shoot alot out of my rifles when I go.
 
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I have two Win Model 70 Featherweights, a 257 Rbts and a 270 Win.

Sure they get hot, anything will given how little metal there is. But it doesn't hurt anything.

Like you said you don't shoot that much when hunting. If it takes 5 or 6 rounds to get your critter, you have more problems then a hot barrel.

The thing is they (mine anyway) are dern accurate until you get to 7 rounds or so.

I don't even carry extra ammo when hunting, I put 5 in the rifle and thats it. Never got hot on me hunting but I sure notice the lack of weight.

In a hunting rifle you really don't care about the accuracy in the 7, 8, or 9th round, you're concerned with the 1st, or maybe second shot.

To sight it in, take it out one morning and shoot two rounds, if need be adjust and take it out the next day and fire 2 more rounds, keep doing that until you have it zeroed.

I have gongs set out at 100, 200, 300 and 400. Every now and then, to confirm the zero I load it up, shoot the first round at my 25 yard pistol target, then one each at 100, 200, 300, and 400. If I hit all my gongs I'm happy.

It doesn't get that hot in only 5 rounds.
 
ngalgon:
I take four rifles to the range with me. I shoot three rounds from the first, wait five or ten minutes and then I shoot three shots from the second rifle, ditto for the remaing two. This method allows for a twenty to forty minutes rest for you frist rifle. If you don't have many rifles you could shoot pistol or a
.22 rifle.

Semper Fi.

Gunnery sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC retired
 
I'm guessing this is the OP's first time shooting a centerfire rifle.

To the OP, if you are getting 2" groups with those 150s, try switching to 130's. I think you'll find that your groups tighten up.
 
I have two Model 70 featherweights c1985 vintage in .243 and 7x57. Like any other lightweight rifle the barrel heats up after a few shots. (By the way the .270 cartridge has its roots in the 7x57 mauser as you probably know)

But before thinking about changing barrels on your 270 try a little work on your rifle. My 7x57 used to shoot 1.5" 4-shot groups at 100 yards. Perfectly accurate for hunting out to 300 yards and just about everything I pointed it at fell over.

But I wanted to see if I could improve on this so I
  1. Fully floated the barrel
  2. Bedded the action
  3. Fitted a Timney trigger and set it to 2.25 lb
  4. Had the barrel recrowned - it had taken a few hits over the years
  5. Fitted a Zeiss scope
  6. Fitted a limbsaver recoil pad not because of the recoil but to lengthen the stock for a better fit

and I refined my reloads and improved my target shooting techniques. I now shoot sub MOA with this rifle which I think is not bad for a rifle of this age. Of the actions listed above those which probably had the greatest effect on improving my accuracy with this rifle were improving my technique, lightening the trigger and the recrowning but they all contributed.

As for reloads, once I had established a base load I found that that the rifle was quite sensitive to bullet seating depth. The 139gr Hornady SSTs in this rifle actually liked being seated 1.8mm (70 thou) off lands.

So what I am suggesting is that there are many things you can do before changing a barrel. But the first thing I would do is have an experienced shooter fire your rifle to see if he or she can improve on your groups. And the second easy action would be to adjust the trigger if it is still at factory setting. The Model 70s factory trigger is good and easily adjusted but don't go below 2lbs.

If you are not reloading experiment with different factory rounds and bullet weights, but only change one thing at a time.

This is probably teaching you "how to suck eggs" but I thought it worth repeating before you go spending money on a new barrel.

David
 
You could try a different brand of ammo (as well as trying 130gr vs 150gr), which in many guns can make a big difference in accuracy. That made a difference with my .270 WIN (Tika T3 Lite, which also has a short, thin barrel).
The thin barrel is going to get hot, period. It's a thin barrel.
 
Well....You did buy a lightweight. You could do what the old buffalo hunters did when they got on a good stand...P....ss thru it!
 
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