I've got a Winchester classic sporter in 7mm rem mag that I want to turn into an accurate workhorse. I've shot it plenty and am not pleased with the groups.

What mods should I go with?

Bed the barrel (and action)?
Trigger job?
Blueprint the action?
New scope? (Leaning NF since the 9x power leupold is about worthless)

My Model 70 is the most accurate gun that I have. It was my Grandpa's and he had the trigger done at 2lbs, but that is it.

harge57 said:

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Define not accurate. Also what is your goal in terms of accuracy? Paper plate at 300 yards?

Fixes in order of difficulty/ effectiveness.
2. Usually it's the shooter

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Yeah this should have been 1.

Three B's of rifle accuracy remain
Barrel
Bullets
Bedding

I'd start with troubleshooting the free stuff like making sure action screws and you scope mount is all torqued properly. If you have the stuff available to try it with a known good scope that'd be next.

I've made plenty 200-300 yard shots with Leupold 3x-9x scopes ((Vari-X- II & III) If you believe it to be damaged, send it to Leupold and they'll check it for no charge and repair it for little or no charge. If you want a sniper scope - get one but the Leupold has good value after rehab!!!

I'm leaning adjust trigger and glass/pillar bed job plus free float.

The bedding work is around $300 which I think is money well spent. Creating a tack driver is the goal, I've got more of a telephone pole driver right now (insert laughter).

Definitely will be sending mine in!

If it was a shooter and now it's not find someone with a bore scope. Check the throat for erosion and the riflings for copper. Sometimes they just need a good cleaning. If cleaning doesn't tighten it up, as stated above, check all the scope mounting hardware to insure it's torqued to the appropriate specs.

If "accurate workhorse" is the goal I'd skip the pillar/bedding work on the original stock and bed it to a new glass or carbon stock. That's assuming you're not willing to just buy a new bergara or tikka that will shoot as good or better for the same money or less than you're going to put into the pretty gun

Well he said $300 so i assume he's not buying a jar of marine-tex and doing it himself

I have a lot of winchester 70's both classics mid 90's and pre 64. They can be a little finicky especially with the two piece bottom metal which yours should have. Here are the things I would try.

Take the bottom metal off and look at the front and back action screw holes and see if hole in the action is centered in the stock hole when the action is pushed all the way back to the recoil lug. If not you can use a drill and open up these holes just a little bit so the screws aren't touching the wood. Don't use an impact or drill with hammer action it can crack the stock.

When you tighten back into the stock make sure it is pressed all the way back and tighten front and back screws tight, then put in the middle screw but not tight at all just tight enough the bottom metal will close and lock will engage. The idea is not have this middle screw put any additional stress on the action at all only the front and back screws locking it into the stock.

Try different kinds of ammo to see if it likes light or heavy bullets etc.

Some of these older rifles like to be shot dirty and some of them like to be clean. I had a model 70 7 mag that accuracy would go to pot everytime I cleaned it but it would start to dial in around shot 9 or 10. So I would never clean the barrel of that rifle other than a dry patch or when I knew I had time to put about 10 shots down the barrel.

If none of this works to your satisfaction I would move to free float and bedding. You can do this yourself, I taught myself how to do it. First one is scary but you realized how easy it is after that. If you glass bed the rifle I would suggest two things. I would try to get a one piece bottom metal to replace the original two piece and bedding 70's is not the same as remington 700. 700 you put a piece of tape on the front of the recoil lug so it will come in and out of stock easier. Model 70's like to bedded tight to the recoil lug.

I have never had an issue with a scope or rings if it is grouping and not jumping around your scope is probably fine.

I have an old pre-64 winnie that ONLY likes Winchester Super-X 130gr pills. That's it. And they work perfectly. Have you experimented with different ammo brands?

BlueSmoke said:

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I have an old pre-64 winnie that ONLY likes Winchester Super-X 130gr pills. That's it. And they work perfectly. Have you experimented with different ammo brands?

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My 1957 featherweight in 270 wouldn't shoot for crap until I opened the box of Barnes 130 ttsx, shoots those in 1/2" groups all day long no bedding, no trigger job just plain accuracy. Even better since that is my favorite bullet.

Good advice given in this thread. One other thing to look out for is make certain your forward-most scope mount base screw isn't making contact with barrel threads. If you look at the very front mount screw hole on the receiver, it is a through hole and the barrel shank threads extend past this hole. If the front base screw is slightly too long it can make contact with the barrel threads underneath, preventing the screw from fully torquing down the base. If this is happening, simply shorten the end of the screw slightly with a file.

Also, I would advise against using the type bases with the dual windage screws on the rear base. With this design, the rear mount is held only by the heads of the screws against notches in the rings, a weak design. I know this design has been used successfully for decades, but I've seen a cases where mounts shifted in these bases, plus it's hard to get the rear rings in perfect alignment with the front with this design unless you're using rings with the alignment inserts. This puts the scope tube in a bind.

Reload to chase that tenth of an MOA. Benchrest reload to chase that hundredth of an MOA.

AggieP18 said:

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I'm leaning adjust trigger and glass/pillar bed job plus free float.

The bedding work is around $300 which I think is money well spent. Creating a tack driver is the goal, I've got more of a telephone pole driver right now (insert laughter).

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Learn to bed it yourself for the cost of some Devcon 10110.

It's not hard. $300 is a lot.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/3003214/diy-bedding-m77-pic-heavy#Post3003214

Yep do the work yourself. Check your action and make sure it's square and true before bedding. I would see if you can get all the creep out of that old trigger, see if you can get to 3lb. Recess the crown if it isn't already. And get yourself a level level kit from wheeler. I lapp rings on every scope and add a hair of rosin on them and they never budge. I use blue threadlock also. It really is fun to do. Go to a pawn shop and pick up a cheap rifle and practice if your worried. My first time I used a friends old rem 270 and we brought it back to life with .455" MOA. Ugly beat up, but super groups, would love to see what that rifle would do today with all the ammo choices.

Some funny advise I got when I was learning to bed actions myself.

Guy told me make sure to put one coat of release agent on everything you think you might get epoxy on and then put two coats everywhere else!!

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'll probably get flamed for this, but I'm going to have the gun professionally glass/pillar bedded. I want it done right the first time and this rifle isn't the one to try it out on.

That being said, I'm looking for a first focal plane scope that would look appropriate on a classic rifle such as this. Something between 12x to 20x power. Any ideas?

Why don't you ask the gunsmith?

Well I'm really looking for recommendations from the group here.

I've found some Schmidt Bender "Klassik" series scopes that might fit the bill.

The goal is to have something that can adequately shoot out to 5-600 yards without looking like a telescope on the gun.

Well…here's my suggestion:

These McMillan stocks would look great on a classic sporter. I would use modern glass (NF NX8) and enjoy shooting further then you imagined possible.

AggieP18 said:

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Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'll probably get flamed for this, but I'm going to have the gun professionally glass/pillar bedded. I want it done right the first time and this rifle isn't the one to try it out on.

That being said, I'm looking for a first focal plane scope that would look appropriate on a classic rifle such as this. Something between 12x to 20x power. Any ideas?

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I have a Nightforce NX8 First Focal plane scope that I will sell you. I love the scope....but I want the exact same thing in a second focal plane scope...it's the ONLY reason that I would sell it.

This is the one that I want to sell https://www.sportoptics.com/nightforce-rifle-scope-nx8-c624.html

PM sent

If you have a walnut stock in decent shape for the long action classic sporter and you decide to get rid of that after you put on a new stock, I'd be interested in the old walnut. I like to collect these classics and sometimes I can grab the plastic stock classics for cheap. But I like to replace those stocks with walnut because that's how I roll.

Why not start with a barrel replacement?

You really need to define tack driver. 1/2 MOA? 1/4MOA?