New Member, New M70 Cape Buff Edition

This is my first post on the forum, thanks for all the great reads over the years. My first African hunt will be next year, but I've lived and worked in West Africa on and off for years, where there is no hunting.

I just bought a brand new Winchester Model 70 Safari Express, the Cape Buffalo Edition from Cabela's (.375 H&H). I haven't fired it yet but wanted to ask a couple questions of the Model 70 enthusiasts:

1. The allegedly free-floating barrel is not free-floated, or at least I cannot slide paper between the barrel and the stock. Also, there's more space on the right side of the barrel than the left. I'm going to disassemble the rifle and see if that's just something over-tightened, but either way, I suspect this is not a big deal? If the free-floating needs a little work, that's easy, right? I have a couple hunting rifles but my experience on free-floating is limited. One is free floated (Ruger GSR), the other is not (Rem 700).

2. The safety on the Model 70 moves to "fire" pretty easily but back to "safe" requires a lot of force. Again, not such a problem? I am hoping this will improve with use, or I can lubricate the innards? None of my other rifles are so stiff.

I'd just like to gather opinions to be sure this rifle is a keeper. I didn't expect custom rifle perfection and am fine doing some work to make improvements.

The fit and finish otherwise appears good for this price point, at least to me. The woodgrain on the Grade II French walnut stock (per Cabela's description) is nice. The cape buffalo engraving is a bonus, as are the super grade features (red recoil pad, black fore end), but really I've wanted to pick up a .375 H&H for a couple years and this popped on my radar.

Thank you.

Once you’ve determined that the action and barrel are centered properly, it’s no big deal to free float the barrel. I’ve done it with dowel rod and sand paper. Took a bit, but going slow on stock work is always best. Before you do that, however, take a look at the bedding job they did at the factory. If it’s the usual slop job, you can mix up some glass bedding, and do it yourself. Plenty of resources on YouTube.

The safety lever is operating about par for the course. Most of mine have been more difficult to move to safe and easier to move fire. Work it back forth about 100 times. It should lighten up.

Ditto what @Doug3006 said above. When I rebarreled a LH Ruger MkII from a 7mm Rem Mag to a 458 Win Mag, initially I was a little more aggressive using a chisel to widen the inletting for the fatter barrel. But once it was close, wrapping a sheet of sandpaper around a slender piece of broomstick made a nice sanding dowel using coarser then finer grits to have a dollar bill slide under it perfectly.

My LH Winchester Safari Express safety is exactly like yours so I just worked it a lot to try and smooth it out a bit.

Pictures please!

The safety is harder to move back to safe because the Winchester safety works differently than most. Putting it back into safe you have to overcome the firing pin spring as the safety completely pulls contact away from the sear/trigger. In older/used model 70s there can be a burr in the pivot area that can make this worse especially with stainless models. I also found that using the thumb and pressing downward a little on the safety makes it work easier. Upward force like when using an index finger generally makes it more difficult to work the safety.

DocHolliday said:

Pictures please!

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Go to Bass Pros webpage - you can see it.

I handled one of these this week. The stock is pretty svelte compared to my standard express 375. I’d say it’s a pretty fine rifle for the asking price. I’m curious what calibers the subsequent models will be.

NTX said:

I handled one of these this week. The stock is pretty svelte compared to my standard express 375. I’d say it’s a pretty fine rifle for the asking price. I’m curious what calibers the subsequent models will be.

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I feel the same way. I will probably get one of these new Bass Pro Safari M70s, I just don’t want another 375. I’m interested in seeing what these other calibers will be. Will the Sable be a 338? The Kudu a 30-06? The Warthog a 308? Or will
They all be DG calibers like the Safari is now. It would just be weird if the sable or kudu had a more powerful caliber than the Cape Buffalo.

I just got one in 338, as you said it is nice for the price point . Mine had a terrible trigger and could not be adjusted below 5 lb --- tossed it in favor of a new Timney good luck.

@JR_0331: Congratulations on your rifle. I looked it up and saw you have a classic, yet upgraded M70. Before I did anything to it, I would take it out and shoot it. It may be just fine as it is.

Safe shooting

I just bought the one they had at the Cabelas in Maine. Based on looks alone, it's well worth the money.

They gonna have a .416 and .458?

Id be interested in a .416

curt672 said:

I just got one in 338, as you said it is nice for the price point . Mine had a terrible trigger and could not be adjusted below 5 lb --- tossed it in favor of a new Timney good luck.

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Was yours the same Cabellas model?

Doug3006 said:

Once you’ve determined that the action and barrel are centered properly, it’s no big deal to free float the barrel. I’ve done it with dowel rod and sand paper. Took a bit, but going slow on stock work is always best. Before you do that, however, take a look at the bedding job they did at the factory. If it’s the usual slop job, you can mix up some glass bedding, and do it yourself. Plenty of resources on YouTube.

The safety lever is operating about par for the course. Most of mine have been more difficult to move to safe and easier to move fire. Work it back forth about 100 times. It should lighten up.

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spray a little G96 on the safety , really helped mine.

Hedge774 said:

Was yours the same Cabellas model?

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It was from JD outfitters -- upgraded wood.

curt672 said:

It was from JD outfitters -- upgraded wood.

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So no. We are specifically talking about new Bass Pro Safari version of the Model 70. There is no 338 out yet. Only the cape buff in 375.

Hedge774 said:

Was yours the same Cabellas model?

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I did buy the Bass Pro/ Cabelas spec'd .375 rifle, unfortunately the constitutional carry state of Maine, has decided that we need a 3 day wait period to walk with our purchase. I need a few more days to check the trigger, but honestly it's a handsome rifle.

My Model 70 in .375 also had a really really tight and difficult safety. You gotta work it and work it.

M70375! said:

spray a little G96 on the safety , really helped mine.

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No, I don’t think any lubricant is going to solve the problem. I had the same issue with my pre-’64 .30-06, there’s a post about it somewhere here.
I ended up opening up the bolt sleeve, removing the firing pin spring, and greasing the safety mechanism that toggles between “on” and “off.” It helped somewhat.
As someone else mentioned, I believe this is simply how the Winchester safety was designed. When you move the safety back to the “on” position, it compresses the safety spring slightly, which is why it takes that extra bit of force.
So, unfortunately, I don’t think it’s necessarily a lubrication issue it’s more a characteristic of the way the safety is designed.