Improvements to Winchester Safari Express; to Interarms Whitworth

[thoma018]

I have found the post by @One Day interesting and informative in his reply to @Bwgunslinger on upgrading the CZ550 to the "Africa Package" once offered by AHR shop with similar services not offered by Matrix gunsmithing services. I love this kind of info/suggestions and find it quite useful and educational. Tell me, what improvements or upgrades need/should be done to the Winchester Safari Grade and or the Whitworth rifles ? If it matters, I am thinking in 375 HH at this time.

 

[CZDiesel]

Other than maybe a trigger job if yours is heavy, the Winchester shouldn’t need anything other than use…

 

[typilotguy]

I have the Zastava, my buddy the Whitworth. Both in .375. Same rifle, different branding. Think of the two like different trim packages on a truck. In my opinion, the Whitworth is the nicer of the two. Seems the machining is a cleaner, and the finishes a little better. Stock has nicer lines, too. Finally, the iron sights ARE significantly better on the Whitworth.

Both are VERY functional, well built rifles. Again, in my opinion, one is just better dressed than the other.

As @CZDiesel stated with the Model 70, one upgrade I would recommend, if required, is a trigger. I dropped in a Timney that I got for around $100. Again, this was on my Zastava version. World of difference.

Another upgrade that you may consider is the addition of a 3-position Winchester-type safety. The OEM on the Whitworth is a trigger block. Functional, sure. The main reason I opted to add the 3-position is so that I can lock the bolt shut with the safety in the rearmost position. On other platforms, while crawling on my hands and knees through brush, I have had the bolt snag and open.

So, those are my recommendations should you choose the Whitworth. Certainly not necessary, but in my opinion, worthwhile upgrades.

Best of luck with whichever platform you choose. You’ll have to share what you settle on, and someday pictures of it in its natural environment (safari!). And then perhaps with some animals!

 

[jaycee]

I recall Champlin Firearms 15-20 years ago saying that a Winchester Model 70 Safari Express was the most economical way to a reliable dangerous game gun. If memory serves correct, they recommended five upgrades in no particular order:

- Williams machined extractor
- Extra power magazine spring
- Drill and tap scope base screw holes to 8-40
- Drill & spot weld the bolt handle to the bolt body.
- Trigger job

There may have been more, but that is all I recall. Perhaps someone with a better memory than mine can chime in here regarding Champlin’s Model 70 recommendations.

 

[Nevada Mike]

The WInchester M70 Safari Express is a very good rifle out of the box. My issue was with the stock dimensions. I have asked Aaron Little to restock my ,375 H&H Safari Express, othe wise I have no issues with it. Nice rifles. I hvr three Win M70 Classics and all of them shoot. All of them have been re-stocked. YMMV.

 

[Doug3006]

The Model 70 is my favorite safari rifle. One suggestion….take it to the range and run a box of less expensive rounds through it. Fire, work the bolt rapidly and fire again. Each time until you run the magazine dry. This will help ensure that any feeding issues are identified early. If there is a failure to feed, it’s usually easy and cheap to fix.

Besides this, tune the trigger to suit your tastes and go hunting!

 

[Scott CWO]

I have the Zastava, my buddy the Whitworth. Both in .375. Same rifle, different branding. Think of the two like different trim packages on a truck. In my opinion, the Whitworth is the nicer of the two. Seems the machining is a cleaner, and the finishes a little better. Stock has nicer lines, too. Finally, the iron sights ARE significantly better on the Whitworth.

Both are VERY functional, well built rifles. Again, in my opinion, one is just better dressed than the other.

As @CZDiesel stated with the Model 70, one upgrade I would recommend, if required, is a trigger. I dropped in a Timney that I got for around $100. Again, this was on my Zastava version. World of difference.

Another upgrade that you may consider is the addition of a 3-position Winchester-type safety. The OEM on the Whitworth is a trigger block. Functional, sure. The main reason I opted to add the 3-position is so that I can lock the bolt shut with the safety in the rearmost position. On other platforms, while crawling on my hands and knees through brush, I have had the bolt snag and open.

So, those are my recommendations should you choose the Whitworth. Certainly not necessary, but in my opinion, worthwhile upgrades.

Best of luck with whichever platform you choose. You’ll have to share what you settle on, and someday pictures of it in its natural environment (safari!). And then perhaps with some animals!

I had the same ideas for my Whitworth. I had Wayne at AHR put in a Timney trigger and a 3-position safety. I also had him stone the action to smooth it up. I kept all the original parts in case I sell the rifle someday and the buyer wants the original parts. I’ve been happy with the results and shot my lion with it in 2023.

 

[roklok]

The older Zastavas (Whitworth, Mark X) have the bolt lock feature with their two position safetys. Then later the bolt locking safety was deleted but the receiver still had the slot milled for bolt lock. Swapping in an older safety accomplished bolt locking. The new Zastavas no longer have the receiver milled for the bolt locking safety. On my Zastava Rem 798 I milled the receiver to accept the older bolt locking safety. Bolt locked shut when on safe is a must for me on any serious hunting rifle.