New Model 70 safari express disappointing quality?

[Tman321]

Just got told my new production 2025 model 70 safari express .416RM will have to be sent back to Winchester for repair after a phone call with them. I have 2 issues with it. Firstly the rounds don't push into the magazine if they are too far rear sitting up against the boltface/ejector area which makes it really tedious to load. If I drop a round onto the follower and let it slide backward you have to then push it forward a few millimeters before it can be pushed into the magazine. My model 70 .458WM which i bought a few months prior (bad year for my credit card but saw 2 of my dream rifles this year and jumped on them) does not have this problem, neither do any of my ruger hawkeyes. The second issue is if I load 3+1 and cycle it, the first round extracts and ejects no problem, when going to eject the second round it extracts fine but doesnt eject, just sits right on top of the other cartridges, the remaining two eject fine. Feeding also feels a little on the rough side as well for the rifle as a whole. It seems like Winchester will attempt to make it right but it's crazy this was even let out the door. It's especially a bummer when it's the rifle you've been trying to get new for the last 5 or 6 years and it seems like you got the only dud out there. First time posting here and always seen all the comments about model 70 safari being the rifle to bet your life on right outta the box. Have also only shot a half box of ammo since i dumped most my available funds into .458 win mag ammo prior but I don't think is a breaking in issue. Anyone else experiencing similar issues on any of theirs?

 

[LimbNoMo]

I have had several of the rifles and have a .416rm for sale now that has had no problem.

Start with a fresh box of ammo. If you cycle the same ammo through over and over, you’ll have all sorts of weird things happen. I learned this trying to fix my .458 Lott.

 

[Tman321]

I have had several of the rifles and have a .416rm for sale now that has had no problem.

Start with a fresh box of ammo. If you cycle the same ammo through over and over, you’ll have all sorts of weird things happen. I learned this trying to fix my .458 Lott.

its a new box of ammo. it's federal safari ammunition 400gr a-frames, tried using a couple rounds in the box that hadn't been cycled yet and no difference

 

[LimbNoMo]

Photos would help.

 

[Tman321]

Photos would help.

here ya go. i guess i could try giving it a good cleaning and see if that made a difference. See anything outta the ordinary?

 

[LimbNoMo]

I don’t see anything that stands out. Others may.

As for dropping back into the mag well, how tightly does the extractor hold a round against the bolt face? If you remove the bolt, can you slip a round under and it not fall out?

 

[Tman321]

I don’t see anything that stands out. Others may.

As for dropping back into the mag well, how tightly does the extractor hold a round against the bolt face? If you remove the bolt, can you slip a round under and it not fall out?

yeah it seems to hold it but not much, if i start to kinda move it around in the air slightly it will pop out and fall though,

 

[TOBY458]

I had one that did that. It would sometimes fail to eject just like yours. If you notice, you’ll see that the ejector doesn’t stick out very far past the ejector slot in the bolt. I was able to get mine to work by adjusting the magazine follower spring a little bit. If you get the tension right, it seems to help quite a bit. What I believe is happening is, the rounds below are pushing up too hard against the feed lips. When you attempt to eject a fired cartridge, the rounds in the magazine are pushing up and causing the short ejector to not be able to flip the spent cartridge out to the side as it should. With a little less spring tension on the magazine spring, it seems to help. Well…it did for me anyway. Hope this helps.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

My 375 went back to browning and they fixed it and had it back to me in a few weeks.
It did have some some other issues that I was able to fix myself it I finally got tired of it and got a New Haven rifle.

 

[Tman321]

I had one that did that. It would sometimes fail to eject just like yours. If you notice, you’ll see that the ejector doesn’t stick out very far past the ejector slot in the bolt. I was able to get mine to work by adjusting the magazine follower spring a little bit. If you get the tension right, it seems to help quite a bit. What I believe is happening is, the rounds below are pushing up too hard against the feed lips. When you attempt to eject a fired cartridge, the rounds in the magazine are pushing up and causing the short ejector to not be able to flip the spent cartridge out to the side as it should. With a little less spring tension on the magazine spring, it seems to help. Well…it did for me anyway. Hope this helps.

Those are definitely some good points I'll have to tinker around with, appreciate the advice. I wonder if it is true the ejector is not sticking out enough and that the head of the cartridge is able to go back far enough that it's actually sliding over that metal bar looking thing that sits under the bolt and can't be pushed into the mag cuz its catching that top ridge, or it's where the feed rails start to narrow and catches on that

 

[Hatchetjack]

I’ve had a new 375 for a couple months now , it shoots fantastic . I took it completely apart to clean it before I used it . Man it was dirty !

 

[Mike53]

No issues with the .375 I got last August.

 

[Joker12]

I have a New Haven super express in 416 and when the bolt on mine is pulled to the rear the ejector appears to protrude beyond the bolt face at least Double what yours does. No problems with feeding, extraction and ejection with it.

 

[Tman321]

I have a New Haven super express in 416 and when the bolt on mine is pulled to the rear the ejector appears to protrude beyond the bolt face at least Double what yours does. No problems with feeding, extraction and ejection with it.

I got some better pictures and actually found someone at winchester/browning customer support to try and have one of their gunsmiths look at them. If ejector looks too short they will mail one to me, if not then i will send in the rifle, i understand for them doing stuff by pictures over the phone is probably annoying and innaccurate most the time, but at least in this case to rule something out it should be okay.