Model 70-Makeover

Ho-hum accuracy prompts a rebuild from muzzle to butt.

By Lee J. Hoots Posted: 2003-01 Categories:

I pride myself in not getting hung up over accuracy. But when it comes to my own big-game rifles—rifles I
intend to hunt with and enjoy—it's a false pride. At least partially so. I don't expect one-hole accuracy from
them, but I do expect reasonable accuracy; 1 1/4-inch three-shot groups or better. Above all, I want my
rifles to be consistent. If they'll only shoot an inch and a quarter, fine, provided they can do it over and
over. Because of this, I had come to agonize over one particular Model 70 Classic Stainless .300
Winchester Magnum, which I have owned for a few years. Over time I shot a good number of different
factory loads through it, and it would shoot 1 1/4-inch groups—just not very consistently. I'd hunted with it
and had taken game. But I never had real confidence in it. At some point I had to decide whether or not to
sell or trade it off and start over with an unknown rifle, or rebuild it. I decided on the later because, quite
simply, I wanted a .300 Winchester Magnum built on a Model 70 Classic action.

Research led me to a local gunsmith, Steve Rorick, who operates Inland Accuracy in Riverside, California.
With extensive, well-rounded training, Rorick specializes in bolt-action rifles and I had seen a couple that
he built for a friend of mine. They were fine rifles capable of excellent accuracy, so I asked for his help with
my problem .300. Rorick learned his machining skills as a young man in Pennsylvania. "I worked as a
model maker building prototypes for everything from electronic chassis to test fixtures, and all types of
other things," he says.

From there he drifted into gunmaking. "I always liked guns and applied for a position at Paul Jaeger Inc., a
company well known for high-grade custom rifles. I worked there in the late 1970s and early '80s, and
learned gunsmithing from Ben Kilham (who eventually became a product engineer for Colt), Deitric Apel,
and from a number of master gunmakers from Europe, who had been working on guns since childhood for
companies such as Purdy and Holland & Holland. You can't get such 'Black Forest' influence in gunsmithing
school."

Rorick, now 48, eventually moved back to California and ran the gunsmithing department for a small
gunshop in Santa Ana, and continued practicing his craft under the mentorship of Bob Sutton, a well known
local gunsmith. Ten years ago he set out on his own and founded Inland Accuracy, where he now works by
appointment only and specializes in accurizing factory-made hunting, match and tactical rifles, as well as
building custom ones.

I asked Rorick to rebuild my Model 70—to give it some consistency in the accuracy department. But I
wanted to be able to shoot factory ammo because, admittedly, I have precious little time to handload. I
also wanted to try to use the factory barrel to save time and energy, and to see what potential it had with
a minimum of work. With that in mind, and after inspecting the barrel, he agreed to take the project on.

ACTION, BARREL, TRIGGER

Rorick is as meticulous in working over factory rifles as he is in building new ones. On an accurizing job,
the rifle is first completely disassembled, and accurizing begins with the receiver.

"I set up the action first of all," he says. "I'll detail the front of the receiver and touch up the threads
internally so they are concentric to the bolt. Then I'll also touch up the lug face."

To get the utmost in accuracy, the receiver must be as true as possible so that the barrel can be mounted
squarely to it, which is perhaps the best reason to change discrepancies in this area first. It's not
uncommon, says Rorick, to find the receiver face out by as much as .003 of an inch, as was the case with
my rifle. "Sometimes it's more or less, but I've never seen one that runs zero," he says. Receiver threads
may be off-center by as much as .010 of an inch. The receiver houses an additional element that may
affect accuracy—the bolt. More correctly, the fit between the bolt lugs and the receiver. Bolt fit is not
typically the first thing questioned when it comes to lackluster accuracy. However, a poorly fitting bolt with
lugs that make little or improper contact with the receiver does hinder the potential of a rifle.

Ideally, all bolt lugs should be square too, and make uniform contact with the receiver. Very rarely is this
the case on factory rifles. Proper fit prevents the bolt from torquing up or down (depending on lug
configuration) during peak pressure, reducing unwanted vibration and uneven case expansion. A gap
between the lug and receiver on the bottom side, for example, will cause the bolt shank to torque down
when a cartridge is fired which, in turn, will cause the case head to expand more on the bottom. Precise
lug fit—each fitting squarely and evenly to the receiver--allows the case to expand squarely to the
chamber. (As chamber pressures go up, this becomes even more relevant.)
"If I take a light cut off the receiver and the lugs, they'll face up nicely," says Rorick. "I usually only have to
remove a small amount of metal, from .002 to .005 of an inch in most cases."

Once proper lug-to-receiver fit is achieved, Rorick then trues up the bolt face so that it is square to the
cartridge head, resulting in a properly detailed (blueprinted) action and a solid foundation on which to
build the rifle.

Next comes the barrel. Rorick says he's had good success in accurizing rifles by using original factory
barrels if they have good rifling and a chamber concentric to the bore, and can be attached to the action
squarely. Depending on how much material is removed from the bolt face and receiver, he typically
doesn't have to do much cutting on the barrel or chamber before reinstalling it—and this is mostly to
adjust headspace, which tends to be longer than necessary on factory rifles anyway, he says.

If the barrel has a problem chamber and requires that a new one be cut, the barrel will then be cut shorter;
typically no more than one inch. "Rechambering requires that I cut off the thread detail, reshoulder the
barrel and rethread it, then rechamber it," Rorick says, "and you loose about three-quarters of an inch of
barrel length." He doesn't often suggest such a procedure if a factory barrel looks to be in good shape,
"but it can be helpful."

The freebore (lead) in my rifle's chamber seemed a little excessive, so it was rechambered, resulting in a
barrel length of just over 25 inches. "Factory leads tend to be a bit on the long side to assure safety with a
full range of factory bullet weights and seating depths. Factory chambers tend to be about a .10 of an inch
longer than needed. Accuracy seeking handloaders generally prefer shorter leads to suite the bullets they
prefer," says Rorick.

Before the barrel is reinstalled, it gets a new 11-degree crown whether it appears to need one or not. "I
believe you can almost always improve the crown on a factory barrel," says Rorick. "I'm not saying you
can't buy a rifle that shoots well right out of the box, but to some degree the crowns on mass-produced
barrels can hold back accuracy."

Finally, Rorick takes care of the bane of all rifles lousy triggers. They are cleaned, lapped if needed, they
are repinned with one of slightly larger diameter to prevent lateral slop, and then adjusted to customer
needs. Typically, that's 2 1/2 to three pounds for hunting and tactical rifles, and less for match rifles.

The barreled action is then bedded to the stock with epoxy (the barrel is usually free-floated) if the
customer so desires. Rorick has used a product called Devcon for many years because it's available with a
variety of fillers that add any desired strength. Which one he uses depends on rifle type, caliber and stock
material.

There is one last option "Most of my customers also like to add pillars to their stocks [for additional
bedding strength]," says Rorick, after having built hundreds of custom rifles. "Some stocks don't need
them, but even some fiberglass stocks will benefit. Wood stocks can almost always benefit from pillars
because it allows you to control stock compression caused by the actions screws."

THE ADD-ONS
I had another issue with my rifle. I wanted a better stock. The black polymer injection-molded stock that
came on it (similar to those found on most production rifles) was plenty comfortable in my hands and
unquestionably durable. But I wanted something more rigid and with a better recoil pad, in this case a
Decelerator, to soak up recoil. I decided on a stock from McMillan Fiberglass Stocks Inc.

McMillan stocks are among the best on the market, there's a wide variety of models to choose from, and
Rorick—like hundreds of other gunsmiths—has had good luck with them in the past. Some of the finest
rifles made feature McMillan stocks.

I also wanted the stainless barreled action Teflon coated. Rorick has a number of sources for this, and we
decided on Robar, a company that's been protecting gun metal with a variety of coatings for many years.
The barreled action was finished with the Robar's proprietary Rogard finish, a moly-based coating with
similar durability and lubricity characteristics as Teflon. The bolt was treated with Robar's NP3, an
electroless nickel plating infused with submicron particles of Teflon, which provides a low coefficient of
friction.

COMPLETION. . .ALMOST
When I got the rifle back it looked beautiful. Machine work was perfectly executed and clean, and the
bedding flawless. Robar had done a beautiful job with the Rogard—a rich matte black that contrasted
perfectly with the stock and matte silver NP3 finish on the bolt. The trigger broke at a very crisp three
pounds with no creep whatsoever.

Atop the receiver I mounted Talley bases and rings, and affixed in them a new 2.5-10X Bushnell Elite
riflescope. This Model 70 was everything I imagined it to be and I suddenly had renewed interest in a rifle I
was at one point considering selling off. That is... until I took it to the range.

The first three-shot group I fired measured about a half-inch with Hornady 180-grain SST loads, and the
next group measured about an inch. Five different loads and a couple dozen groups later, I had yet to
duplicate anything—good or bad. The rifle was wonderful, except that there were no noticeable accuracy
improvements. Groups were consistently inconsistent and wandered about point of aim, as they had from
day one.

I did find one load, Federal Premiums with 180-grain Nosler Partitions, that would at least consistently
group about an inch and three-quarters. And with it I shot a large sow hog on the Tejon Ranch at a
distance of about 75 yards with perfect results. However, such accuracy is nothing to be proud of.

Thermal deviation was likely the cause of the inconsistent accuracy. At this point we considered lapping
and/or cryo-treating the barrel, which can sometimes help with thermal deviation and improve
consistency, though there is never a guarantee. About the closest we could get to a guarantee was to
install a new custom barrel. So I called Bo Clerke, a ballistics wizard and barrelmaker whose talents and
advice have appeared in G&A many times over the years. When I explained the problem, he chuckled a bit
and suggested immediately that I not only put on a new barrel, but go up in diameter for greater stiffness
(he's a firm believer that stiffer is almost always better, and larger barrels are less troubled by heat). The
factory barrel measured .563 inches at the muzzle (about a No. 2 taper), and Clerke suggested I use one of
heavy-sporter dimensions, about .690 inches at the muzzle (approximately a No. 5 taper). This echoed
Rorick's advice, and was something I knew I should have considered from the very beginning. So, with a
new barrel, we took two steps backward and held our collective breath.

CONSISTENCY AT LAST
In an effort to save time, Rorick bead-blasted and coated the new barrel himself. The color match was near
perfect, and I was back to a barrel length of 26 inches and with about a pound more of rifle weight. A stock
Model 70 Classic Stainless weighs 7 1/2 pounds without a scope. My rifle now weighed about 8 3/4 pounds,
which didn't bother me at all and made the rifle even easier on my shoulder.

At the range it all came together. I first fired three three-shot groups with 180-grain Winchester Supreme
Ballistic Silvertips. The largest measured 1.054 inches, and the smallest measured .793. The next set of
groups with 165-grain Hornady SSTs measured 1.240 inches at the largest end and .859 at the smallest.
With Winchester Supreme 180-grain Power-Point Plus loads, three groups ran from 1.118 inches to 1.074.
Generally speaking, that's one-inch accuracy with factory ammo. Most importantly, it was repeatable
accuracy. (It's likely that I could cut these groups by half with good handloads—a project for another day.)
There was no stringing or wandering of any sort.

Now, I have nothing against U.S. Repeating Arms (or any other manufacturer) and fully understand that
mass production of rifles requires some amount of lenience toward tolerances. It's just the way the
business goes and there is no changing it. And I have shot a number of Winchester rifles that performed
perfectly well right out of the box. This particular Model 70 didn't. It needed help.

Yeah, it took a competent riflemaker, some mental anguish, dozens of hours of shop and range work and a
quality barrel to pull it off, and I essentially ended up with a much different rifle than I started with. But it
was worth it. There'll be no thoughts of selling off this rifle ever again.