wareagle700
Senior Member
I convinced myself that I needed a new deer rifle this year. I decided to pick up a new Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in 7mm-08. I have heard very good things about these new rifles. I have hunted with and shot an older pre-64 Model 70 and loved it. The new ones seem to be just as well built, if not better. I wanted to give a brief overview of the rifle and point out some things that I couldn't find on the web that may help potential buyers. Also, if there are any questions, I would be glad to help.
From what I understand, the rifles are now built by FN. The new FN Model 70's and older Winchester made Model 70's have different hole spacing for scope bases. It was a pain to hunt down a 1 piece base for this rifle. I bought standard Leupold base locally, a Warne model 70 SA base, and a Seekins Model 70 SA base. None had the right hole spacing to fit. What I found out is the new short actions have the same hole spacing as the FN SPR actions and Winchester WSM actions. Bases for either the FN SPR or WSM will work on the new short actions as long as the screw size is 6-48. I returned my Seekins Precision base to Primary Arms and had my new Seekins WSM base from them the next day. It fit perfect.
The stock is very nicely finished and of good quality. I took it apart to whipe clean and inspect before shooting and noticed it was bedded at the factory. This would have been a nice addition had it been done correctly. The recoil lug was pretty much stuck in the stock and it took quite a bit of force to pull out the barreled action. The action screws had bedding compound built up in the threads and there were thread marks in the bedding that seeped down the screw holes in the stock. Also, the bedding compound itself seemed "cheap." I could bend it with my fingernail. This is not the way bedding should turn out. I left it alone though and decided to shoot it before I started changing anything.
I could not ask for a better trigger on a hunting rifle. Its set between 3 and 4 pounds and breaks very crisp and has no noticeable over-travel. It performed just as advertised. I do not plan on replacing it.
After cleaning and torquing the action into the stock. I shot a 3 boxes of ammo through it the first few times out. I chronographed each load. Winchester 140gr Silvertip, Hornady Superformance 140gr SST, and Federal Premium 140gr Nosler BT. The velocities were exactly as listed on each box. My first thought was, "this thing shoots faster than my .280 Remington!" Each grouped around 2-3" from 100 yards shooting 5 shot groups after letting the barrel cool. I was not happy with this, so I started to look for problems.
The bedding was the first thing that caught my attention so I decided to relieve it. I took out all of the bedding in front of, beneath, and on both sides of the recoil lug so it was stress free. I also reamed out the action screw holes to provide clearance for the action screws. Another thing that stuck out to me was that 1 bolt lug was getting much more contact than the other. This is usually something I true up on other rifles but I didn't want to go through the trouble of pulling the barrel and re-headspacing yet.
The next time out, I shot the same factory loads as well as some handloads. I used Winchester brass, H-4350, CCI-200 primers, and 140gr. Nosler Accubonds. The factory ammo and reloads did much better than before. The factory ammo all shot around 1.5" and two sets of my reloads were just inside that. All 5 shot groups. I was much happier with it this time.
Eventually I plan on pillar and steel bedding the action in the stock and truing up the bolt lugs. However, I feel like its plenty accurate enough to hunt with this season.
The rifle specs are:
Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in 7mm-08 Remington
Seekins Precision WSM 20MOA Picatinny Base
TPS TSR 1" rings
Bushnell Elite 2.5-10X40
Eagle Industries (USA made) Stock Pack
Outdoor Connection Super Sling 2+ with Talon Swivels
From what I understand, the rifles are now built by FN. The new FN Model 70's and older Winchester made Model 70's have different hole spacing for scope bases. It was a pain to hunt down a 1 piece base for this rifle. I bought standard Leupold base locally, a Warne model 70 SA base, and a Seekins Model 70 SA base. None had the right hole spacing to fit. What I found out is the new short actions have the same hole spacing as the FN SPR actions and Winchester WSM actions. Bases for either the FN SPR or WSM will work on the new short actions as long as the screw size is 6-48. I returned my Seekins Precision base to Primary Arms and had my new Seekins WSM base from them the next day. It fit perfect.
The stock is very nicely finished and of good quality. I took it apart to whipe clean and inspect before shooting and noticed it was bedded at the factory. This would have been a nice addition had it been done correctly. The recoil lug was pretty much stuck in the stock and it took quite a bit of force to pull out the barreled action. The action screws had bedding compound built up in the threads and there were thread marks in the bedding that seeped down the screw holes in the stock. Also, the bedding compound itself seemed "cheap." I could bend it with my fingernail. This is not the way bedding should turn out. I left it alone though and decided to shoot it before I started changing anything.
I could not ask for a better trigger on a hunting rifle. Its set between 3 and 4 pounds and breaks very crisp and has no noticeable over-travel. It performed just as advertised. I do not plan on replacing it.
After cleaning and torquing the action into the stock. I shot a 3 boxes of ammo through it the first few times out. I chronographed each load. Winchester 140gr Silvertip, Hornady Superformance 140gr SST, and Federal Premium 140gr Nosler BT. The velocities were exactly as listed on each box. My first thought was, "this thing shoots faster than my .280 Remington!" Each grouped around 2-3" from 100 yards shooting 5 shot groups after letting the barrel cool. I was not happy with this, so I started to look for problems.
The bedding was the first thing that caught my attention so I decided to relieve it. I took out all of the bedding in front of, beneath, and on both sides of the recoil lug so it was stress free. I also reamed out the action screw holes to provide clearance for the action screws. Another thing that stuck out to me was that 1 bolt lug was getting much more contact than the other. This is usually something I true up on other rifles but I didn't want to go through the trouble of pulling the barrel and re-headspacing yet.
The next time out, I shot the same factory loads as well as some handloads. I used Winchester brass, H-4350, CCI-200 primers, and 140gr. Nosler Accubonds. The factory ammo and reloads did much better than before. The factory ammo all shot around 1.5" and two sets of my reloads were just inside that. All 5 shot groups. I was much happier with it this time.
Eventually I plan on pillar and steel bedding the action in the stock and truing up the bolt lugs. However, I feel like its plenty accurate enough to hunt with this season.
The rifle specs are:
Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in 7mm-08 Remington
Seekins Precision WSM 20MOA Picatinny Base
TPS TSR 1" rings
Bushnell Elite 2.5-10X40
Eagle Industries (USA made) Stock Pack
Outdoor Connection Super Sling 2+ with Talon Swivels
