What are my options???

[jjrothWA]

Have a first series Post 64 M70 in 7mmMAG, with commercial ammo I have groups that might group on a paper plate, @100 yds., even local shop couldn't get a decent group.

My reloads with Hornady 162gr, SST, are loaded to meet the lead / throat, @ 2.795, using a "Sinclair comparator [hex nut].

SAAMI chamber drawing indicates the basic dimension from bolt face to "leade / throat" is 2.725". [difference = 0.07"]

Just keep loading to the leade or look for another barrel??

My handloads show a group of 1" @ 50 yd for chronographing.

[aintright]

All your magnum cartridges are going to be barrel burners , if you don't know the rd count down the barrel , take it a good smith and get him to bore scope it before you buy a new barrel , there could be other things causing the accuracy problem .
There are some other things that could be the culprit , thouroughly clean the barrel using a one piece rod and bore guide . Contact Winchester or google action screw torque , check crown , scope base screws , rings , change scopes if you have another handy , just to see .
But if you've had it at the local shop I would assume he already checked these things . These are just the things I would look at before rebarreling .

[Johnny P]

As suggested, try cleaning the barrel first. If it is the barrel, you will need something to remove copper fouling from the barrel, and I have found either Sweet's 7.62 or J-B bore cleaning compound to work best.

[ridgerunner]

Some of the post model 70s had some issues. I had a friend who had one, that the screws that tightened the action to the stock, were too long, and bottomed out before tightening down completely. I guess it gave him fits before he found out what was going on. Hope you found out what the problem was with yours. His was also a 7mm. mag.

[joem]

Don't give up on it yet. I fooled around with a .223 for two years before I could get it to shoot less than 6" to 16" @ 100 yds. When you hit the right spot it seems like magic.

[C5M1]

Never owned a 7 mag but know a long range shooter that extended his barrel life by switching to flat base bullets. They shot good enough to win matches.



Regards, dennis

[Kurt]

What powder are you using? I have a Ruger M77 I bought new in the mid 70's. Worked up a load with H4831 that has been very accurate all these years. I have shot the Speer 175 gr. Mag Tip exclusively. H4831 has changed a couple times over the 40 years and I've reduced the charge accordingly. The 7mm likes to be pushed.

Kurt

[da gimp]

a poor crown can ruin accuracy pretty fast........... Just a question... but have you shot similar rifles with similar recoil accurately before? We have a good friend down here that was an expert with a bolt action .308, took several nice eastern Canadian moose with it, both were 1 shot kills that dropped very fast.

then a guy in their hunting party convinced him that he was woefully under gunned, so Kevin went out & bought a Rem 700 in .338 Win mag.......he never could get it to shoot & the shop he bought it from, re crowned it, pillar & glass bedded it & made sure his scope was on tight & right............

when one of our friends went shooting with him & handed him the rifle with an empty chamber when he was at the bench.......... He pulled the trigger on the empty & displayed the very worst flinch that anyone had ever seen.... & Kevin figured out why he couldn't hit with it. With good hand loads, & great coaching he has now mastered it.

None of us had thought that the .338 was a hard kicker, but to Kevin, he'd never shot anything that kicked as hard as his bolt .308Win had, he thought it was terrible. So I had to ask you, is this possible in your case too?

[Col. Colt]

The Shop I worked in had a Model 70 come in for a rebarrel - pie plate groups at 100 yards. Gunsmith started to order a barrel, but decided to clean the original .300 H&H barrel, first, "just to see". Well, it took him 3/4 of a day, but when he got done, that same barrel was shooting minute of angle! Clean and check the barrel, first. CC

[Stephan]

Yeh..clean the bore..check the crown..if no better 'credit card shim' the stock to float the barrel and see if it helps