Win model 70 problem

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  • Last Post 20 December 2017
Balhincher posted this 19 December 2017

This past deer season while hunting with my mod 70 winchester 270 one round's bullet stuck in the throat when I tried to unload it. Most of the case of powder poured into the action and made quite a mess. Back in camp I removed the bolt and cleaned out the coarse grain powder as well as possible. After replacing the bolt the rifle wouldn't stay cocked when the bolt was closed. Having a spare rifle available I could continue to hunt and ended up shooting a buck the next day. A wilderness hunt where no spare rifle was available might have ended badly though.

later at home I took the rifle out of the stock and could see that the trigger part that catches and holds back the firing pin was not sticking up high enough. It rotates into a slot on the bottom of the receiver but was being blocked from reaching its full rotation. Thinking it was almost certainly more of the spilled powder causing this I depressed that part and blew and scraped in the slot. Fortunately that fixed the problem and the rifle would cock normally when the bolt closed.  I didn't have to disassemble the trigger to clear the blockage.  

The lesson learned (relearned?) of course is to always check reloaded ammo for functioning before a hunting trip.  I know I ran these cartridges through the action but for some reason didn't catch the defective round. 

I figured posting my experience might help somebody with a similar model 70 malfunction  

 

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 19 December 2017

... consider yourself lucky with that wondrously simple m70 .... a friend had it happen with a remmy 742 ... 2 hours later it worked again .... well, as good as they ever do .( g ) .  wonder how many kernals are in 52 grains of powder ??

ken

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gnoahhh posted this 20 December 2017

I had the same thing happen a couple years ago with a cast hunting bullet in my Winchester M54 .30-30. Luckily the powder spill wasn't as egregious as yours. But, there I was in the Western Maryland Outback with a bullet stuck firmly in the throat. Naturally my field cleaning kit was in a backpack that I had elected to leave in the hotel room, as was the spare rifle I had along on the trip. Nothing turned up in my old Jimmy hunting hack to use as a ramrod, until my eyes lit upon the radio antenna. I unscrewed it and found it was a perfect size for a .30 bore.

 

Funny thing, I never had that happen before and have used the same bullet in the same gun a lot since then with never a hiccup. I still don't understand why it happened that day. Since I have since gotten rid of the Jimmy I now make doubly sure the Otis kit is close to hand!

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Balhincher posted this 20 December 2017

Ken, yes the solution was pretty easy for a trigger with only a couple of moving parts. Can't answer how many fat grains of powder were in that load but it surprised me the places they managed to travel when on the loose. Definitely an adventure to avoid if possible. 

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BigMan54 posted this 20 December 2017

This may be why I was taught to pop open the floorplate, dump the rounds into my hand and then open the bolt: MUZZLE POINTED STRAIGHT DOWN AT THE DIRT, release the safety then open the bolt.

Long time Caster/Reloader, Getting back into it after almost 10yrs. Life Member NRA 40+yrs, Life S.A.S.S. #375. Does this mean a description of me as a fumble-fingered knuckle-draggin' baboon. I also drool in my sleep. I firmly believe that true happiness is a warm gun. Did I mention how much I HATE auto-correct on this blasted tablet.

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