Return of a classic: the new Model 70 Winchester

Guns Magazine, May, 2009 by Holt Bodinson

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

It was just too good of a rifle to end up on the scrap heap of history. Born in the middle of the Great Depression, the classic Model 70 soldiered on from 1936 to 1963 in more model and caliber variations than any other American rifle, then or now.

Purists decried the abandonment of its Mauser-inspired, controlled-round feeding and cone breech in 1964 in favor of the less expensive "push feed" action, but having fired tens of thousands of .308 and .30-06 rounds through several "post-64" target rifles, I think the push-feed action was a bit better than its critics acknowledged. Well, Model 70 lovers, you got your way. After a brief and unfortunate absence, the classic Model 70 is back, and it's better than ever.

The new Model 70 has a new home. Now made and assembled in Columbia, South Carolina, the Model 70 shares space in FN's latest manufacturing facility with production lines producing M240 and M249 machine guns, M16's, SCARs and FN pistols.

Walking through FN's 170,000 square toot, state-of-the-art plant, you see little but rows and rows of canopied, computer programmed, machining centers and robotic manufacturing Frankly, in the firearms business. I miss the old, overhead shafting and belt driven lathes and milling machines, and some of the characters who ran them and kept them running with a shim or two, here and there.

In fact, the only part of the new Model 70 made entirely in-house is its hammer-forged barrel. The stocks are made by American Walnut. Another firm forges and finish machines the actions. I did see the new trigger and the bolt sleeve and safety being assembled in-house. In short, the new FN plant epitomizes modern production, outsourcing parts to specialized firms when it makes economic sense while having complete quality control over the final product assembled and finished in-house.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

There have been some subtle changes introduced in the new, classic Model 70. Gone, with good riddance, is the old 2-part bottom metal consisting of a triggerguard and a separate floorplate. It is now machined as one, solid piece, secured to the action with hex-head guard screws. For the initial production run, the floorplate was nicely engraved with an inscription reading, "2008, Model 70, Limited Edition."

There's a new trigger. Gone is what I thought was the most simple, trouble free and most easily adjusted trigger in the industry. In its place, is a new 3-lever trigger owner adjustable from three to five pounds and factory set to 3-3/4 pounds. All internal parts are stainless steel, and the critical moving parts, the sear and the intermediate actuator, are coated with electroless nickel Teflon. The stated advantages of the new trigger design are it offers zero take up, zero creep and zero overtravel.

To make any adjustments to the trigger, you first have to remove the barreled action from the stock. On the test rifle, it proved a challenge. Both the recoil lug and the tang are glass-bedded by the factory. On the test rifle, the fit was so tight I could not, with hand pressure or even by reinserting and tapping on the guard screws, separate the two assemblies. I think I could have by rapping with a bit more vigor on the guard screws, but I didn't want to risk cracking the stock of a rifle I needed to shoot for group. The factory has been advised.

The overall polishing and fit of the new Model 70 is outstanding. The initial production run I saw in South Carolina was focused entirely on the Featherweight model. Poking around the tables of Featherweight barreled-actions awaiting stocks, I discovered chamberings in .270 Win, .270 WSM, .30-06, .300 Win and .300 WSM.

I well remember the day when the old pre-64 Featherweight hit the streets. Winchester had not only come up with a stunning barrel profile, they insured it would shoot by entirely free-floating the barrel. The typical American rifleman had never before seen a stock with gaping stock clearances on both sides of the barrel. The jokes emerged the factory was employing to bed the new Featherweights. The jokes ended once the Featherweights arrived on the range and delivered MOA or better groups.

The current Featherweight is still free-floated, and its svelte, Schnabel fore-end stock is still one of the most elegant designs ever introduced in the industry. The cut checkering pattern is aesthetic, and the diamonds, sharply defined. A nice touch to the new stock is the addition of a Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad. It proved easy on the shoulder, and it anchors the rifle securely to the floor.

The test Featherweight with its target crowned 22" barrel was suitably chambered for the .270 Win. I complemented the caliber with the addition of a 6X Leupold. On hand were three 130-grain factory loads: Winchester Super-X Power-Point, Federal Classic Sierra Pro-Hunter and Speer Grand Slam. Based on 3-shot groups at 100 yards, the Super-X at 2,962 fps and the S peer at 3,170 averaged between 1-1/4" to 1-1/2". The Federal Sierra Pro-Hunter loading at 2,977 fps stole the day, averaging 3/4".