Winchester Mod. 70 XTR Sporter Varmint .223

[Spencer, Carey]

Recently traded a 180 series Mini 14 for a really nice Win. 70 XTR in .223. Dropped a Burris 3-9x40 w/Balistic Plex on top. According to the scope's info the drop compensator is very close to 55gr. balistics. Havent been able to test it yet but I have high hopes. Anyone out there with one of these rifles that can tell me anything about it? I have been able to find out that it was manufactured sometime in the middle 1980's, but thats about it. Accuracy expectations, market value etc. would be great! Thanx for the help everyone.

[Larry Gibson]

"Sporter Varmint"?  Is it a sporter or the heavy barreled varmint model?  I have a M70 XTR sporter I picked up in the mid '80s.  It is a very nice rifle with schnaubel forend, nice fleur de le checkering and a very nice blue finish.  I rebedded it from the glue crap they put in, adjusted the trigger to 2 lbs and have a compact Leupold 3x9 on it.  It is a very accurate rifle with a 12" twist 22" barrel.  I shoot my standard .223 varmint load (12 or 14" twist barrels) of the 55 gr Hornady SX over 26.5 gr H335 in a LC case sparked by a WSR or CCI 450 primer.  Accuracy is around .7 moa at 200 yards and runs 3200 fps.  Numerous rock chucks, PDs, ground squirrels, crows and coyotes have been on the wrong end of this rifle.  Marvelous walk around "gentleman's sporting rifle".

Larry Gibson

[bobg]

 Glad people had better luck with theirs than i did with mine. Wouldn't chamber a round 90% of the time. Took it back where i bought it and traded it for a Ruger.

[Spencer, Carey]

Mr. Gigson, the barell is stamped "sporter varmint", and has a heavier than average tapered barrel. The length is 24", the bolt is jeweled, in a nice wood stock(walnut? I dont know) with cut checkering, red recoil pad with winchester logo. Thanx for your help.

[Spencer, Carey]

Bobg, thanx for the heads up on that. I havent experienced this during functions checks with the snap caps or dummy rounds that I have tried, but when I have the chance to shoot real ammo, I will report back to you on that. I hear you on the Ruger. I have four original tang safety Rugers (243,270,30-06,and7RM), and  two MkII's. (308,300WM) The old ones are wonderfull with their adjustable triggers, and the triggerss are the ONLY complaint I have about the MKII's. Superb rifles.

[Larry Gibson]

Mr. Gigson, the barell is stamped "sporter varmint", and has a heavier than average tapered barrel. The length is 24", the bolt is jeweled, in a nice wood stock(walnut? I dont know) with cut checkering, red recoil pad with winchester logo. Thanx for your help.

Well that's interesting, I only saw the sporters like mine or the heavy barreled varminters.  Sounds like a nice rifle.  I've been shooting M70s for some years and never ran into the chambering problem.  Your's probably has a 12" twist but it might pay to measure it.  If 12" suggest you work up to that load I mentioned with the 55 gr SX.  It is a very good load. Does yours have the regular stock forend or the schnaubel forend?

Larry Gibson

[Spencer, Carey]

Sir, it is standard rounded, not like the featherweights. I like it alot and hope I get the chance to put to good use soon. Also I appreciate the load info. Will keep you posted. 

[gordie]

hey guys, mine is a sporter, 24in. bbl., monte carlo stock of walnut w/ checkering,
1 in 12 twist.

thanks larry for load data... i think i'll be useing H335 in my .35rem too.

i've had this rifle for a decade & never shot it, this may be the summer.

is the trigger adjustable ?

thanks, gordie

[Larry Gibson]

gordie

Yes the trigger is adjustable.  I've got mine at 2 lbs which is about right for me with a sporter.  Some M70s can be adjusted that low as is but some take some honing and a replacement of the triger spring with a lighter one.  Not hard to do if you know what you're doing.  If not have qualified, good gunsmith do it.

Larry Gibson

[apache235]

This was a great find.  I just took mine out of the safe and I want to shoot it but didn't know the twist.  I guess I won't be using the heavy bullets, but the last time I tried it with military stuff it shot pretty well.