First time forum poster...Apologies in advance if this has been discussed here, but I cannot find any thread about the issue. In the past 2 years I bought 2 new Model 70's (BACO - Portugal guns). There are quality control issues with each of them. The first was an Extreme Weather in 6.5 Creedmoor that had a defective claw extractor that would not grab the rim of the casing. I sent that gun to Winchester, and to their credit, they fixed it. That gun shoots great now and the claw works fine. More recently, I bought a Featherweight in .308. It has too much freebore...about 0.100 too much. If I lengthen the cartridge to get the bullet about 0.70 from the lands, the cartridge becomes so long that it no longer fits in the magazine. I have tried about 4 loads, each ranging from 0.140 to 0.090 off the lands and the gun just doesn't shoot well. Best group is with 150 grain Sierra Game Kings at 0.90 off the lands...around 2.0" three shots at 100 yards. I also tried 150 Grain Barnes TTSX, but those groups were about 3.5". I have tried 2 different powders. I may try a 165-ish grain bullet just for the heck of it, but I do not expect different results because of the bullet jump. Probably shoots well enough to hunt deer at ranges out to 100 yards with the Sierra Game King load, but it's very disappointing to have this issue with a $1200 rifle. I called Winchester, but they are telling me that if the gun will shoot 0.75" 3-shot groups at 50 yards, it is within spec. I'm probably going to send the rifle to them, but didn't know if anyone else had similar issues? If so, how did you fix it...or, were you unable to fix it?
I have 6 Model 70's: a pre-64 308 that shoots holes inside holes, an XTR 30-06 that is a great shooter, a New Haven Classic in 25 WSSM that shoots great, two Extreme Weather Portugal guns in 6.5 crd that both shoot well (although one of these had to be sent back to Winchester to fix the claw extractor), and this troublesome Portuguese 308. I have always considered myself a Model 70 guy...but the past two purchases have soured me. I hear guys say that the BACO Model 70's are head and shoulders above the old New Haven guns, but I'm really starting to wonder if those people have any real-life experience with both versions. My New Haven guns admittedly have creepy triggers, but at this point, I'd take one of those over the past 2 BACO guns any day.
I have 6 Model 70's: a pre-64 308 that shoots holes inside holes, an XTR 30-06 that is a great shooter, a New Haven Classic in 25 WSSM that shoots great, two Extreme Weather Portugal guns in 6.5 crd that both shoot well (although one of these had to be sent back to Winchester to fix the claw extractor), and this troublesome Portuguese 308. I have always considered myself a Model 70 guy...but the past two purchases have soured me. I hear guys say that the BACO Model 70's are head and shoulders above the old New Haven guns, but I'm really starting to wonder if those people have any real-life experience with both versions. My New Haven guns admittedly have creepy triggers, but at this point, I'd take one of those over the past 2 BACO guns any day.
