I picked up my post-64 (mfg 1981) M70 from my new gunsmith today. He threaded the barrel for me so I could suppress it. He also shed light onto some serious problems on my rifle that I didn't know about.
A little background: This M70 is chambered in 300winmag and was given to me by my dad. Because I'm left handed, he had a custom manners stock made for me: a left cheeked monte carlo for a right handed long action post-64. A completely custom job. The gunsmith that did the work took 15 months and charged my dad god knows how much. My dad was really excited to give me this rifle. Since the new stock was installed, this rifle always had problems grouping. But I have always thought the poor groups were because of me, not the gun.
Today, on pick-up this rifle, my new gunsmith gave me some enlightening but depressing news. He found the following:
>too much material was initially removed from the receiver inlet
>most of this space was unevenly filled with bedding glass
>bottom metal was loose due to to uneven inlet wall support
>receiver screws were factory stock, thus too long and would bottom out on the bolt head and receiver tang. The old gunsmith's fix to this was to just back out the screws. This resulted in about 10 ft/lbs of torque holding down a 300winmag receiver
This new gunsmith not only gave me the above information, he cut down the receiver screws so that the receiver could be properly torqued down at no charge to me. He's earned a return customer. He also gave the free advice to consider getting a new stock. I'm taking his advice to heart: I need a new stock.
I know McMillan and Manners makes a rough inlet cut for long action post-64s, but I'm looking at a $1000 bill after everything is said and done. I'd consider a chassis if anyone made one, but no one does because there's so much variability in post-64 actions between 1965 and the mid 1990's. I'm not going to cheap out on this stock, but I do want to make the most educated choice of stock before I drop the dough. Do you guys have any stock recommendations for action like mine? The nuclear option is also on the table: I'll consider buying an entirely new rifle if this isn't worth fixing.
A little background: This M70 is chambered in 300winmag and was given to me by my dad. Because I'm left handed, he had a custom manners stock made for me: a left cheeked monte carlo for a right handed long action post-64. A completely custom job. The gunsmith that did the work took 15 months and charged my dad god knows how much. My dad was really excited to give me this rifle. Since the new stock was installed, this rifle always had problems grouping. But I have always thought the poor groups were because of me, not the gun.
Today, on pick-up this rifle, my new gunsmith gave me some enlightening but depressing news. He found the following:
>too much material was initially removed from the receiver inlet
>most of this space was unevenly filled with bedding glass
>bottom metal was loose due to to uneven inlet wall support
>receiver screws were factory stock, thus too long and would bottom out on the bolt head and receiver tang. The old gunsmith's fix to this was to just back out the screws. This resulted in about 10 ft/lbs of torque holding down a 300winmag receiver
This new gunsmith not only gave me the above information, he cut down the receiver screws so that the receiver could be properly torqued down at no charge to me. He's earned a return customer. He also gave the free advice to consider getting a new stock. I'm taking his advice to heart: I need a new stock.
I know McMillan and Manners makes a rough inlet cut for long action post-64s, but I'm looking at a $1000 bill after everything is said and done. I'd consider a chassis if anyone made one, but no one does because there's so much variability in post-64 actions between 1965 and the mid 1990's. I'm not going to cheap out on this stock, but I do want to make the most educated choice of stock before I drop the dough. Do you guys have any stock recommendations for action like mine? The nuclear option is also on the table: I'll consider buying an entirely new rifle if this isn't worth fixing.
