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Question about Win M70 Classic barrel-fitting

ObiJohn

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2024
Messages
163
Location
Seattle suburbia
I have an ARC Mausingfield that takes Savage small shank barrels. Unlike the Win M70 pre-64 and Classic actions, this doesn't have an extractor slot cut into the barrel. Why does this work in this rifle but the M70s have to have extractor relief? Could a M70 barrel be made with the same breech as a Savage barrel and work? Is it the specific design of the Mausingfield's claw extractor... and could a revised M70 extractor along those lines allow for eliminating the extractor cut?
 
Extractor cut is needed because of the coned breach.
Many later Mauser copies do not require the extractor cut because the breach face is flat, Ruger, CZ/Brno, Sako and Browning come to mind.
Of course, you cannot use a flat breach face in a Win Model 70 without serious re-designing.

Cheers.
 
The bolt face/lugs is cone-shaped on the M70, not so on the Mausingfield (or with a M98 action, I believe). But... what value, in terms of strength, is there with a coned breech? In either the Mausingfield, M98, or M70, the case head and rim extend slightly past the end of the barrel/chamber so the extractor can engage, but this is the solid part of the case. The inner cavity is up inside the chamber. If one were to make the extractor cut-out flat (perpendicular to the end of the chamber) and extend it completely around the barrel shank, like an M98 or Mausingfield, would the Mauser-looking breech be any weaker? The angled extractor cut on the M70s actually extends toward the throat and thus weakens the chamber up where the inner cavity starts.

I understand how the M70 is made, but could it be made this way, and would it weaken it? If so, seems like a barrel tenon very similar to the Mausingfield would work for M70s and no extractor cut would be needed.

I admit I know just enough to be dangerous....
 
The cone chamber entrance on the 03 Springfield and Winchester Model 54 and 70 was
designed for cartridge feeding. Nothing smoother than a pre-64 Model 70 and never heard
of blow up problems with the Rifleman's Rifles.
 
I have seen plenty of "gunsmiths" make the extractor cut on a model 70 a straight (flat) cut, from the chamber mouth to the outside of the tenon. That way they can use use a simple keyway cutter vs a special cutter with a radius. Seems to work without issue.
 
The bolt face/lugs is cone-shaped on the M70, not so on the Mausingfield (or with a M98 action, I believe). But... what value, in terms of strength, is there with a coned breech? In either the Mausingfield, M98, or M70, the case head and rim extend slightly past the end of the barrel/chamber so the extractor can engage, but this is the solid part of the case. The inner cavity is up inside the chamber. If one were to make the extractor cut-out flat (perpendicular to the end of the chamber) and extend it completely around the barrel shank, like an M98 or Mausingfield, would the Mauser-looking breech be any weaker? The angled extractor cut on the M70s actually extends toward the throat and thus weakens the chamber up where the inner cavity starts.

I understand how the M70 is made, but could it be made this way, and would it weaken it? If so, seems like a barrel tenon very similar to the Mausingfield would work for M70s and no extractor cut would be needed.

I admit I know just enough to be dangerous....
I've done it on serveral of my personal 1903 Springfields without any problems. The fact that neither the Mauser 98 or M77 Ruger used the coned breech face is what prompted me to try it, and flat breech face worked well on both of those designs . Thought I might have ran into feeding issues but that didn't happen. Having said that, I would not do it to a customers rifle, to much risk of litigation.
 
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